In recent years, Hong Kong has experienced wave after wave of outward migration. According to official statistics, net migration out of the city reached nearly 80,000 people in 2022.1 Families, professionals, and church members alike chose to leave. For some, Hong Kong now feels like a “financial ruin,” a city whose freedoms have been sharply curtailed compared with the past.
And yet, alongside this exodus, another story is emerging. While many are leaving, some churches are doubling down. Island ECC, one of Hong Kong’s largest international congregations, recently purchased the iconic Sunbeam Theatre in North Point for HK$750 million (US$96 million).2 The plan is to transform the landmark into a new worship and community space.
The contrast is striking: why would a church invest so boldly in a city many describe as declining or unstable?
As one pastor reflected, “Those who were determined to leave have mostly gone. The ones who remain have accepted reality—having grown through hardship, learning to lay down fear, to obey, and to act.”
An Unprecedented “Harvest Field”
Several pastors described Hong Kong today as experiencing a historic shift in global mission. For the first time in recent memory, large populations from gospel–restricted regions have migrated en masse to a city where religious expression remains relatively free.
“From a mission perspective, Hong Kong offers one of the most strategic opportunities today,” one ministry leader observed. “Not only are believers from mainland China noticing this shift; pastors in Singapore and mission agencies in Australia are also moving quickly to launch Mandarin-speaking ministries here.”
This convergence has created a unique harvest field. But to seize it requires vision.
The Call to Obedience Amid Fear
While the opportunities are vast, pastors acknowledged significant challenges. The first is what some described as tribalism: churches focused narrowly on their own survival and growth, unable to see the larger mission field.
The second is fear—fear of safety risks, fear of the unknown. Even leaders who see the opportunities hesitate to commit.
A third obstacle is silence within the broader Chinese church network. “Some in the Chinese-speaking church deliberately ignore this moment, because acknowledging it would mean facing the uncomfortable truth that many workers have already left,” one pastor explained.
The challenge, he added, is not about preparation but obedience. “The question is not whether we are ready—because no one ever truly is. The real question is whether we will obey. Are we trying to use Christ to fulfill ourselves, or are we willing to be broken so that he might be glorified?”
A New Wave of High-Caliber Migrants
Another striking trend is the quality of new arrivals. Through programs such as the Top Talent Pass Scheme, Hong Kong has welcomed thousands of highly educated professionals—many with master’s degrees or backgrounds from the world’s top universities.
“These families are among the most internationalized and globally minded in China,” said one pastor. “They may have considered moving to the US or Europe, but due to political tensions, many now choose Hong Kong instead.”
Their primary motivation? Education for their children.
In this area, Hong Kong offers something unique. More than 60 percent of its top-tier schools were founded by Christian missionaries and still maintain a Christian heritage.3 Many operate under a “church-school” model, where congregations meet in school facilities on weekends.
“These schools are a spiritual legacy left by earlier missionaries,” one pastor noted. “Around the world, you won’t find another city with this combination of free, English-medium education and Christian roots.”
For new arrivals from atheist backgrounds, the sheer visibility of Christianity in Hong Kong—church signs scattered across the city—can be shocking.
Churches are also responding through creative partnerships. As another article highlights, tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents have relocated to the UK in recent years, where local churches are learning to welcome and walk alongside them.4 Hong Kong today plays a dual role in global Chinese Christianity—as both a host to newcomers and a sender of migrants who reshape diaspora churches abroad.
Students as a Growing Mission Field
Beyond families, international students represent one of the most urgent mission fields.
Hong Kong is home to more than 60,000 international students,5 including tens of thousands from mainland China. Many of them would have previously chosen to study in the United States, but that has changed.
“Because of the unpredictability of US policies toward Chinese students, America is no longer the first choice,” one interviewee explained. “Now Hong Kong has become one of the best options for higher education.”
This shift mirrors wider patterns. As Christianity Today recently reported, changes in US visa policy have redirected many Chinese students toward Christian schools and colleges across Asia.6 Hong Kong, with its unique mix of English-language education and Christian heritage, has quickly become one of the most attractive alternatives.
Among them are PhD candidates in sensitive fields such as high-energy physics—students who, due to political pressures, have redirected from the US to Hong Kong.
Churches are beginning to respond. Both local and international congregations have started to treat Chinese students as a focus of international student ministry, offering English Bible studies, summer camps, sports ministries, and music programs.
“More than 90 percent of Hong Kong churches are still Cantonese-speaking,” a pastor observed. “But immigrant families value bilingualism in Mandarin and English. Churches that can offer English-based children and youth ministries will be in a very strong position.”
Investment Amid Uncertainty
According to the 2024 Hong Kong Church Census7—which primarily reflects local Cantonese-speaking congregations—overall attendance has declined compared with a decade ago, and many churches continue to face aging memberships and shrinking youth participation. Yet this has not stopped some congregations from expanding or investing boldly in the city’s future.
New ministry initiatives and property developments reflect a determination to remain visible, accessible, and deeply rooted in Hong Kong. “This is not just about buildings,” one observer noted. “It’s about the church investing in the life of the city.”
At the same time, several Christian organizations are developing strategic initiatives to help local churches prepare for and engage with the growing Mandarin-speaking population—a demographic shift that is quietly reshaping Hong Kong’s mission landscape.
Between Worry and Hope
In every interview, two voices ran side by side. Some worried about Hong Kong’s decline—its political pressures, shrinking freedoms, and continued emigration. Others saw in those very pressures a divine rearrangement, creating space for new mission and ministry.
For the pastors and leaders who remain, the exodus has been sobering but clarifying. The ones who stayed now find themselves face-to-face with a vast, diverse harvest: highly educated new immigrants, families seeking Christian schooling, and thousands of mainland students arriving every year.
That conviction now defines those who remain—they are quietly learning to lay down fear, to obey, and to act.
Hong Kong may not be the city it once was. But precisely in its tension—between loss and arrival, between anxiety and faith—it may be stepping into a new role: not only as a window into China but as one of the most strategic platforms for gospel ministry among Chinese people worldwide.
Could Hong Kong, today, be the most promising city for Chinese gospel ministry?
- Census and Statistics Department, “Hong Kong Population for End-2022,” February 16, 2023, https://www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/press_release_detail.html?id=5282
- HK01, “Island ECC Buys Sunbeam Theatre in North Point for HK$750 Million,” February 6, 2024, https://www.hk01.com/地產樓市/988383
- Hong Kong Education Bureau / Committee on Home-School Co-operation, “List of Schools and School Profiles,” accessed September 2025, https://www.chsc.hk
- ChinaSource, “Partnership to Welcome Hong Kong Newcomers,” ChinaSource Blog, May 3, 2022, https://chinasource.org/resource-library/articles/partnership-to-welcome-hong-kong-newcomers/
- University Grants Committee of Hong Kong, “Student Statistics, 2023/24,” accessed September 2025, https://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/ugc/stat.html
- Christianity Today, “China’s Student Visa Woes Boost Christian Colleges in Asia,” August 2025, https://www.christianitytoday.com/2025/08/china-visa-christian-school-colleges-asia/
- ChinaSource, “When the Church Stands Low to Rise Again,” Chinese Church Voices, September 29, 2025, https://chinasource.org/resource-library/chinese-church-voices/when-the-church-stands-low-to-rise-again/
