Editor’s note: As we continue to pray for Shenzhen, we are throwing it back with the first part of a 2018 interview with a Shenzhen pastor. That year, we also prayed for cities across China. Things have changed in seven years, but many things remain the same: Shenzhen is still a city of migrants and transplants, a place where people come for a few years to make a living — but not necessarily a long-term destination. This pastor works mostly with Shenzhen’s lower class. He sees his church as a “transition hub for domestic missionaries” because they focus on training people while they are in the city, then sending them back to their hometown equipped to share the gospel with their loved ones there.
A City of Migrant Workers
Question: Can you describe the city where your church is?
Answer: Shenzhen is a first-tier city, representing China’s fast-growing economy. For me, I’m more concerned about it as a city of migrant workers. According to municipal government statistics a couple of years ago, there were sixteen million people living in Shenzhen, and only three to four million of them were native. Most residents are workers who come from all over the country.
Question: What people groups is your church is in contact with?
Answer: We are in contact with people from all over the country. We see very few natives.
I pastor mostly people living outside of the border, Shenzhen’s lower class.
Question: What are the age groups?
Answer: All age groups. Within our church or the community where our church is, there are senior people who come help look after children and young people who come to work. There are also those who bring children here to attend school.
Shenzhen is known for people living in clusters with those having a similar background. [There are two main areas]: “within the border” and “outside the border.” People “within the border” are mainly well-paid white-collar workers; people “outside of the border” are mainly workers with less education and lower pay. I pastor mostly people living “outside of the border,” Shenzhen’s lower class.
Living Like Robots
Question: What characterizes these people’s lives?
Answer: They live like robots with an especially strong life rhythm; they are very busy. Every day they are busy at work; they work overtime and are under a lot of pressure. Usually family life is a mess, as they either have no time to care about it or are not concerned about it at all. This is why Shenzhen has serious public safety issues with a high crime rate. Public safety is awful.
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Bearing the Mission of the Gospel
Question: Can you describe your church?
Answer: Our church started with a group of Christians who came to work in the city and gathered for fellowship. It gradually developed into Sunday worship, and later I came to pastor and help them to form a church. We started mostly with young people, workers from the countryside who had just finished high school. Some of them were Christians back home, but did not have a clear understanding of the fundamentals of faith. But most heard the gospel when they came to Shenzhen and were brought to the church by their friends.
Every day they are busy at work; they work overtime and are under a lot of pressure. Usually family life is a mess, as they either have no time to care about it or are not concerned about it.
These young people were relatively simple-minded when they were at school. After they entered the workforce, they found it hard to accept the darkness they witnessed in the society. For example, when they came to Shenzhen, the high crime rate, problems like theft, robbery, and fraud caused them to fear life itself. They live in Shenzhen to make a living, but have no sense of inner security.
There has been great transformation among them in these past two or three years.
Previously they left home and came to Shenzhen to earn a living. As they come to understand the gospel, we teach them to bear the mission of the gospel, because for many, their family members are not Christians. There may be no church in their hometown. Praise the Lord that most brothers and sisters can now take the mission of the gospel and share the good news with family and friends in their hometown.
Shenzhen is not typically a permanent place to live. One may live here for three years, five years, or ten years, but one has to return to his hometown one day. Therefore, the mission now is to equip them in the faith while they are here.
Shenzhen is not typically a permanent place to live. One may live here for three years, five years, or ten years, but one has to return to his hometown one day. Therefore, the mission now is to equip them in the faith while they are here.
I call our church a transition hub for domestic missionaries, because brothers and sisters come to Shenzhen to earn a living, yet they become saved here by the gospel. They start equipping themselves, and then bear with them the gospel mission, whether they are moving to another city, returning to their hometown, or staying in Shenzhen to spread the gospel here.
We are also especially grateful for the many marriages and many births in our church. There are almost as many children as adults now.
Wang Jianguo is the collective pseudonym for a group of Chinese house church pastors thinking and writing about issues related to the spread of Christianity in their nation. They are committed to preaching a grace-centered gospel, developing resources for the church, and loving China’s urban centers.
Pray for Shenzhen’s working poor to encounter and believe the gospel while they are in the city.
