Most workers, when they think about moving overseas, envision living in a forest or jungle, hiking around looking for villages and people groups that no foreigner has ever seen. But those who come to Beijing and Tianjin find themselves instead in two cities whose populations dwarf those of most countries!

Both of these huge cities have populations that are difficult to measure, as easily half of these populations don’t have Hukou, the residence permit needed to live in a specific area, receive government benefits, and be officially counted. Beijing itself could have as many as 30 million people, with Tianjin following at at least 20 million.

The people of Beijing and Tianjin are estimated to be about 1.7% Hui, a combined Hui population of around 850,000. Many Hui, however, claim that the government underestimates their numbers, giving a more realistic estimation of about 1 million. This number does not include the many unreached people groups of China that are all represented in Beijing, as well as unreached peoples from Central Asia and expat students and workers from all over the world.

Unlike in the more traditionally Islamic parts of China, the Hui in these cities are typically more concerned about making money than they are with their faith. They tend to be more nominal, because they’ve seen that Islam lacks the power to change people for the better. You cannot go anywhere in these cities without seeing Hui restaurants inviting anyone and everyone in for a good meal. These Hui have the same questions and worries most everyone has; they often ask about how to raise children and how to be good parents. They see how easily marriages fall apart, and when they see healthy Christian marriages, they want to know why they’re so. And like anyone else, they want friendly people to talk to.

Despite the rapid growth of Christianity in East China, Beijing is one of the least Christian cities on that side of the country. It’s a city filled with vast potential for many coming to know Christ. Unreached peoples, including the Hui, uproot their lives from all over the country and go there with the hope of finding better-paying jobs and better educational opportunities. It’s a city filled with people seeking more than what their old lives could provide. It’s the educational center for the nation, filled with intelligent men and women seeking truth and betterment. It’s a place of opportunity, not just for work and study, but for life transformation. Yet despite the many great starts made in this city by believers, both Chinese and foreign, there is still a great need for more to come and pour their lives into those still searching for a better life, those who find dissatisfaction with the same old dreams of wealth and “success.”

Beijing is a place of opportunity not only for Chinese, but for foreigners who want to come to work as well. This city will welcome a foreign believer coming to work and will pay a livable wage. May God raise up believers who will, for a season or more, plant their lives here and be open Christians living among the lost!

Lord, stir the hearts of Your people! Send workers into Your harvest! Call out Your sheep in these cities! Work in these cities so that in Beijing and Tianjin, even the Hui are known to be Christian! May the temples and mosques become places of worship for the one true God. In the years to come, let these cities be a place where believers can confidently praise their Savior and say boldly, “Our God Reigns!”

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