Compared to those sent out a generation earlier, today’s cross-cultural workers from China are considerably better prepared. Besides basic courses such as Perspectives or Kairos, many have access to seminary-level mission studies and to training provided both by indigenous and international agencies. Numerous titles by global missiologists have been translated into Chinese. Hundreds of believers have gone on short-term trips, either within China or abroad.
Yet, for all the solid advances in preparation for cross-cultural service, many still struggle once they get to the field. Certainly, better preparation remains a concern, particularly in the areas of language and culture learning. At a deeper level, however, the problem is often not what the workers lack, but rather what workers bring with them to the field.
Dropping Out of the Race
Imagine a marathon runner preparing for a major event…
She arrives at the gym, suited up for training, ready to begin the routine that will prepare her for the big day. Her trainer begins putting her through the paces with a grueling run on the treadmill, followed by stretching and weights and more exercise, building up her endurance. The trainer calls in a kinesiologist for consultation. They discuss her diet regimen, the need for proper sleep and hydration, how to maintain mental focus. Nothing is spared in their effort to achieve maximum performance.
Race day dawns, and she steps confidently to the starting line. With the crack of a starter pistol, she’s off, buoyed by the cheers of enthusiastic supporters watching eagerly on the sidelines. She moves easily toward the head of the pack, determined to maintain her aggressive pace.
Yet as the day goes on, she begins to weary. Her legs, which had appeared so strong, become painful and wobbly, her breath labored.
Finally, she staggers to the side of the road and pauses, her head bowed in agony.
“I just can’t do this!”
Exasperated, she plops down on the pavement, a look of resignation on her face. She leans forward dejectedly and begins slowly to untie her laces. Lifting up one sneaker, she turns it slightly and lets out a sigh, watching in disbelief as a pebble rolls from the mouth of the shoe and clatters onto the ground.
Unique Challenges
Like this marathon runner, many workers from China are unaware that what they bring to the race may ultimately take them out of action. This is obviously not limited to those from China; missionaries throughout history have struggled with personal challenges that only manifested once the rigors of life on the field began to take hold.
Those sent from China, however, face a unique convergence of spiritual, cultural, and practical factors—many of which are not widely understood outside their context. Member care, or the ongoing spiritual, emotional, relational, and practical support for missionaries, is particularly complex for workers from China. Their journey reflects both remarkable dedication and deep systemic obstacles. Understanding these realities is key to serving them well.
Identity Under Pressure
The first challenge is deeply personal: a missionary’s sense of identity. It is easy for missionaries—particularly those from China—to begin thinking that their identity is their role as a missionary and to lose sight of who they are in Christ. Several cultural dynamics contribute to this struggle:
In the Confucian worldview, there is strong emphasis on self-improvement and self-cultivation: “I can make myself a better person.” Asking for help feels like weakness rather than wisdom. As a result, missionaries may feel they should not need help. Admitting need contradicts deeply ingrained expectations of self-reliance, which clashes strongly with the idea of needing member care.
With China’s rise on the global stage, a strong sense of national expectation has emerged. Many believers feel, “The West has sent missionaries. Korea has sent missionaries. Now it’s China’s turn.” At one time, a widely publicized Christian initiative in China set a goal of deploying 20,000 missionaries by 2030, intensifying a sense of pressure and performance.
Deeply ingrained in Chinese culture is the phrase chīkǔ (吃苦)—literally, “eat bitterness.” Enduring suffering is a cultural virtue, and it has shaped the Chinese church’s theology of suffering. In an honor–shame culture, suffering is often seen as essential proof of spiritual authenticity.
Mission historian Dennis Ahern notes that Chinese church history carries a legacy of suffering that is seen as necessary for one’s spiritual calling. Because suffering is expected, member care can feel selfish, as though it violates one’s identity as a faithful Christian.
As one counselor, Lisa Tsai, observed, many Chinese missionaries view suffering not as a burden to be cared for but as a moral requirement. Tsai shares the story of one missionary couple in which the wife’s gifts were silenced and her health was deteriorating. Both she and her husband believed that her suffering was holy and pleasing to God. For many missionaries, suffering is not simply endured—it becomes part of their identity. To reject suffering can feel like rejecting faithfulness itself.
These cultural forces shape how missionaries view themselves, view others, and even how they view God. If God is seen as a demanding, distant, unsatisfied “taskmaster,” then ministry becomes the way to earn God’s approval.
Organizational Culture
China’s rapidly developing mission organizations often mirror the characteristics of the church cultures from which they emerge. Carrying these cultural assumptions onto the field can result in personal frustration and interpersonal tension. These dynamics include:
- Results-driven expectations: Mission success is measured in numbers—converts, baptisms, churches planted—without recognizing that healthy ministry requires healthy workers.
- Hierarchy and control: Leaders back in China sometimes attempt to make decisions for field workers without understanding local realities. Even on the field, deference to authority discourages healthy decision-making and initiative.
- Financial insecurity: Many missionaries are bi-vocational and cannot rely on support from their home churches. They struggle to support their families while serving on the field.
- Minimal member care and lack of trust: Unlike in the West, trust is not assumed in Chinese culture. Thus, Chinese workers do not automatically trust caregivers. Member care can be viewed with suspicion, and those providing it must earn credibility.
God is shaping a new era of cross-cultural mission through the Chinese church. Preparation is essential if those being sent are to thrive on the field. Yet even the best preparation can be rendered ineffective when the workers are unaware of what they are taking with them. The journey outward to the ends of the earth must also include preparation for the inward journey, the process of discovery by which God reveals the good work he desires to perform in the lives of his servants, that they may glorify him.
