Editor’s note: This is the final part of our series on Chongqing, a mega-city in southwest China. Local pastors spoke honestly about the deep difficulties they and their congregations face as they try to persevere and follow Christ in the city. It is often not easy for them to serve in Chongqing, but they desperately long for Christ to be known and worshiped in their city. Despite its hardships, they deeply hope that revival will, someday, sweep across the city.
Be sure to look up Parts One, Two, Three, Four, and Five of our series on Chongqing. This interview has been lightly condensed and edited for clarity and length.
China Partnership: How can we be praying for your city and for Christians in your city? How can we be praying for your churches and families?
Mental Health and Young People
Ke Dong: Our family hopes to serve for as long as possible. We want to persevere. Because both my wife and I are local, in some ways, we face less pressure than others. Hopefully, we can serve for a longer time. I know that co-workers from other places face a lot of pressure if they want to serve in Chongqing long-term.
As for our church, we hope to focus on building a strong spiritual foundation. We are trying to survive, and hopefully to gradually grow.
I also think the need for Christian education may become more and more significant. The pressure in today’s world is immense, and everyone is concerned about public education.
About one-third of Chongqing teenagers have depression. Quite a few brothers and sisters have children who are struggling.
Ning Lu: I want to grow in my spiritual life. I used to really hope I could find an elder, a mentor, someone to guide me. But I haven’t found anyone suitable. There have been some people, but not one specific individual. It might be that I just need to connect with different people in different areas. I do still hope for someone to lead me and push me to grow. If I am not growing, ministry becomes very difficult. Often I feel weak and powerless, these kinds of emotions.
Second, pray for discipleship, and for co-workers in the church. Pray that our church will become spiritually stronger outside of just the preaching team. We need to focus and put effort into this, but we haven’t been able to get this going.
Third, our church has many people with mental health issues like depression and schizophrenia. Perhaps this is because these kinds of people easily find their way to church, but this group is not very easy to serve. They all have extreme personalities, so they themselves don’t have friends and are very lonely. It’s not just one or two in our church, but a whole group.
Lastly, pray for teenagers. Another believer, a schoolteacher, told me that about one-third of Chongqing teenagers have depression. Quite a few brothers and sisters have children who are struggling. I don’t know what our church – or churches in general – can do. One church alone might not be able to do much. Pray for them to have more strength.
Challenges for the Elderly
Xu Jingle: Pray for my spiritual growth, because I feel like I’ve hit a bottleneck and need to sort out a lot, including theology. There are some conceptual things I learned when studying that I hope to figure out how to integrate into my life.
Our church has a lot of challenges, one of which is the elderly. One elderly woman in our church makes it a point to go downstairs every day at the same time to curse her neighbor. Then she says, “After cursing him, I go back upstairs, pray and confess my sin, and Jesus forgives me.” Her family took her for an evaluation, and there is no mental health problem. I counseled her and said, “What you are saying is theologically correct, but the process matters. God is not pleased with your actions. You can’t just keep doing this and think confession makes it okay.”
Another issue is that many of the elderly couples in our church have marital problems. Some of them are battling illnesses, so recently I’ve been learning how to care for those who are nearing the end of their lives. One high school girl in our church suddenly last year she wouldn’t go to school any more. Now she just lies in bed all day, scrolling on her phone. She is not disabled, but she needs guidance.
A lot of times [pastors] feel isolated, like they can’t share their struggles with their congregation. Others expect them to be perfect and not show weakness.
Revival: My Deep Hope
Zhang Peihong: Like we said earlier: Chongqing churches are small, disorganized, and scattered. I became a believer as a university student in the early 2000s. For the past 20 years, I’ve personally witnessed the growth, from student fellowships to where we are now. In that time there has been a shift in Chinese house churches. Reformed theology is stronger in urban areas. More structured churches have been built, and they focus on gathering as a body.
But many of Chongqing’s full-time ministers are between 30 and 40. They themselves often lack pastoral care and support. They serve small churches, of 20 to 30 people or less, and have many challenges. They may struggle with their marriages, parenting, or just navigating city life. They need adequate financial support, and most of all, spiritual guidance and encouragement.
A lot of times they feel isolated, like they can’t share their struggles with their congregation. Others expect them to be “perfect” and not show weakness. It takes time and maturity for them to be vulnerable about their need for fellowship and support.
The costs of living in the city can be high. If pastors want to send their children to a Christian school, it can be really expensive. This is a good investment, but it requires a lot of time and money. Sometimes, this results in criticism from people who feel the pastor isn’t giving the church enough time. All these things can make it difficult for pastors to persevere in ministry.
The president of my seminary told me, “Chongqing has never experienced revival. At different times, there have been waves of revival throughout China, but Chongqing has never been touched.”” He encouraged me to stay in Chongqing, believing that one day, I would see revival. This is my deep hope.
Please pray for groups which support young ministers. There are a few independent churches in our area focused on student ministry. They often talk about “huddling together for warmth” – even this choice of words shows their deep loneliness and need for support.
Please pray for these pastors and these churches.
Ning Lu: I’d like to say one more thing.
More than a decade ago, the president of my seminary [in another city] told me, “Chongqing has never experienced revival. At different times, there have been waves of revival throughout China, but Chongqing has never been touched.” He encouraged me to stay in Chongqing, believing that one day, I would see revival. [Ning pauses, and emotion is breaking his voice.] This is my deep hope.
Ke Dong: It will happen. Just stay.
Ning Lu: [Again, Ning speaks with tears in his voice.] I long to see revival in Chongqing in my lifetime.
Cai Lifan, Bai Dongyun, Wu Qiang and Zhu Ping are house church pastors in Chengdu, and Wong Jina is a woman who is heavily involved in ministry within the city. All names are pseudonyms.
Pray for Chongqing to experience revival in the near future.
