Editor’s note: This is the last post about the city of Yantai, a coastal town in Shandong Province. Although Yantai has a long Christian history, local leaders are praying the city will follow Jesus in the present-day.
China Partnership: Is there a passage of Scripture that makes you think of the city of Yantai?
Praying for Repentance
Zhang Anwei: This year our church has been preaching through Jonah and Nahum, and both point to one city: Nineveh. We thought about it, and realized that missionaries came to Yantai 160 years ago. And, from Jonah until Nahum’s prophecy [of destruction of Nineveh] was fulfilled was about a century and a half, and Yantai is now at a century and a half, too.
So, Jonah 4:11 came to mind:
“And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”
I hope God will not destroy Yantai! [Laughter.] But I pray he will have mercy on us, and let us still be able to preach the gospel to this city. I feel it all the more urgently, to pray that more people in this city of Yantai would repent, because this city has truly received God’s grace. May Yantai not simply stay where it is, living off the gospel dividend of an earlier day. But may there truly be hope that this city will repent, from the top down.
A City on a Hill
Sister Wen: Two passages came to my mind. Matthew 5:14 says:
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
This idea of a city on a hill suits Yantai in two ways. One is its geography – Yantai is exactly a lighthouse set on a hill. The other is the way the gospel flowed outward from it, because the gospel essentially entered the interior through this place. Yantai carried a great deal of that. In its own day it was not hidden, and God used it.
But, with the changes of these past years that we have been discussing – including the aging of the whole city and this loss of talent – I also think that it is a test of endurance and perseverance for those serving as ministers. Especially when everyone is elderly, it is genuinely hard. However much heart and vision you have, you will find it very hard. So, another passage came to mind.
Never miss a story
Isaiah 43:19 says:
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Once, Yantai was set on a hill and was not hidden. It was used, and it blessed Shandong Province and every part of China. I hope God can also use the churches still serving here today to go on doing his new thing.
The things they did were really quite ordinary, and yet the influence was considerable.
Small Things
Yu Kangxi: I read a book called The Day of Small Things, written by Anna Pruitt, an early missionary to our city and the wife of early missionary C.W. Pruitt. When I read that account, there was really nothing spectacular in it, and not many of what look like miracles. They were simply preaching the gospel in Longkou, and it was because of them that the church in Longkou afterward grew up, so that there was a seminary and churches. The things they did were really quite ordinary, and yet the influence was considerable. I think that is why her book is called The Day of Small Things: she looked at what she was doing, and it seemed very small.
That corresponds to Zechariah 4:10, which says,
“Who dares despise the day of small things?”
That verse shows that when the gospel comes into this world the great mountain is moved, and it is by the Spirit of God that anything is accomplished. We can be downcast when we look at a great many things in this era. But look at the people of former days – they simply finished what God had entrusted to them. There was nothing spectacular, and yet the church grew, God changed things, and afterward revival came.
“Who has despised the day of small things?” Through this verse we should live in this era with faith. In great things or small, we can ask God to give us the faithfulness to do even the very small things.
Jesus Is Faithful
CP: Let’s pray.
Father in heaven, we thank and praise you, that today we have heard our dear brothers and sisters speak of Yantai, and how, in the history of the gospel, you used it greatly. You dealt kindly with it, and made it an important gateway through which missionaries entered the interior. Lord, in that era you used those missionaries and scattered the seed of the gospel across the land of China.
You have dealt kindly with Yantai, and we believe that in the past, present, and the future, your grace has never departed.
As brothers and sisters have described, in this era our service cannot help but grow harder. People under the influence of secularism are chasing after comfort or resisting the gospel altogether. The present situation has so much persecution that pastors are worn in both body and soul, the churches are aging, and we may feel powerless as we serve.
But Lord, nothing can hinder your love for us. You are faithful. You have dealt kindly with Yantai, and we believe that in the past, present, and the future, your grace has never departed. Keep stirring up every pastor and laborer with your gospel. According to your will, may you go on blessing them and blessing this city. Many years from now, when we look back on this season, we will still be able to go on counting your blessings and your grace.
You, Lord Jesus, have already overcome. Though it looks dark, your light has already shone in – you are the true light, and nothing can stop the spread of your gospel. Please keep helping and strengthening us. You know every situation in the churches, and we ask you to faithfully supply, lead and help.
We pray this in the victorious name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Zhang Anwei, Yu Kangxi, and Sister Wen are pseudonyms for house church leaders in Yantai.
Pray for Yantai to repent from its sins and to turn to Christ.
