Lately, I talked with a pastor in Anhui who told me he was busy with the farming season starting this month.
Not an exception, he is one of many grass-roots pastors in Anhui, Henan, Hebei, and other provinces who have to devote most of their energy to harvesting ripe wheat and planting new crops during this period.
When visiting Anhui and Henan provinces in June 2016, I saw that many local grassroots evangelists had to return for a month to their hometowns to participate in farming.
Some of the pastors who serve in urban churches or those who serve while doing secular work in East and South China face the same situation. They have to take time off from their work and church ministries, rushing home to be involved in agricultural work for about a month.
A pastor in Anhui said that he was thankful that in recent years more and more machines had been used in rural areas to help cultivate and harvest so that the busy farming season was less stressful than before.
However, there is still much to take care of during this period. A pastor who has been serving in Dongguan, Guangdong, all year round lately returned to his hometown in Henan Province. He said that previously they had asked others to help work his family’s land, but they had taken it back to manage it themselves in recent years. In addition, his parents-in-law were getting older and needed more care. Thus, at this time of this year, he would go home to farm the land and spend more time with his family.
In the past few decades, it has been common for rural grassroots pastors and church staff to adapt to a kind of “amphibious” lifestyle that they “serve in the church off-season, while labor in the field during the busy season”. Yet, in the past decade or so, this way of life has been impacted by urbanization and labor migration.
Many of these pastors and their hometown folks have been farmers for generations. In faith, they embarked on the road of serving. Therefore, while maintaining their peasant identity and corresponding lifestyle, they also took on the responsibilities of pastors and co-workers. In the context of urbanization, in order to support their families, many rural evangelists and church workers have left their hometowns for cities where they serve the church and do secular work at the same time. Those who stay in the countryside continue the “amphibious” way of living in busy and less busy seasons. Nevertheless, all of them have to face the pressure of urbanization and secularization.
Many middle-aged pastors in this group said they had difficulties in making a living if not working as farmers since most of them had to provide for their families, which is a relatively typical situation in Henan, Anhui, and Shandong provinces, and other areas with a long Christian history. The Chinese church's tradition of "living by faith and serving as volunteers" prevails in these regions. It is difficult to preach about offerings and implement the system of paying pastors. Such traditions and concepts urgently need to evolve.
- Translated by Shuya Wang
日前，笔者联系一位在安徽的牧者，他说过现在正是农忙季节，他非常忙碌。
事实上，他并不是一个个例，在安徽、河南、河北等多省许多基层传道人和牧者这段时间必须绝大部分精力投入到收割成熟的小麦、种植新一季的庄稼的时候。
笔者曾于2016年6月走访安徽和河南时，就看到不少当地的基层传道人不得不回到老家开始一个月的农忙忙碌期。
一些在城市服事教会、或者在华东和南方边服事边打工的基层传道人也不得不请假，放下手头的工作和服事，赶回家忙大约一个月的时间。
一位安徽的牧者说，感谢的是，最近几年农村越来越多用机器来帮助收割和耕种，所以农忙的时候比之前清闲了很多。
不过还是有许多需要照料的地方。一位在东莞常年服事的牧者最近回到老家河南，他说到其实家里的地之前曾经交给别人帮助种过，这几年又重新自己种地了，再加上岳父岳母年纪大了，所以就这个时候一边回家种地一边多陪陪家人。
可以说，“农闲时教会服事、农忙时下地干活”——这种仿佛“两栖式”的模式模式是过去几十年来农村基层传道人和教会同工普遍的一种状态。而在过去十多年间里，这种模式受到城市化与打工潮的冲击。
这些传道人和他们的老家同胞很多都是祖祖辈辈的农民，因为信仰的缘故走上服事的道路，于是在保持自己农民身份和生活模式的同时，又承担了成为传道人、牧者和同工的职分。在城市化的大背景下，不少农村的传道人和教会同工因为养家的原因，离开老家去打工，一边服事一边打工。留在在农村的传道人和同工们则延续着“农闲时教会服事、农忙时下地干活”的模式。两者都不得不面临着城市化和世俗化的压力。
这个群体中不少中年的传道人表示，常常他们的情况基本都拖家带口，因为不种地，就很难生活。而这种现象在河南、安徽、山东等福音老区比较普遍，这背后反映出中国教会“凭信心生活、做义工性的服事”的传统亟需更新，因为在这些地区受传统教会观念的影响，很难宣讲奉献和施行给传道人薪资的制度。
六月农忙已开始 为中原各地基层传道人代祷
Lately, I talked with a pastor in Anhui who told me he was busy with the farming season starting this month.
Not an exception, he is one of many grass-roots pastors in Anhui, Henan, Hebei, and other provinces who have to devote most of their energy to harvesting ripe wheat and planting new crops during this period.
When visiting Anhui and Henan provinces in June 2016, I saw that many local grassroots evangelists had to return for a month to their hometowns to participate in farming.
Some of the pastors who serve in urban churches or those who serve while doing secular work in East and South China face the same situation. They have to take time off from their work and church ministries, rushing home to be involved in agricultural work for about a month.
A pastor in Anhui said that he was thankful that in recent years more and more machines had been used in rural areas to help cultivate and harvest so that the busy farming season was less stressful than before.
However, there is still much to take care of during this period. A pastor who has been serving in Dongguan, Guangdong, all year round lately returned to his hometown in Henan Province. He said that previously they had asked others to help work his family’s land, but they had taken it back to manage it themselves in recent years. In addition, his parents-in-law were getting older and needed more care. Thus, at this time of this year, he would go home to farm the land and spend more time with his family.
In the past few decades, it has been common for rural grassroots pastors and church staff to adapt to a kind of “amphibious” lifestyle that they “serve in the church off-season, while labor in the field during the busy season”. Yet, in the past decade or so, this way of life has been impacted by urbanization and labor migration.
Many of these pastors and their hometown folks have been farmers for generations. In faith, they embarked on the road of serving. Therefore, while maintaining their peasant identity and corresponding lifestyle, they also took on the responsibilities of pastors and co-workers. In the context of urbanization, in order to support their families, many rural evangelists and church workers have left their hometowns for cities where they serve the church and do secular work at the same time. Those who stay in the countryside continue the “amphibious” way of living in busy and less busy seasons. Nevertheless, all of them have to face the pressure of urbanization and secularization.
Many middle-aged pastors in this group said they had difficulties in making a living if not working as farmers since most of them had to provide for their families, which is a relatively typical situation in Henan, Anhui, and Shandong provinces, and other areas with a long Christian history. The Chinese church's tradition of "living by faith and serving as volunteers" prevails in these regions. It is difficult to preach about offerings and implement the system of paying pastors. Such traditions and concepts urgently need to evolve.
- Translated by Shuya Wang
Pray for Grassroots Preachers in Central China in Busy Farming Season
