I met Shuya, a male pastor who was born in the 1980s, at the end of June this year, in his home. When we arrived, his wife was playing with their three-year-old child. The child was quite energetic, running around and sweating heavily. However, there was no air conditioning or even a fan in the house.
When we arrived, Shuya quickly turned on the air conditioner, as the temperature outside was 40°C. After a while, the temperature in the room began to drop, and we were able to have a proper conversation.
The Church’s Unjust Dismissal of His Wife
Shuya and his wife had both been serving full-time at a church for several years. One day, a church leader approached his wife and told her, “You can continue to serve, but the church will no longer support you financially.” Later, Shuya learned that another sister in Christ was also dismissed at the same time. Both had children, and the church felt that raising children hindered their ability to serve in the mission field.
After being dismissed, Shuya’s wife was heartbroken and deeply hurt, unable to accept what had happened.
Struggles of a Grassroots Pastor’s Family
For Shuya, whose family lives a modest life, providing for them was already difficult, and it became even harder after his wife was dismissed. He serves full-time at the church, earning a base salary of only 1,000 yuan. He is required to preach every Sunday and fast once a month. Additionally, he earns 150 yuan each time he goes out to serve.
Shuya has been serving the church for many years. Over time, his full-time ministry has transitioned from being stationed at one place to circuit preaching (assigned duties) to urban church planting.
However, the assignments are often decided solely by church leaders, who determine who gets assigned and how much work they receive. Those with closer relationships with the leaders often get more assignments, while others with less rapport receive fewer.
Eventually, Shuya realized that he and other grassroots pastors were being unfairly treated, with few assignments each month. As a result, his monthly earnings, including his base salary, often amounted to around 2,000 yuan. In the 2020s, this amount is far from enough to support a family in a big city.
Preachers are humans too. They need to pay rent and their children’s kindergarten fees—two major expenses for his family. Beyond these, they also need money for groceries, utilities, gas, internet, transportation, communication, and clothing. And of course, there are occasional medical expenses for both adults and children.
Struggling Forward: Urban Church Planting
About a year ago, Shuya decided to challenge himself by planting a church in an urban area. Church planting had some economic advantages for his family—the church could support them financially for three years, significantly easing their burden during that time. After three years, however, they would need to be self-sufficient.
One of the main reasons he decided to plant a church was due to two sources. During a particularly difficult time in his ministry and personal life, an older Christian woman saw his struggles and suggested, “Why not go plant a church?” Initially, he was worried about whether it would succeed. After visiting the city, she encouraged him, saying that if he wasn’t afraid of failure, there was nothing to fear. Her words greatly changed his perspective.
Last year, Shuya took a leadership training course. One of the courses encouraged trainees to break out of their comfort zones and be willing to try new things. He recalled from the course a video, which showed a horse stuck in the mud and struggling to escape. Other horses gathered around, cheering it on, and with their help and encouragement, it finally got out of the mud. “After finishing the course, I thought, ‘I need to try. Even if I fail in the end, I won’t regret it. Ministry shouldn’t always be comfortable; sometimes it requires taking risks and stepping outside your comfort zone.’”
With this decision made, Shuya discussed it with his church leaders, and they agreed to support him for three years. After that, Shuya and his family moved to the city to begin planting the church.
From Shuya’s personal perspective, “I came here mainly to challenge myself. Before, I had experienced some unfair treatment within the team.”
The support for church planting is time-limited. After three years, the support will completely end. “If things go well and the small group grows, I can establish myself here. But if there’s little progress, I might have to move or even leave the team.”
Despite the financial support from the team, the family’s economic burden remains heavy. The team provides Shuya with several thousand yuan a month, but kindergarten alone costs more than 2,000 yuan per month, and rent is 1,500 yuan—these are fixed expenses each month.
Given this situation, Shuya often has to take on temporary jobs—working as a mall security guard or handing out flyers on the street. He even tried delivering packages and food, but found that earning more money required significant time commitment.
Final Thoughts
When we finished talking, it was already past 10 p.m. As Shuya walked us out, he sent a message to his wife, asking her to “turn off the air conditioner.” I had been in his home for over two hours, and the air conditioning during that time would have cost about 2.5 yuan in electricity.
- Edited & translated by Abigail Wu
