The first time I met a Christian surnamed Zhang was in his office. Not very tall and slightly overweight, he didn't seem particularly skilled in conversation, giving off a friendly demeanor. However, once he started talking, he spoke openly about his journey of faith and his service in Sunday School, even adding a touch of humor.
Male Sunday school teachers are quite rare in the Chinese church, and Zhang is one of them, who has been serving for seven to eight years. When discussing his calling, he first shared his faith journey.
From a downward spiral of faith to restoring faith and becoming a core worker
Zhang followed Jesus at a young age, and in elementary school, he would go to church with his mother. However, by middle school, he no longer wanted to attend, as he believed there was no God and that humans evolved from apes. As a result, he would go out to play on weekends, sometimes coming home to eat, and other times eating at friends' houses. His mother rarely saw him.
The turning point came in college. According to his usual academic performance, he should have at least been able to get into an undergraduate program, but he didn’t even meet the cutoff for a second-tier school and ended up at a vocational school. It was at this university that he picked up the faith he had abandoned.
Church workers came to the school to conduct a faith survey, and he wrote down that he was a Christian and left his phone number. Later, he discovered that there were several Christians in his class who attended services. It was then that he started going to church with his classmates and began his church life, although his mind was still focused on developing his talents.
A few points shy, he didn’t advance to an undergraduate program. Then, the girl he was pursuing started dating another guy. Yet God never left him and did a renewing work in his life during his most difficult times. "During that time, I just liked going to fellowship meetings and participating in prayer meetings. Later, I started reading the Bible and the Holy Spirit began to transform me. I participated steadily in fellowship service, becoming a small group leader and a core worker," he said.
Rejecting the call of full-time ministry
After graduating from college, Zhang worked for a while before joining the church where he currently serves. He clearly remembers the moment he was called, but he admitted that he didn't "acknowledge" this calling at the time. He was determined to make much money, and his girlfriend (now his wife) also stated that she would not marry someone in full-time ministry.
After getting married, he went through many challenges. His father was diagnosed with late-stage cancer, and Zhang cared for him until his passing. Afterward, his wife’s attitude did a 180-degree turn, from opposing his full-time ministry to fully supporting it. And so, his full-time ministry began.
Before going full-time, he would play with the kids in Sunday School but didn’t need to teach them. This was simply because the pastor had once asked him which area of ministry he felt burdened for, and he "inexplicably" answered, "youth ministry." He explained, "From a human perspective, it was a mistake, but from a spiritual perspective, it was God’s special work."
He recalled, "Through this, God tempered my temperament. It seemed like I was serving them, but God was using them to shape my character." Zhang described himself as quick-tempered, easily getting into arguments when things didn’t go his way, but he found that being patient with children was important. However, he also said that this process was like Moses shepherding in the wilderness for 40 years—it was a painful, unforgettable, and yet deeply grateful experience. "I think during this process, it's not about whether you accept your fate, but about understanding how God is leading you. Many people say, 'My fate is determined by me, not by heaven,' but in reality, no one can control their destiny. The more you try to control it, the more you lose; when you let go, you find that God will certainly lead you safely through the storm without capsizing the boat," he said.
Challenges of serving in an urban church Sunday school
From going full-time to now, Zhang has been working in the Sunday School ministry for seven to eight years and has gained many insights into the difficulties of serving in this area.
First, parents focus much more on their children's academic performance than on their spiritual lives, and so do some Sunday school teachers.
"Parents definitely prioritize their children's studies and then consider their spiritual life. Moreover, when the two conflict, they will always sacrifice their children's spiritual growth."
He noted that nowadays, parents enroll their children in many tutoring classes, making weekends busier than weekdays. Sometimes, he would inform parents three weeks in advance about a three- or four-day summer camp, hoping they would reserve the time for their children. But still, some parents politely declined, citing their children's tutoring classes. Even more disheartening is that some Sunday School teachers, though they verbally express the importance of children's spiritual lives, still prioritize academic performance.
Second, after the pandemic, many people became accustomed to online gatherings and rarely attended in-person services, resulting in children seldom coming to Sunday School.
