God’s providence was evident in the pairing of a Chinese man seeking God’s direction for planting a Chinese church with an upstate church looking for a way to reach East Asians.

Church at The Mill in Spartanburg County has a desire to reach East Asians living in the county, and John Zhang has a desire to reach Chinese. How they came together is a testimony of God’s provision for both.

Church at The Mill Lead Pastor D.J. Horton said, “Two things happened simultaneously that made our opportunity to have a Chinese congregation quite a blessing. First, China’s increased adversarial posture toward missions and missionaries make mission trips very difficult. Second, COVID deeply impacted international travel, including mission work. With resources ready but an inability to go, beginning a Chinese congregation was really an easy decision. God has not changed His call on the church to go to the nations. But, in His grace, He has also brought the nations to us.”

Zhang described his family in China as “countryside, simple and poor.” His dad was a carpenter. He was able to enroll at Beijing Information and Technology University and graduated with a degree in software engineering. While applying for his first job, a medical examination revealed that he had an enlarged heart and would need a transplant within two to three years. That information shocked and surprised him.

He moved to Guangzhou to be near his sister and began to investigate religion and Buddhism. His brother had become a Christian in college after an American English teacher shared the gospel with him. Zhang’s brother shared the gospel with him, gave him a Bible, and took him to church. Zhang then received some money from his employer’s stock options. Suddenly he was wealthier than he had ever been. But he found no joy in money or travel.

He said, “If my whole life was to pursue money, I would know in my old age that my life had been wasted. I felt like I was in a cage — a prisoner and a slave to sin. No matter how much money I had, no matter where I was, I could not save myself. It was only through Jesus that I could be free.”

He trusted Christ as his Savior and was baptized on Sept. 16, 2000. His parents later also confessed Christ. He says of his family, “We are all first-generation Christians.”

Zhang taught at his church and studied Christian theology as much as he could. Leaders in his church encouraged him to become a pastor. He felt he needed to pursue his education and wanted to connect “with the spiritual heritage in the States.”

Zhang, with his wife and four children, moved to Louisville, Ky., where he enrolled at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2018. He graduated in 2020, and the family vacationed in the Smoky Mountains.

During this time, he was connected to the Church at The Mill. Jason Williamson, missions pastor at The Mill, said, “We have a strong desire to take the gospel to East Asian people groups, but COVID and persecution got in the way. We turned our sights to our local community and began praying about how we could reach East Asians here.”

The church was introduced to Zhang through a mutual friend who works at the North American Mission Board. Zhang visited the church in late 2020 and moved to Moore to be The Mill’s East Asian church plant pastor in 2021.

He was ordained by The Mill as a full-time pastor and began to reach out to the growing East Asian population in Spartanburg County. Williamson said, “The church meets in our missions department and has about 25 people attending. Once they outgrow this meeting space, they will move into our chapel.”

According to Williamson, Zhang plans to remain in America and “has filed for residency with his visa.” He never got the heart transplant and seems to have a strong heart today. His family is currently living in one of The Mill’s mission houses. South Carolina has eight Chinese churches currently, and the East Asian population continues to grow.

Horton said, “To me it is a tragedy to know our state is filled with Anglo churches who possess property and facilities free and clear of debt, while ethnic churches struggle to pay rent or raise the capital needed to buy land and build a place to gather. Every established church should prayerfully consider housing a sister church who will reach a population currently unreached.”