Fujian: The Blessed Province by Paul Hattaway. Langham Global Library, 2025. 368 pages. ISBN-10: 1786411326; ISBN-13: 978-1786411327. Available from Langham Publishing, Asia Harvest, and Amazon.
My personal connection to the southern China coastal province of Fujian makes Paul Hattaway’s latest book, Fujian: The Blessed Province, the book I’ve been waiting for much of my life. And though I savored it as if it were written just for me, this is a book for any Christian who cares about the movement of the gospel, not just in Fujian, not just in China, but anywhere. This is a story that will challenge, move, galvanize, and bring to prayer and praise anyone who cares about the the good news, the blessed sound, the fúyīn (福音).
Words of Life
This book, part of the China Chronicles series, is a comprehensive, chronological Christian history of Fujian Province. Hattaway beautifully and thoroughly chronicles how the gospel came, how it spread, and how it was sustained and strengthened—from the very beginnings to today. He first sets the stage with demographic, linguistic, and geographic details. Then, through the narrative, supported by personal stories, letters, testimonies, and interviews, the author shows that it’s no exaggeration to say, as he does in his summary pages, that Fujian “…emerged as a powerhouse for Christianity in south China.” (p. 312) The book traces the long history of sacrifice and suffering by those who first brought the gospel, those who embraced it and shared it and stood firm, and the God who was at work in it all.
Hattaway gives us an important book that’s well-researched and well-documented, a historical account of the gospel coming to Fujian Province. Be sure to see the maps, tables, charts, and notes in the back of the book. But it isn’t dry, as the pages of this highly readable book are alive with God’s presence and power, a story that gives the glory to God for his work in Fujian throughout the centuries.
I found this book deeply personal because Fujian Province was where my husband and I lived, studied, worked, and served for nine years, raising our family and putting down deep roots in the City of Blessing—deep enough to consider Fuzhou our gù xiāng (故乡, hometown). As I took in the pages of this modern hall of faith and epic gospel story, the characters were reflections of the people we walked the streets with, worked with, shared tea with, and prayed for and with—and reading Fujian evoked emotions of grief, respect, and deep joy and thankfulness, with a burning to continue to partner with God in his work.
Living Stones
So often we saw the lasting impact of earlier seeds sown by the fruit in the lives of brothers and sisters that came later. For example, Hattaway writes of the little-known but important Putian revival in the early 1900s that he contends was the catalyst for “sweeping thousands…into the kingdom of God and forever changing the spiritual direction of that part of Fujian” (p. 118), a revival that went on to spread far and wide. More than a century later, we often met Christians from Putian, including our uneducated housekeeper from a poor Putian Buddhist family. She was introduced to the gospel when she broke her back in an accident as a child, and she was healed when Christian neighbors prayed for her.
A few privileged times, it was personal because we were honored to meet someone featured in the pages of Fujian. As I read about the late Yang Xinfei, I treasured the memory of the day a young student friend took us to meet Xinfei Ayi (as the students called her) in her home just outside the gates of the university. What an honor to meet a hero of our faith, someone willing to endure years in prison for the sake of the gospel and who carried on in boldness upon release, with the certainty of being called in for questioning once again. And now, almost four decades later, the fruit is that young student (and so many others) who has matured into a faithful believer, standing firm—with the gospel spread further in her family and network, part of the testimony of God’s work in that place.
Many times, this book was personal because it was a reminder of how we were sacrificially served and powerfully strengthened by our Fujian brothers and sisters—and it’s not an exaggeration to say that without their support, we could not have stayed the course. So many examples spring to mind, but the Fuzhou family God gave us was headed by the matriarch Chen Yishi (“Righteous Psalm”)—simply Guma to us and our children. She was a Catholic believer, the daughter of a mother who was abandoned as a baby on the streets and rescued by Catholic nuns. Three generations of her family have both suffered for their faith and were blessings to those around them. Guma added us to her family—serving simple meals around her table, doing grandma things with our kids, bringing giant pumpkins across town on the bus because she knew we made pumpkin pie in November.
Because of Guma, I especially appreciated that Hattaway touched on the first early gospel impact by the Nestorians and Jesuits, and then on the modern growth of the Catholic church, though the brevity shows that either he didn’t have access to much research or more likely that there wasn’t much available and it was out of scope. It was in a quoted source about Catholic growth in Fujian where I caught one small mistake. The historical Flower Lane Church, the first Methodist church built in Fuzhou, was mistakenly called a Catholic church on p. 251.
