I love cities. There’s something uniquely wonderful about stepping into a new city for the first time, in walking its streets and hearing its sounds, in seeing the rhythms of the people who live there.

At China Partnership, we place a high value on cities. As I wrote in my introductory piece to 2024, Chinese cities have a special place in the work of the kingdom of God. With thousands of people moving into Chinese cities each year, urban churches have a unique opportunity to be “cities on a hill,” kingdom communities that exemplify the love, joy, peace, hope, and righteousness of Christ to their neighbors.

We spent all of 2024 praying for Chinese cities. We prayed for a different city each month… in 2025 we’re going to do it all over again.

Because of this belief, we spent all of 2024 praying for Chinese cities. We prayed for a different city each month, drawing our prayer requests from the Christians that call those cities home. The feedback we have received from this prayer focus–as well as our own internal experience–has been fantastic. So much so, that in 2025 we’re going to do it all over again.

How Year One of Praying for Chinese Cities Impacted Me

In 2025, we will pray for 11 more Chinese cities–a different city every month–beginning in February. As we prepare our hearts to embark on a second year of praying for Chinese cities, I’m reminded at how impactful this practice has been for me personally throughout 2024.

For many people, particularly those of us in the West, China feels far away. Even those of us who have lived there before have probably felt more cut off from China in recent years, as the lockdowns and border closings brought on by Covid-19 forced many foreigners to leave the country. It’s difficult to know what’s going on in the daily lives of Christians there, much less how to pray for them.

As we went through our weekly practice of prayer in 2024, however, I felt myself drawing spiritually closer to China. The chance to hear directly from Christians in Chinese cities made me feel like I was walking the streets with them. China no longer felt like one massive country sealed away from my imagination, but rather a unique collection of cities and people, each with its own flavor and personalities.

In 2025, we will pray for 11 more Chinese cities–a different city every month–beginning in February.

We also got to hear about how God is moving. We got to “taste and see” his work in the lives of our brothers and sisters. We got to be reminded that they are flawed people just like us, sinners saved by grace, and see how the Holy Spirit is working to make them more like Christ.

My Hope for Year Two

As we move into year two of praying for Chinese cities, my hope is that we would continue to “taste and see” the work God is doing. I hope that we will continue to move towards our brothers and sisters in China rather than further away from them.

With geopolitical realities more uncertain than ever, my desire is that the church will continue to exemplify Christ’s kingdom, a kingdom that has no national borders, made up of all God’s people across the world. I want to continue to learn more about my Chinese brothers and sisters, to find out more about their contexts.

China no longer felt like one massive country sealed away from my imagination, but rather a unique collection of cities and people, each with its own flavor and personalities.

I’m excited to learn more about these cities, some that I have visited before but many that I have never been to. I want to know more about the churches in these cities and find out more about how I can pray for them. In this way, we portray the unifying peace of Christ in a world increasingly fractured.

The Structure of Year Two

In 2025, we’ll be praying for eleven more cities. Just as we did last year, we have intentionally chosen cities to represent multiple regions within China, from the cold northeast to the more tropical southwest. We have chosen seaside cities and landlocked ones, cities of vinegar and cities of industry. Though these cities are all a part of China, they are incredibly diverse, each with its own unique history and church context.

All the cities we will be praying for are cities where we see God moving, where he is renewing existing churches and planting new ones. We have chosen cities that are all connected to the gospel movement we support in some way. Some of them have a long relationship with our ministry. Others are only just recently getting connected with us.

we have intentionally chosen cities to represent multiple regions within China, from the cold northeast to the more tropical southwest. We have chosen seaside cities and landlocked ones, cities of vinegar and cities of industry. Though these cities are all a part of China, they are incredibly diverse.

Would you join us in praying for cities in China this year? We would love for you to join our prayer team. There are two ways you can pray along with us in 2025:

• You can sign up to receive prayer requests by email every week. Most of these prayer requests come directly from Chinese Christians (edited to protect their safety).
• You can sign up to receive daily prayer requests by text message.

I am grateful for everyone who prayed with us in 2024, and I look forward to continuing to pray for cities in China in 2025. As we prayed last year, I pray that God may use his church as his incarnate witness within China’s cities, exemplifying his love and holiness, pointing people all across China to Christ.

We look forward to praying for churches in China’s cities with you in 2025.

M. Mills serves as China Partnership’s Communications Director. He spent three years teaching English in China and lives with his wife in Chicago.

Pray for God to move mightily through the prayers of his followers, that he may be known and worshipped throughout China and the world.