Hong Kong missionaries targeting increasing number of ‘hungry souls’ from the mainland(2)

Most of the missionaries contacted by the Global Times didn't want to describe their groups' activities as proselytizing.

"But it is a bonus if the students [in the studying groups] start to believe in God," Xu said.

Formerly a student from the Chinese mainland herself, she said that many Hong Kong people, not only church staff, believe students from the Chinese mainland need to know about religion more than other people.

"Because they learned more about Communism and religion is not that popular or mainstream," Xu said.

"Through group activities, we can show them what churches and believers are like and let them know more about the religion, as they may not have had the chance to know the religion properly at home," she said.

Yan Kejia, director of the Institute of Religious Studies at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that many missionaries believe the Chinese mainland is quite closed toward religion and misunderstandings are what motivated them to preach to those students.

Susceptible to charms

Nevertheless, for the "targeted" students, religion can be a very pragmatic way to adapt to local society.

After graduating from the sociology school of the City University this summer, Wang feels things are getting better. He has secured a job at a local non-government organization and has made many new friends whom he can communicate with using Cantonese.

Some converted students, after getting their degree, continue working and living in Hong Kong, and start to preach to other students.

But even though Wang feels he has benefited from his newfound beliefs, most of his friends from the mainland remain suspicious. Li Hua, one of his friends, was also approached by a priest at Hong Kong University, but could not convince herself of the existence of a god or creator.

"God? No, I cannot see him and where is he?" Li Hua once asked a clergyman.

It is a common question among students from the Chinese mainland.

"There were students from the Chinese mainland arguing with me, saying that religious beliefs are like opium and trying to persuade me of atheism and Communism," Lee recalled.

But he noted that nowadays when students feel hesitant over whether to believe in God, the discussions tend to be less focused on the reasons for atheism, and more on lifestyle issues, and whether people want to change their lifestyle.

A missionary surnamed Chow, 52, who works at a church in Wanchai and also helps students at Hong Kong University, told the Global Times that most of the students he had spoken with had been exposed to religion.

Both Chow and Lee estimated, according to their experience in past five years, that only around three students out of 200 every year are converted, but the number has been increasing and the younger students are more open to religion.

Every year the church-led support group at Polytechnic University surveys the newly enrolled Chinese mainland students. Last year's survey found that nearly 20 percent showed interest in learning about Christianity and another 40 percent said they would consider learning about it.

"The spiritual needs of the Chinese people are growing, yet there isn't a popular religious belief in China, leaving a gap for missionaries to fill," Yang Fenggang, director of the Center on Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University, told the Global Times.

Troubles at home

Fan Sai'er, a student from the Chinese mainland who graduated from City University last year, is a very devoted believer.

She told the Global Times that she started to read the Bible when she was in college in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, but did not know where to start to believe in the religion.

Fan had no idea that there were Christian fellowship activities going on every week in a dorm next to hers until she graduated from the college.

However, when she came back to work in Shanghai, she learned that those who were converted in Hong Kong don't like the officially recognized Three-Self Patriotic Protestant churches, and instead, fearing being accused of "illegal gatherings," those believers secretly attend house church events.

Missionaries reached by the Global Times all said that they had received complaints from converted students who had gone back to the Chinese mainland and encountered problems attending church activities.

A Christian who now works in Guangzhou told the Global Times that in the Three-Self churches, many people are elderly and don't connect the Bible with their lives that much.

Later she found a house church, where the members are mostly in their 20s and 30s, and many shared the experience of studying in Hong Kong and other countries. "We never reveal the place or time of the meetings in public."

Three-Self churches and other house churches belong to different religious sects and the structure of the organizations are different, Yang said, adding that some house churches in Beijing even allow the police to monitor them, to make sure their activities are not causing trouble.

Yan Kejia said that although Chinese religious authorities have been encouraging the Three-Self churches, this does not mean they don't protect other churches' religious rights.

Aside from locating suitable churches, telling family members about the conversion is also a problem. "My parents are Communist Party members. They did not object to my beliefs but would not listen to what happened in church or the stories I quote from the Bible," one of the Christians said.

"One time I talked about my experience of talking with God, and my mom laughed, saying it's impossible and superstitious … but some of my colleagues seem to understand more and they would also like to listen to those Bible stories," he added.