As part of our ongoing effort to promote and mobilize prayer for China, we are highlighting various prayer resources. Today’s post is about “Pray for China,” a prayer initiative started by B.F. Weston.
I first met B.F. when I was still working in China. He and his family were serving in Gansu Province, but his travels occasionally brought him through Beijing. Since then, our paths have crossed every few years at conferences. B.F. has recently started a website called PrayforChina.us, with the goal of “promote[ing] prayer from every US state for every Chinese province (and county).”
It is an interactive site that matches US states with Chinese provinces. For example, I am in Minnesota, and when I click Minnesota on the map, information about the province of Heilongjiang pops up, which is perfect since we are roughly at the same latitude and share a similar frigid climate. He wants people in Minnesota to pray for the people of Heilongjiang.
Prior to launching this website, he had already set up Pray4Gansu.com, seeking to mobilize people in Oklahoma, his home state, to pray for people in Gansu, his adopted Chinese province.
I recently had the chance to interview B.F. and hear more about these resources. The transcript of this interview is as follows, with editing for length and clarity.
How did the idea for this resource come about?
It’s a bit of a long story. When I and my family had to leave China in 2018, one of the thoughts in my mind was that I would probably not be able to return to China for a long while. It left me wondering what we could do to continue serving the church in China. Beyond sending people to serve on a short-term basis, I realized that I could recruit people back home to pray for China.
My family and I spent the early pandemic years in Peru, where my wife is from. Lockdowns there were very strict, so I had a lot of time on my hands. One day, I was sitting on my bed with no place to go, and I started looking at a map of Oklahoma, my home state, on the wall. As I looked at the map, I had the idea to match up each county of Oklahoma with each prefecture (county) in Gansu Province, my adopted home in China, so that I can then encourage people in all these small churches in Oklahoma to pray for specific places in Gansu.
Not wanting to randomly match Oklahoma counties to prefectures, I studied the map and statistics in order to make alignments that made sense in terms of geography and demographics. I then teamed up with a friend who is a web guy and created Pray4Gansu. The interactive map of Oklahoma counties allows viewers to click on a county and learn about a corresponding Gansu prefecture.
After the “Pray for Gansu” initiative, how did you make the expansion to “Pray For China”?
In 2022, I made my first trip back to Asia to attend a conference and visit ministry partners. I was on the plane for 14 hours and started wondering if I could do for the whole country what I had just done for Oklahoma and Gansu. The two countries are roughly the same size geographically, and even though the numbers of states vary greatly (50 to 22), the numbers of counties/prefectures match up fairly well. The US has 3,200 counties and China has 2,800 prefectures. So on this long flight over the Pacific Ocean, I began to play around on my phone, trying to match up states and counties with provinces and prefectures in a way that made sense. By the time I landed in Thailand, I had knocked out a rough draft for a new prayer resource website. Working in partnership with Asia Harvest, we set up PrayforChina.US.
What makes this prayer resource unique?
I think it’s the geographic hook of linking a state or county with a province or prefecture. China is so big, and most people know very little about it. They may have heard of Beijing or Shanghai or Guangzhou, but not about any other place in China. This geographical hook helps them make a more personal connection to a place they can learn about and pray for. Once somebody knows what province to adopt for prayer, they can go online and learn more about that province.
What’s next?
I plan to continue matching US states and Chinese provinces, and eventually take it down to the county/prefecture level. I also view this resource as a framework that I hope others can run with and mobilize prayer in their home communities and churches.
In addition to the website, B.F. posts regular prayer items to X (formerly Twitter). You can find them at @chinaadventures.
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,… (Philippians 1:9)
It is our prayer at ChinaSource that this resource will help you do just that.
Image credit: prayforchina.us
Joann Pittman
Joann Pittman is Vice President of Partnership and China Engagement and editor of ZGBriefs. Prior to joining ChinaSource, Joann spent 28 years working in China, as an English teacher, language student, program director, and cross-cultural trainer for organizations and businesses engaged in China. She has also taught Chinese at the University …View Full Bio
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