Editor’s note: Fuzhou pastors share how we can pray for them, their city, their churches, and their families.
“Special Mercy on This Generation”
China Partnership: How can we pray for your churches and families?
Shi Heping: There are three main ways.
First, right now our church is setting up its polity. Because of that, we hope the church can be healthy, mature, and well-ordered, and that we have a gospel community relationship where we “live and die together.” Please pray for this. Right now, we are planning a congregational meeting, and want to talk about church membership. Pray for the church polity.
Second, we hope that pastors and co-workers in the church can be renewed more deeply by the gospel. Pray we will understand how to contextualize the gospel, and be filled with passion and hope. Some of those who work in our church feel very hopeless. They don’t feel they can see a future, and they don’t know what to do. We need to be constantly renewed by the gospel, and to still have hope. We believe that every era – even the worst of times – is also the best of times, because God has given us the gospel. We need to still have hope and passion. Sometimes I also feel pain, but I must turn to Christ and hold onto hope.
We pray that the Lord will have special mercy on this generation. As parents, we have to face pressure from schools and society. We pray that we can stand firm and not follow their ways, that we can walk according to God’s will and design and not get caught up in the “rat race.””
Third, pray for our family. The current educational system has a huge impact on children. For instance, today we had some time to spend with our son. When we suggested that we read Bible stories together, he said, “I’m already so tired, do I have to study more?” Academic pressure has already taken up so much of his energy.
So, sometimes at home, I give my child more grace time. If he wants to eat ice cream when he gets home, let him. Let him do something he enjoys. Since he already has so much pressure on him from school, I feel that, as parents, we shouldn’t pressure or push him, but be comforting and tolerant.
We pray that God will give us wisdom to raise our son. Before he started school, he was optimistic and laughed a lot. But since he began school, both he and his classmates have become very sad. The teachers also use all kinds of threat and intimidation. Many teachers don’t educate with wisdom, because – just like everyone else – they are also caught up in a “rat race.” Pray for God to protect our children’s health.
The other day, we had an interesting conversation. I told our son to study hard so he could find a job in the future. And he said, “Dad, could I be a pastor like Mom?” I told him that, if he wants to be a pastor, he also needed to study hard.
The life of the church brings a lot of relief, because there is a sharp contrast between the outside world and Sunday school at church. We hope that the pain of school is a good thing, that it shatters his dreams of a career in this life, and gives him more heart for the kingdom of God. Of course, we also pray that God will protect him and help him endure. Sometimes, when I see him with tears in his eyes as he does his homework, it breaks my heart.
Never miss a story
The house churches in Fuzhou are actually relatively weak. So, I have always prayed that the Fuzhou churches would be revived again.
Never miss a story
Sign up to receive our weekly email with our original articles.
We pray that the Lord will have special mercy on this generation. As parents, we have to face pressure from schools and society. We pray that we can stand firm and not follow their ways, that we can walk according to God’s will and design and not get caught up in the “rat race.” We pray for God’s protection and care in all this. We especially ask God to give us pastors more wisdom to lead our families, and that husbands and wives can be more united.
May the Fuzhou Church Be Revived Again
Gao Yile: The church in Fuzhou once had a great revival, with people like Watchman Nee and Wang Zai. But when I came here, I found that the house churches in Fuzhou are actually relatively weak. So, I have always prayed that the Fuzhou churches would be revived again, to be like the missionaries and spiritual giants of that time.
Our church has several co-workers, and each co-worker leads a small group. One of the small group leaders wants to return to his hometown, and another leader just told me a few days ago that he wants to step down from leading because the pressure is too high. So, the situation in our church is not easy right now.
It’s also true that the all the believers have opinions about the church and about me as the leaders. Please pray for me to know how to handle this, how to rely on the Lord to endure, to be more self-denying, more loving, and to shepherd them better.
As for our family, our children are homeschooled. Public education is very difficult, but homeschooling has its own troubles. It’s like crossing a river by feeling for stones. There is no certainty about the future, and we are just figuring it out as we go. It’s not easy, and we don’t know what the future holds for our children. We just entrust it to the Lord.
For the Second Generation of Christians
Preacher Yu: Recently, I’ve been having a major problem at church. I’ve been trying to communicate with the people, but they don’t seem to welcome it. Right now, this is my most painful issue. Because we have different views on things, some problems have arisen that have not been resolved.
There is no certainty about the future, and we are just figuring it out as we go. It’s not easy, and we don’t know what the future holds for our children.
As for family, please pray for my eldest daughter. Our relationship doesn’t seem very good right now. Although my children all grew up in Sunday school, I feel they haven’t truly entered into salvation. This is also a great difficulty.
Looking around, it seems there are very few people from Christian families – including pastors’ families – who are truly saved from a young age. This is a big issue.
Shi Heping, Gao Yile, and Preacher Yu are pseudonyms for house church pastors in Fuzhou.
Pray for Christian families to have wisdom in knowing how to raise and educate their children in a time of difficulty and intense pressure.
