“This is the second time my husband and I have been in the United States. The first time we came, he was doing research at a university in another city, where there were a lot of Chinese Christians. Not long after we arrived, some people from the Chinese church came to visit and shared the Gospel with me. I believed, but my husband did not (or does he yet).
"I had heard about Jesus from my mother, who is a very devout Christian. It was her mother that introduced Christ to her. Even though she is technically illiterate, my grandmother can read off large passages of the Bible. It’s amazing. My father, a member of the Party, is an atheist, but he greatly admires the way my mother has been taking care of him since he suffered a terrible stroke some years ago.
“Without really understanding much, I received baptism. When we returned to China, I began attending a house church near two major universities (my husband was a professor at one of them). Because of our location, all the people who attended meetings were professors or graduate students, even some people in administration.
“Within a few months, however, someone in the neighborhood complained, so our group had to stop meeting in that apartment and moved to a place across town. It was so far away that I found it too inconvenient to go there on Sundays. It’s such a shame. They [the police] wanted us all to attend the state-sponsored church, but we didn’t want to. My husband really does like this aspect of life in China now, even though he is not a believer.
“He also can’t abide all the politics, pandering to people, and even corruption that is necessary if you want to advance in your academic career in China. In addition, he considers the research facilities and opportunities better in the U.S., so he took a very low position as a researcher at the university here.
“While we were still in China, my faith was weak and my behavior did not commend the Gospel to my husband. It was hard for me, seeing him lacking in normal ambition, passing up so many good opportunities to succeed. Other people thought we were really naïve. I envied their higher salaries and comfortable lives – though we lived very well, too, with a big house and new car – and complained to my husband. For this reason, he says that Christianity is not very attractive to him.
“Since we have been here this time, I have struggled a great deal. With no friends, not much English, no job, and no position in society, I was tempted to go back to China, where my old job was waiting for me. But my husband said that would wreck our family, and I knew he was right, so I decided to give up my position in China and remain here to serve as a wife and mother. I know this is what God wants me to do.
“I am trying to learn how to respect and submit to my husband, even though he neglects to attend to some things that seem necessary for us to live here on a long-term basis.
“When I heard the testimony of a Chinese woman who was baptized recently, I was deeply moved. My heart responded when she told of how she had been learning how to forgive those who hurt her and to forsake the idols of career and success. I am so glad that I can have fellowship now with her and the others in our group.
“Attending the American church they go to is hard for me. The pastor speaks so fast that I don’t understand; I don’t really like being in a large gathering of people; my husband and my son don’t like to come. But they attended the baptism with me because we had been invited and because he knows I’ve been feeling lonely recently.
“My husband is more of a Daoist, I guess, though he doesn’t oppose me for believing in God and wanting to meet with other Christians. But he’s not impressed with the way Chinese Christians give their all to follow Christ; he thinks that’s a bit extreme. On the other hand, he doesn’t think much of the way Americans who say they are Christians don’t live the way Christians should. I guess I just need to pray for him and try to be a better wife to him. I am complaining less now and trying to express to him my growing respect for him as a hard-working man.”
This narrative by a woman from China illustrates a number of features common to the rapid spread of Christianity among China’s intellectual elite. Among them:
The growing number of intellectuals who are investigating Christianity, becoming Christians, and forming their own small house churches.
Continued opposition from the official church, some neighbors, and the Public Security Bureau in some parts of China.
The influence of older people who have become believers, some of them through their own aged parents.
The zeal of Chinese Christians overseas to share the Gospel with new arrivals from China.
The haste with which some Chinese churches administer baptism, resulting in large numbers of “Christians” who don’t really know what they believe.
The continuing pull of non-Christian values, such as success.
The continued reach of the atheistic worldview engendered by communism over the past several decades.
The negative influence of nominal Christianity in the West.
The powerful impact of changed lives and testimonies by new believers.
The challenges of living overseas, and the openness this sometimes creates towards Christianity and Christians who provide an alternate community for people far from home and family.
The important but limited role that Western Christians have in evangelizing Chinese scholars overseas.
G. Wright Doyle