Editor’s note: This is the second part of a post sharing the stories of Chinese Christian parents who decide to send their children overseas so they can obtain a Christian education. If you missed part one, be sure to check it out. You’ll get more background on the factors that lead families to consider education abroad. You’ll also meet Jeremiah, one of the students whose story is told in this post. Note that all names have been changed.
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
The Faith and Struggles of Jeremiah and His Family
In early 2023, I was contacted by Jeremiah’s parents to investigate our school that their mission partners highly recommended. In that conversation, we had agreed to arrange a campus tour for their family after the father finished the busiest season of their church. They were willing to enroll Jeremiah in our school and were thrilled at the prospect of accompanying him on his first journey abroad. They were eager to see the school where their son might study for years to come. Later, I learned that the entire family had been granted visas by the Philippine embassy. Their joy and excitement were palpable.
Unexpectedly, a few months after our last conversation, I received information from another contact who was on the same mission as Jeremiah’s father. He informed me that police had arrested Jeremiah’s father and several elders from their church. They were all accused of economic fraud, with his father being identified as the leader of the alleged “criminal group” due to his role as the pastor of the church. As of now, no one knows their whereabouts or their current situation. In the meantime, Jeremiah’s mother has been placed under house arrest so she can care for their three children. This sudden turn of events has completely disrupted the family’s once-perfect plan.
“Economic fraud” has become a new tool of persecution against the underground churches. Since 1949, Christianity has been viewed with suspicion by the communist government. At different times, authorities have used various pretexts to suppress, control, punish, intimidate, and even eradicate Christianity as they saw fit. However, the global nature of Christian churches has provided some protection through international connections.
To mitigate negative attention from the international society and curb criticism of human rights violations, the Chinese government has changed methods as well as the terms. They have labeled persecution actions with various accusations, including illegal assembly, illegal preaching, illegal possession of property, and illegal operations, among others. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many churches were shut down under the guise of lockdown regulations.
Today, one of the government’s tactics to deflect attention and criticism is to accuse underground Christian churches of economic fraud. The so-called evidence used is the fundamental practice of churches collecting offerings.
Through God’s grace, a former member of Jeremiah’s father’s church, who has two children studying at our school, happened to be visiting her parents in the same city as Jeremiah when the tragic news broke. Alongside a group of compassionate brothers and sisters, they made a bold decision to secretly bring Jeremiah to the Philippines to attend his planned school entrance tests. They meticulously planned the operation, arranging for Jeremiah to go out shopping with his passport and essential belongings. When I met young Jeremiah in Manila, he had a backpack containing everything he needed, carefully concealed inside.
As soon as 15-year-old Jeremiah settled in Manila, he began preparing for the grade nine entrance tests. Jeremiah’s parents were committed to raising their children according to Biblical teachings, so they enrolled their three children in a Christian-established underground school. In this school, the children spent many hours reciting Bible verses alongside their main subjects like mathematics and Chinese language. English was offered as a supplemental course with limited hours compared to other subjects like science and literature appreciation. Even though the school offered English studies, the primary focus was on passing exams rather than deep language understanding and practices.
This type of education greatly enhanced the quantity of Jeremiah’s knowledge of Bible verses but created an imbalance in his overall academic development. Unfortunately, despite his hard work and confidence, Jeremiah failed the entrance exam. This failure came as a severe blow to him, as he had hoped to pass the tests easily and bring comfort and joy to his struggling parents. The test results left him feeling devastated and discouraged.
Young Jeremiah, feeling overwhelmed and defeated, expressed his desire to go home and cried to his guardian, “Why am I here? I’m a failure, a coward who ran away from oppression, leaving my mom alone with my younger brothers. Even though I’m the oldest child, I can’t help my father or anyone else…”
Meanwhile, his mother, who was still under house arrest and aware that their home was under surveillance, received the information about Jeremiah’s distress. She knew that her phone conversations were being monitored by the authorities. In a careful move, she locked herself in the bathroom, which was the safest place from intense scrutiny, and used her hidden phone to contact Jeremiah. She forbade him from returning, encouraging him to attend the English tutoring for the next entrance exam.