Besides these living foundations, literal buildings all around us were monuments to this spiritual legacy. In our neighborhood on the banks of the Min River, even the buildings were a testimony of the impact of the early work of missionaries and believers mentioned in the book. The pages—and the alleys of Cang Shan District—were dotted with the old buildings of both former and present churches, schools and colleges, hospitals, orphanages, and even a seminary.
Lives in Tension
Hattaway also doesn’t shy away from controversy, offering nuanced portrayals of great evangelists and pastors, addressing the controversies, disagreements, and varying approaches—but never wavering from the storyline of how these people were important to the growth of the church in Fujian and how God used them to accomplish His purposes.
Watchmen Nee, probably the most well-known Fujian Christian and also a figure surrounded by controversy, is discussed at length in probably the clearest and most judicious way I have ever read, finally making sense for me of both the controversy and impact of Nee’s life. Nee’s story also feels personal, as he had lived and attended school right in our neighborhood of four years. One can hardly talk with a house church Christian in Fuzhou without seeing signs—the simplicity of worship and focus on piety—of the legacy of Watchman Nee and the Little Flock.
Hattaway tells this part of the story thoughtfully. He shows the strengths and faithfulness of the characters but also offers an honest look at their weaknesses and struggles. He tackles the house-church vs. Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) church division, showing a bias for the house church, yes, but acknowledging that God works through the TSPM too, crediting registered TSPM churches with “hundreds of thousands of people saved and transformed” in the 2000s (p. 294). He mentions heresies and cults, including a dive into Witness Lee and the Local Church, letting an interview with a Pastor Enoch Wang speak for itself. And he tells stories of astounding miracles, likely knowing some readers’ theology might cause them to view these stories with some skepticism.
I, for one, thank him for recording each of these important stories of the pioneers, the preachers, and the pǔtōng rén (普通人, ordinary person) in Fujian church history. These are heroes of the Chinese church—and my heroes—but the focus is always on God at work. Hattaway’s summary gives credit where credit is due: “The Spirit of God continued to blow wherever He pleased, untroubled by human barriers or the policies of evil men.” (p. 244)
Readers will be aware of the long season of suffering Christians endured in the 1950s and 1960s. But Hattaway’s description of this time was particularly moving as it brings it to life and honors this legacy of faith, service, and endurance. Stories of both key figures and humble folk are told, stories of suffering and perseverance and even martyrdom, when “a generation of church leadership was wiped out.” As he writes, “Progress of the gospel in Fujian did not come easily, with thousands of Christians suffering terrible injustices so that others would hear of Christ’s salvation.” (p. 246)
Living Water
Hope flows out of this story. Shaped by solid historical information, filled with testimonies and accounts, with a storyline that tells a gripping story, the conclusion is hope. Even as Fujian Christians today face a new wave of persecution, Hattaway writes that “God’s children in Fujian … are well-positioned to withstand whatever attacks they are called to endure.” (p. 313) And now they have a new resource to draw strength from—this book.
In fact, as much as it blessed me, this book was not written for the likes of me. It was written for them. As one reader said in the foreword, “The book you have is written primarily to bless and encourage the persecuted church in China … and has been like living water… to those who eagerly desire to read about the mighty acts God has performed in their nation.” (xii) But this book is also living water to this lǎowài (老外, foreigner), who lived and served there, oftentimes in discouragement, never quite seeing the big picture—until now.
In the introduction, Hattaway lays out his reasons for his series, The China Chronicles, that includes Fujian. He wants Chinese Christians to understand how God established his kingdom throughout China. And he wants us all to have a record of God’s mighty acts in the Middle Kingdom.
A worthy goal.
And mission accomplished.
Reviewer’s Note/Sidebar: The book Fujian: The Blessed Province is part of a larger and ever-growing series, all with the same stated mission. As Paul Hattaway writes in his overview for The China Chronicles series, it is “an ambitious project to document the advance of Christianity in each province from the time the gospel was first introduced to the present day” and to have “a record of God’s mighty acts in China.”
Fujian was the ninth book in the series, and previously published are books on eight other provinces and autonomous regions in China: Shandong, Guizhou, Zhejiang, Tibet, Henan, Xinjiang, Shaanxi, and Hainan.
Due out in 2026 is the latest book, Beijing, according to Langham Publishing.
More books are planned for as many areas as possible. There’s no set schedule, but so far they have been written and published regularly every one to two years.
Also planned is to translate each book into Chinese. So far, four of the books in the series have been translated—Shandong, Guizhou, Zhejiang, and Tibet. These are available as e-books from AsiaHarvest at www.asiaharvest.org/free-ebooks at no cost.