Zhang said that many families in urban churches are scattered across different locations. Before the pandemic, these families could attend services in person. However, since many got used to online services during the COVID-19 pandemic, they seldom return to onsite gatherings now. When adults don’t attend gatherings in person, it becomes difficult for Sunday School teachers to meet the children. For a time, even online Sunday School sessions were irregular, and children have a short attention span online. It wasn't until this year that their online Sunday School gradually stabilized, with two services conducted every week in the evening.
Meanwhile, some parents are reluctant to make sacrifices.
During the pandemic, Zhang consistently advocated that parents spend more time teaching their children to read the Bible and pray, and establish a family altar to lay a strong foundation for their children’s faith. However, many parents were unwilling to make this sacrifice. When they returned home, they either spent time on their phones or only asked about their children's homework and academic performance, without showing concern for whether their children were reading the Bible. Another challenge was that many parents themselves did not lead a pious life; at home, they only wanted their children not to bother them.
Fourth, Sunday School teachers lack time to do home visits and some parents reject visits, too.
With the current economic downturn, each person faces significant financial pressure. Sunday School teachers also have their own jobs and families, so sometimes they don't have time to visit children. Moreover, even when teachers do have time, some parents reject the visits because they feel it is not necessary.
Fifth, the impact of atheistic education on children’s faith can not be overlooked.
Zhang believes that atheistic education greatly hinders children's faith. Some children, who had established a foundation of faith in church when they were young, began to waver in their faith when they reached middle school and encountered atheistic teachings. Their textbooks taught them that there is no God and promoted evolution.
Some children would ask their parents whether humans were created by God or evolved from apes. Others had questions about dinosaurs and dinosaur fossils because the Bible doesn’t mention dinosaurs. Many parents also didn’t know how to explain these things to their children.
Calling on the church to pay attention to Sunday school
Zhang said that many people don’t care much about Sunday school because it is a high-investment yet zero-output ministry. Many children who attend Sunday School drift away from the church in high school or college.
However, he still believes that the church should prioritize Sunday school because some of these children might become pastors or missionaries. Even though some children may drift away, many of them eventually return to God. Moreover, children's faith is often stronger than that of adults; they believe God’s words with simplicity. When they face problems, their first thought is to pray, and they reflect on their faith.
He shared two examples. His three daughters once laid hands on his van and prayed for it to start, and it did start after a week of being parked in the cold winter for being unable to start. Another time, his eldest daughter had a fever and refused to take medicine to reduce it. Zhang was worried that her fever would worsen the next day, but she assured him that the fever would go down as she had prayed to God. The next day, just as she said, the fever was gone and left only a runny nose and a cough. After these experiences, Zhang began to reflect on his own faith. He realized that although he was in full-time ministry and had read the Bible more than his children with more knowledge of the belief, his faith wasn’t as strong as theirs. He then understood the meaning of the Bible's teaching that unless one becomes like a little child, one cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.
Furthermore, based on his years of ministry to children, he has observed that the spiritual life of children who grow up in Sunday school is largely related to parental influence. A Sunday school teacher may spend, at most, two hours a week with a child, and sometimes they don’t even see the child on Sundays. Although the teacher does influence the child’s faith, it’s not as significant as the parental influence. The amount of time spent together correlates directly with the level of influence.
Someone suggested he conduct a survey on the spiritual growth of children who grew up in Sunday school. He expressed that while he would like to do this, he can hardly contact those children now. Many of them have drifted away because their parents have also gradually disappeared from the church.
Finally, he mentioned that it is not the work of any one person or ministry that can fully nurture children's ministry; every ministry needs to play its part. He gave some examples. If a father is edified in a men's retreat and is willing to be a good husband and father, he will certainly pay attention to his child's spiritual education. If a mother receives grace in a women's retreat and shifts her focus to God, she will become more concerned about her child's spiritual life. If someone restores their relationship with God through daily devotions, they will gain the strength and wisdom to face opposition from their family regarding their own and their child's faith.
- Edited by Karen Luo, translated by Abigail Wu
