Editor’s note: This the last post in our series on Nanning, a southern China city that locals say feels a little like an overgrown village. Today, church leaders say to pray for believers to understand the power of the gospel and to be transformed by God’s work in their lives. They ask for prayer for the young people of their city, who are often aimless; and hope that their churches can understand how to serve the people of Nanning as a whole. Most of all, they long for God to work in their churches and their city, and to reveal himself more and more.
“Pray for God to Keep Working”
China Partnership: How can we pray for your church and your families in Nanning?
Pastor Zeng: Our church is almost a decade old, and has about 50 adults and children. Most adults are middle-aged.
For the church, pray the gospel will truly reach people’s hearts. That requires constant renewal and the work of the spirit. Pray for the preaching of the gospel, both in church and society. We believe the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.
Young people, especially, are quite lost about the future. They don’t have much hope but just get by, not knowing what tomorrow holds… Pray for God to work in their hearts.
Second, as we shepherd our church, we need co-laborers who are willing to take initiative: in church prayer, evangelistic visits, care, mothers’ fellowships, and reaching believers’ families and seekers. We need God to raise up more brothers and sisters – pray for that.
Pray that God will keep working in people’s hearts. I feel young people, especially, are quite lost about the future. They don’t have much hope but just get by, not knowing what tomorrow holds and unwilling to think about the future. Pray for God to work in their hearts. For older people, they need to turn away from traditional folk religion and turn to the gospel that truly saves.
The church needs more laborers, and it’s not easy to raise them. There aren’t many Christians, and only a few feel called and willing. I’m not thinking just of those who work in the church – I also hope the church can have more pastors. Some of our branches have been looking for pastors. No one is coming here from outside, and it takes a long time to raise up our own people.
Pray that the church would keep a heart for evangelism; that, whether the time is favorable or not, we would continue to preach.
Our church has some people with mental health issues like depression and schizophrenia. Shepherding and responding to these issues is really hard, and I haven’t found much material on how to respond, especially for schizophrenia. Pray for me as I shepherd those with mental illness.
As for my family, please pray for my teenage son. He hasn’t really taken the gospel to heart: he lacks fear of God, love for the truth, and hunger for God.
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“I Need to Experience the Gospel”
Brother Jiang: After some years away, I returned to ministry about a year and a half ago. I needed to rebuild my ministry confidence, but also my own faith and spiritual life. It took a while. As those were rebuilt, I could start serving again.
I myself need to receive more from the gospel. I need to experience it. Then, however many brothers and sisters I am able to accompany, we can learn and grow and know God together, and walk out the rest of our days.
My mindset as I start ministry again is very different than before. After a season of re-learning and understanding the gospel, I feel the gospel is the power of God. If you really believe it’s the power of God, and that the gospel alone can solve every human need, that’s what we need to focus on – whether in pastoring, our own individual lives, or teaching. In the past, I was always looking for methods and strategies to make ministry more effective. After failure, I’ve rethought this. Paul was the way he was because he believed the gospel is the power of God. He didn’t know anything else except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
So, that’s where I am as I start again. If I could spend my life accompanying just one brother – learning Scripture and understanding the gospel together – what could be better? Why worry about how big the church gets?
Last time, we grew too fast. It was too fast, too famous, and everyone knew our church. But so what? How was my relationship with God? Was I really enjoying God’s love in the gospel? If not, it was just a job, something for me to achieve with my own gifts and abilities.
Now, I think differently. First, I myself need to receive more from the gospel. I need to experience it. Then, however many brothers and sisters I am able to accompany, we can learn and grow and know God together, and walk out the rest of our days.
As for prayer requests, first, I hope for better time to study and read – to know God and the gospel more deeply, and to love God more so I have strength to serve. The more I know God and the gospel, the more I can give in teaching and shepherding. I don’t have enough time, but I want to equip myself. We can’t give what we don’t have.
Second, I hope to stay focused on God’s word and the gospel. When pastoring, it’s easy to take shortcuts, to look for quicker ways to help or to try and solve people’s life problems. I want to keep my eyes off those things, and focus on preaching, teaching, and helping people understand.
Third, we’ve just started a new church. Understanding of and zeal for the gospel is starting to grow. After years, only now are people really understanding the gospel, wanting to know God more and understand Scripture more deeply. That fruit comforts me. But others are not as zealous – they are still focused on work, making money, or other things. Within our church, I hope God will open the spiritual eyes of more believers so they can understand and receive the gospel.
We have a small group of about 10 in the new church with us, and we all share the same vision. It’s not about numbers; we really enjoy the group. My wife often says we should cherish this season when we’re few. The relationships are close now – but when there are more people, it can be hard to care for everyone. Everyone says it feels good, and we really enjoy it.
For my family, pray for deeper unity. We are fairly united in serving, but I hope for deeper unity in the faith, and for us to grow together.
“Drawing Young People to Faith”
Brother An: Our church has about 100 adults and 30-plus children. Most adults are middle-aged, in their 30s to 60s. Although there are very few young people now, in the last couple of years, we’ve had more and more children. In the past, we didn’t know how to build the church, and we lost many young people. Now, we want to hold onto children and youth. A big challenge is how to draw young people to the church.
Pray for the church to connect more deeply with the city – to have a channel, a way in. Some want to serve but don’t know how – we may need to “feel our way” through. Pray for us to know how to serve the young people of the city and bring them to faith and into the church.
The more I know God and the gospel, the more I can give in teaching and shepherding… We can’t give what we don’t have.
Pray for God to raise up more laborers, and for the preaching of the word. We hope to plant another church next year; pray that more people would have that vision, and that people would see the church is intended to be a blessing to the city. God has placed us here to love the people of this city and the city itself, and to go among them and serve. We need that heart to grow. We need to reach out.
As for my family, pray for two things. Those who come into our home are mostly believers. Pray we can open our home to seekers and those who don’t yet know the gospel.
The second is to pray for our child. Our child is 10, and seems to have mild autistic traits – for instance, if you ask him to add 7 plus 8, he has to think a long time. Sometimes, when we’re teaching, we can’t help feeling impatient. Pray that we will truly receive him, and that God will give us more patience and love, because he is a precious life from God.
Pastor Zeng, Brother Jiang, and Brother An are pseudonyms for house church leaders in Nanning.
Pray for Nanning pastors and church leaders to be personally transformed by the power of the gospel.
