INSTALACIONES DOMICILIARIAS DE EVACUACION DE

I identify the Chinese Christian parlance of ‘life’ as the representation of the intersection of two aspects of what I have characterised as the Chinese Evangelical Christian culture (see Chapter Seven, Section 2.2): the representation of Evangelical Christianity and the emphasis on Christian evangelism. And also, this parlance is a representation of another aspect of the Chinese Christians’ commitment, the sense of belonging cultivated through the practice of Christian faith-informed ethics, such as love, care, and voluntary service in the community. To illustrate these points, I firstly present three interview excerpts with my brief comments. In-depth analysis will follow in the next section of discussion.

I chose to be fully committed to the CBCL simply because I was deeply moved by the pastor’s deeds […] Rev. Tang’s [Chief Pastor of CBCL] wife has been ill for a long time. He has to spend a lot of time taking care of her […] To be honest, I do love to go to the All Saints’ [an Anglican evangelical church in L city well-known for its international ministry]. Their sermons, music, and various international activities are brilliant […] But, I can’t help returning to the CBCL. I think I see the life of Christ in him [Rev. Tang]. You can’t imagine how much suffering he’s gone through. That kind of love Christians always talked about is very real to me in him […] You know, I didn’t like kids very much before. But over the years, I’ve been involved with the church’s Sunday school. I find kids are actually adorable […] I would say that he (the pastor) showed me how to love in real life. He excavated the capability of love within me. It’s not easy. I have to endure something that I don’t like in the first place […] All I can do is just to love them [the children at Sunday school].

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(Xinyi, female, interviewed on 3 Nov 2016)

The above excerpt is from my interview with Xinyi (also mentioned in Chapter Six), a well- educated young female entrepreneur who has studied and lived in Britain for eleven years. In the excerpt, she provides her reasons for remaining in the CBCL, while another international English church, which provided better sermons and activities, she could have chosen instead. I find Xinyi’s comparison of the Chinese migrant church and local English church in terms of the quality of preaching, worship music, and socialising activities a typical narrative

commonly seen among the participants in my study who are also well-educated with good English proficiency. However, she, as well as all my participants, has retained her

commitment to the Chinese Christian communities, while some attend local English churches from time to time. In Xinyi’s case, the reason for her to remain serving the Chinese church was that the ethic of love embodied by the church’s pastor. Although Xinyi did not like children initially, her Christian commitment is a source that motivates her to put the ethic of love, as informed by her faith and embodied through the pastor, into practice. Thus, she became a Sunday school teacher at the Chinese church.

I don’t really mind which church [to go to] as long as it preaches an orthodox gospel […] I’ve been to many churches, both in China and here [Britain]. I do think that in terms of the quality of sermons, the Chinese churches are generally not so good as the English churches. But I think I can serve the Lord better in the Chinese church […] I mean, you know, I work in an English company, workable English is not a problem for me […] But I can share my life experience in the UK, as well as serving those young brothers and sisters there [a Chinese church in L city] more practically […] I often give them lifts in my car […] I can cook for them, I can take them around the city […] You know, I’m a bit shy. I’m not a good speaker. But I like doing practical things for them.

(Chenran, male, interviewed on 5th _{Nov 2016)}

The quote above are is my interview with Chenran (also mentioned in Chapter Six). He was converted in China, baptised in Britain, initially attended an international church in mid-west England and is presently serving as a lay leader of the student ministry at a Chinese church in L city. Similar to Xinyi, Chenran is also well-educated, working as a young professional with excellent English proficiency. He also had some experience of international English

churches, which he considers better than many Chinese churches in many ways. However, instead of being attracted to the international churches, Chenran chose to remain committed to the Chinese church, as he could better serve in the student ministry. The ethic that Chenran

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has been practicing is primarily the ethic of care for others, which is part of his Christian commitment. Recognising his own introvert personality, his practice of the ethic of care is grounded in ‘doing practical things’, such as giving students lifts with his car, cooking, and tour-guiding, which are everyday matters rooted in his everyday life.

When I first believed [i.e., converted and was baptised], I felt that I’ve got so much to share with people. I was so excited about believing the Lord. I feel the enthusiasm to tell them [other people] the good news. But having volunteered for COCM, I found that people won’t listen to you unless you live your life like Christ […] We [the volunteers at COCM] have to do all small things, liking cooking, cleaning, bed-making […] We felt so tired during the camps. But I’m excited to serve the brothers and sisters at our age from all over the UK […] I’ve learned in that one year [of volunteering in COCM] how to serve, to spread the good news from the small things we do. You know God cares about those things.

(Tangna, female, interviewed on 17 Oct 2016)

The quote is taken from my interview with Tangna, a former volunteer at the COCM. Tangna is a student-turned-migrant. She converted to Christianity after coming to Britain. At the beginning of the excerpt, she describes her experience of religious zeal as a new convert as she wished to talk to other people about her conversion. The religious zeal of new converts has been well documented in preceding literature (e.g., Barker & Currie, 1985). The religious zeal of the new convert suggests a desire to conform with the ‘norms’ prescribed by the group to ‘ensure acceptance’ in the group (ibid.: 312). As Barker and Currie point out, while it is relatively easy for the new convert to assume his or her newly gained religious identity soon after conversion, religious commitment is ‘sustained by interaction with other believers’ (ibid.: 305). In Tangna’s case, she adopted a missionary attitude in her eagerness to ‘share the good news’ with others soon after her conversion. Nevertheless, it was during her

volunteering at the COCM that she came to realise that ‘people wouldn’t listen’ to her unless she could put the faith into practice. In her words, this means to ‘live like Christ’. Joining COCM, Tangna started to learn about the meaning of Christian commitment. For her, to commit to the faith meant voluntary service in the community, doing ‘small things’ for other fellow Christians.

The above three interview excerpts with my comments illustrate three key elements in the Chinese migrant Christians’ practice of faith-informed ethics, namely, love, care for others, and voluntary service in community. They are also part of the culture of Evangelical

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Christianity as represented in the Chinese migrant Christian communities (see Chapter Seven, Section 2.2.). For those who have gone through their faith initiation in Britain’s Chinese Christian communities, the practice of these faith-informed ethics is, one the one hand, usually learned through their initiation. On the other hand, it contributes to the enhancement of the Chinese Evangelical Christian culture. The commitment, represented as the ‘Christian life’ mentioned at the start of this section, is embodied in the individual Chinese Christians’ practice of the faith-informed ethics. Although there are alternative church communities available, the practice of faith-informed ethics becomes an important part in the cultivation of a sense of belonging for the converts, inducing them to commit themselves in the Chinese church communities. As a result, even Chinese migrant Christians with a good proficiency in English remain committed to the Chinese churches.

However, not all Chinese Christians attend Chinese churches exclusively. The next section discusses the issue of ‘choice of church’, briefly mentioned in two examples above, in more depth.