James and Tim
James and Tim are siblings who grew up in various mission fields where their parents were sent. Originally from the countryside in the northeastern part of China, their parents experienced a calling from God during revival activities in the early 1990s. In response, their father became involved in the remarkable evangelism movements of the time, traveling through rural areas to preach the gospel and plant churches. This period was marked by great revivals initiated by the Holy Spirit, which began in the countryside and gradually spread to urban areas as the Chinese government embarked on economic reforms. As part of the mobilization of young workers from countryside to cities, James and Tim’s parents eventually settled outside of Shanghai, a city poised to become a hub of international business and trade in China.
James and Tim’s father shared with me the hardships their family endured during the first 20 years after leaving the familiar rural areas. They were sent without any provisions, driven solely by the clear calling to “urbanize rural churches.” They had to struggle to find their daily bread while diligently planting churches. He remarked, “We had nothing except the strong faith in Jesus’s love.” Despite all the challenges and difficulties, this young countryside couple successfully built many churches in different cities. Amidst their extreme busyness, James and Tim were born two years apart. Whenever I asked about their childhood, they would delight me with fun stories from their parents’ mission trips. Frequent relocations made these siblings the best of friends.
James and Tim’s parents made remarkable contributions to the ministry, planting countless churches in various areas. However, they did not invest much time in developing their own children, mistakenly believing that education was solely the responsibility of teachers and schools. Additionally, they subscribed to the theory that good students are quiet ones. As a result, James and Tim remained quiet students regardless of how many schools they attended. In 2018, their father was “kidnapped” by security police, forcing the entire family to move out of China.
As soon as the family settled in Manila in early 2019, James and Tim were enrolled in an English and Tagalog bilingual school. Once again, their non-English-speaking parents assumed James and Tim could manage the transition. This significant change made the brothers even quieter. Despite this, their parents believed the boys had mastered English simply because they were exposed to it daily and none of their teachers used Chinese. Consequently, the goal was set for the boys to attend the best Christian international school. However, both boys failed the entrance tests for three different school years. Tim confided in me after we met in 2022, saying, “I left the test room after only 25 minutes because I didn’t understand any of the questions. It’s so hard!”
The reality is that James and Tim faced more than just the struggle of learning English. Due to years of educational neglect, they missed out on acquiring fundamental knowledge appropriate for their age. Unfortunately, James and Tim are not unique in this situation; they represent hundreds of thousands of children in Chinese Christian ministers’ families who experience similar challenges.
The Divine Reaction
An efficient tutoring program must be provided!
Parents need training in biblical education. They need to understand their calling to disciple their own children.
Understanding Western education is also crucial for helping Chinese ministers’ children.
We need to train more bilingual ELL teachers. They can help struggling students grasp essential vocabulary and knowledge.
While helping Chinese ministers’ children meet academic requirements for school acceptance, I received invaluable assistance, suggestions, and insightful conversations from experienced educators. Many of them volunteered their time, teaching these struggling children after their full-time jobs. Others dedicated themselves to helping Chinese parents understand the challenges their children face. We are all motivated by our shared belief that God is sovereign over the entire world. He upholds the universe, and at times, he uses us to equip more qualified Chinese ministers for his kingdom’s sake, looking toward the future.
It has been a privilege to meet so many ministers’ children and get to know their parents, who are fervently working to expand the kingdom in mainland China. Hearing the incredible stories from both the children and their parents, I feel I understand why the Chinese church is once again facing severe oppression, with Christian children now becoming the target. This implicit self-exodus happening in China seems to embody God’s mercy and unfailing love. Without this persecution and oppression, we would undoubtedly lose our children forever; under the communist schemes, our children would be brainwashed and become poorly educated rebels against the truth. Such a scenario would mark a dark period for Christian churches on earth.
“If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Corinthians 12:26–27).
One candle can light a square, but thousands of candles can illuminate a path out of darkness. This path leads people to the Triune God! These children’s stories invite you to see that God has a great plan to use these Chinese children in his worldwide kingdom expansion!
Image credit: Rajesh Ram via UnSplash.
Helen Wu
Helen Wu came to Christ at the age of 22 and immediately began serving in the church. In 1999, she and a Scandinavian missionary established the Christian Cultural Center in a border area of China, where she and her husband have lived for most of the time. As young artists …View Full Bio
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