Editor's Note:
There are more than 20 million university students across the nation (about 1.5 per cent of the total population), and their number is on the rise. They will be playing an important role in the society. Yet they are under the onslaught of various forces, such as materialism, declining moral standards and so forth. Temptations are everywhere. In February this year, the Beijing Youth Daily listed the issues university students faced during their four years of studies (according to an analysis by psychologists at the Beijing Tongren Hospital): the first year is most problematic, due to the need for various adjustments; academic problems are common in the second year; problems related to love affairs are more often found in the third year; the problem in the fourth year relates to "the future". During the four-year period, university students are under all sorts of pressure. Do they have a way out? How about their religious choices? What about Christian students? The following is the sharing by a university student in western China:Religious Faith of Mainland University Students
Many were exposed to religions when they were small, under the influence of their grandparents. Some had even followed adults to burn incense in temples, and therefore considered themselves to be Buddhists though they did not abide by the teachings of Buddhism. On the other hand, the young generation have not had much chance to know much about Taoism, which is more "hidden from the social scene".In fact, to many Chinese, Taoism is just a kind of folk belief. People only go to it when an elderly family member has passed away or when they want advice on good "feng shui" or fortune-telling. Few people, especially those in universities, mention it except those studying philosophy who may have read the "Tao Te Ching", or those attached to Taoism research centres. To most university students, Taoism is a form of superstition. For Catholicism, among the students I know, few are its followers. Those who are tended to have been brought to churches by their relatives when they were small. Few had taken the initiatives to know about it. For Islam, few Han Chinese practise it though it is popular with certain ethnic groups. There are far more students practising Buddhism, impressed with its social teachings. Many were also drawn to it because of the widespread circulation of free Buddhist publications made with donations from people thinking that charitable donations can drive away bad fate.
University Students' Religious Inclinations
University students are under tremendous pressure due to uncertainty over employment. In the mainland, personal connections matter a lot and many university students are from families with little social connections. There are various categories of students: those who parents are officials or are, and can get things done through their networks. These students tend to be not serious with their studies, spending much of their time going out with boyfriends or girlfriends. They tend to live outside the campus, and may have moved in with their girlfriend or boyfriend. They seldom attend classes and have little lies with their schools. They mainly hang out with schoolmates they are friends with and care little about matters about faith, though there are exceptions. I know of a student who believes in Buddhism, whose family is quite well-off. He is living outside the campus though he has no girlfriend. It is said that there are Buddha statues in his flat. When he has no classes to go to, he spends most of his time chanting prayers and meditating. Another category of students is those from ordinary families, who are more serious about their studies and living with their girlfriend or boyfriend. They hold no particular beliefs though sometime they do go to temples. The last category is students from rural areas or poor urban families. They are very serious about their studies, because studying is to them the only way out. They pay attention to nothing else but their studies. Some of those with rural backgrounds tend to be more superstitious.
Campus Christians
There are quite a number of Christians on campus, many of whom are attending youth fellowships in open churches. Some are going to non-open churches. There is little contact between these two groups of students. More students in foreign language colleges have accepted Christ because they had more chances of coming into contact with foreign Christian teachers, but few students from other schools attend their meetings. Some students have difficulties in finding churches for themselves, as due to various factors, some non-open churches do not accept new comers readily.
The Christian fellowship on my campus is meeting non-openly. There were only the few of us gathering in our dormitory room when our group first began. Later we were forced to meet elsewhere. We truly realised what a trial it was to live a real Christian life.
The sharing above can let us know more about the life and religious faith of mainland university students. Although they grew up in an atheist environment, they were influenced by their family and traditional folk beliefs. The pace of economic development in the mainland has been so rapid that a strong materialistic social atmosphere has emerged, causing many to neglect traditional moral values. University students as well have a strong passion for materialistic possessions (for example, they are the group most willing to spend on latest mobile phones; a report issued by the National Statistics Bureau in June showed that their average annual spending exceeded the average annual income of people in towns and counties across the nation); it is also common for the students to be living with a partner and involved in pre-marital sex! (As mentioned above, "moving in with boyfriend or girlfriend" is a common phenomenon.) A rich material life and sexual indulgence can only bring people temporary pleasure, plunging them into an even deeper spiritual vacuum. University students are in dire need of the gospel!
It is not easy to spread the gospel among university students, and yet nothing is impossible with God! In fact, university student fellowships have sprung up. What they lack is teaching and pastoral care from others. Living in an environment full of temptations, the students need timely, Bible-based guidance to help them walk on the straight path, and be prepared to stand up for the Lord.
Workers are needed to reap harvest in the field of mainland campuses. It is also important to equip the would be reapers. God has truly selected the people who will serve mainland churches. But they need to be properly nurtured and equipped before they can undertake the mission and be committed to building up the churches. May the Lord and mainland intellectual believers reap the harvest together!
Resource: http://www.ccfellow.org/Common/Reader/News/ShowNews.jsp?Nid=5972&Pid=22&Version=39&Cid=226&Charset=big5_hkscs
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