Editor’s note: Shenzhen is a coastal city in southern China, just north of Hong Kong. The city was a small border town of 30,000 in 1979, when it was declared a special economic zone. Since then, Shenzhen has grown at breakneck speed, and now has about 18 million residents, China’s third most populous city by urban population (trailing only Shanghai and Beijing). The port of Shenzhen is now the fourth busiest container port in the world, and the city remains a busy, bustling Pearl River Delta connection point to the world.
As we pray for Shenzhen this April, several local house church pastors shared about ministry in their city.
China Partnership: What is unique about Shenzhen among other Chinese cities? What is special about the city’s local culture?
A Young City
Lu Yudong: Shenzhen is a young city with a highly mobile population. This makes pastoral care difficult, as young people often change cities or locations when they change jobs. Another challenge is the fast-paced life and work here, which creates a lot of pressure. Young people face significant material temptations and secularization. As a young city, with the popularity of the Internet and the influence of AI, there are great challenges.
It has become more difficult to share the gospel – people aren’t as thirsty for it as they used to be.
It has become more difficult to share the gospel – people aren’t as thirsty for it as they used to be. Both publicly and privately, sharing feels much harder.
But there are also positive aspects to being such a young city. There’s less pressure from traditional family influences. If someone accepts the gospel, there is less resistance from their families. This is a positive aspect of Shenzhen.
Also, good beliefs here, like Reformed theology, can influence other Chinese cities and bring Reformed theology to more remote churches and cities.
Difficult to Share with This Generation
Wang Yijian: My church is similar, in that it is difficult for young people to come to faith. Although young people are under a lot of pressure, they are also easily satisfied. It is difficult to share the gospel with this generation. The young people who do come usually encountered the gospel in their childhood or during college.
So, our church has adjusted its evangelism strategy. Now we focus on middle-aged people who have come to faith but whose parents haven’t, especially those whose parents still live in their hometown. The elderly are very lonely, and the generation gap between them and young people is widening. We reach out to these parents who haven’t yet believed, and also the young who grew up in the church.
Although young people are under a lot of pressure, they are also easily satisfied. It is difficult to share the gospel with this generation.
The challenge here is the secularization of the gospel. There is relatively less suppression in Shenzhen than in other places, especially outside the city center. But the downside is that this area is full of various religions – Islam, Tibetan Buddhism, witchcraft, health cults, Confucianism, Buddhism, and even people involved in dark arts. It’s very complex. Although the political environment is relaxed, the spiritual environment is full of pressure.
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But God must be glorified here. He wants to build a large church here. In the decade we have been here, we have seen God working in many ways. Our church is not large, only a few dozen people. Right now, we go out and share the gospel once a month. Before the pandemic we saw some fruit, but the past few years, the results haven’t been great.
Thanks to God’s grace, our church has been able to send some brothers and sisters out for theological studies. There is a pursuit of theology.
Overall, God has shown our church much grace. Although there are many obstacles, his grace is sufficient for us. We are here to witness God’s work, and the church is in a good state overall. God has been protecting and caring for this church.
Rapid Development
Pan Raiqi: Shenzhen is a young city, just over 40 years old. Shenzhen’s transformation from a frontier town to a metropolis epitomizes China’s rapid development over the past four decades.
Shenzhen has nearly 18 million permanent residents, and has a high population density [8,889 people per square kilometer]. Nearly two-thirds of Shenzhen’s residents are non-local, from another part of China. The average age is young, 32.5. Many here have never heard the gospel, read the Bible, or attended a Christian gathering. It’s a vast harvest field for the gospel.
In the few years I’ve served here, our congregation has changed by 50 percent. Pastoral care is difficult
“Making money” is a common slogan and aspiration, and is the unspoken assumption in many interpersonal relationships.
In the few years I’ve served here, our congregation has changed by 50 percent. Pastoral care is difficult. We serve with a broader perspective of God’s kingdom, because many probably won’t stay in Shenzhen until retirement. Even those who do, may leave afterward.
Lu Yudong, Wang Yijian, and Pan Raiqi are pseudonyms for Chinese house church pastors in the southeastern Chinese city of Shenzhen.
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Pray for Shenzhen churches trying to share the gospel with a highly mobile, rapidly changing population.
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