Chinese Student Leadership Conference Convenes 400 Students and Teachers

This is an uncommon sight: more than 400 Christian school students and teachers gathering in China for a three-day Christian conference. 

These students are used to attending underground schools where they have to arrive secretly, wary of neighbors noticing large groups of students who aren’t in public schools. 

But at this recent student leadership conference far from any big city, the students and teachers came together to collaborate, worship, pray, and enjoy Bible studies, a talent show, and sports events.  

The event was organized by the 16 schools in attendance along with ACSI and Peter Lee, ACSI’s Director of East Asia, gave a message one night and presented nearly 100 students with the Distinguished Christian High School Student Award (DCHSS). 

"When I saw a group of this size, it was amazing,” Lee said. “There are over 200 million surveillance cameras all over China, and that’s how the government keeps an eye on people. But in this remote area, it was safe for the 16 schools to gather. The underground schools in China are not able to collaborate, but once a year, they try to come together.”

Lee found immense value in meeting with school leaders who were thrilled to see him. 

“They need a lot of encouragement,” Lee said. “To see ACSI coming and supporting them, to sit with them and hear their stories, they’re happy that they’re not alone.” 

As much as Lee wants to equip these schools with all the resources they can handle, he has been compelled to focus first on making sure the school leaders know they are supported. 

“Every time we pray for China, one word comes up, which is encouragement,” Lee said. “It brings a lot of joy to my heart to be there for them. It was an awesome fellowship to see.” 

Lee was particularly impressed with a student named Joseph, a graduating senior headed to a prestigious U.S. east coast college next year. 

“I was curious how he chose a school in New Jersey,” Lee said. “He said his freshman year, he had a Christian teacher and was learning apologetics online. This teacher had made such an impact on his life on how to defend his faith.”  

Joseph could have easily gone to a Christian school in the U.S., but he wanted to intentionally find a secular school to be a witness and then return to teach at K-12 schools in China. 

“That was a joy for me to see a young man like that, despite the challenges, who had a specific calling,” Lee said. 

This event was also an impactful way to show schools how they can better advance their mission through ACSI. Seven of the 16 schools were already ACSI member or affiliated schools, and the remaining nine all showed interest. 

"After I got back, we were able to establish connections with three new schools and they are going through membership processes,” Lee said. “Some would love to join but there’s a degree of security, so some schools really want to remain incognito. They’re very cautious about joining, and that is okay. We still want to serve and support them any way we can.”