THE CHURCH
First Baptist Church of Midland in Midland, Texas
THE CHALLENGE
A church for Chinese refugees had nowhere to meet.
ONE BIG IDEA
Offer a worship space inside their building.
When friendships flourish, beauty follows. Such was the case when a wonderful ministry opportunity came about from a friendship between Darin Wood, pastor of First Baptist Church of Midland in Texas, and Bob Fu, founder of ChinaAid, an organization that provides legal aid to Christians in China.
In 2019, Fu told Wood about 64 Chinese Christians who were members of the Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church. Led by Pastor Pan Yongguang, they had fled China to seek asylum, nicknaming themselves “Mayflower Church” because of their pursuit of religious freedom.
Wood and Fu prayed that members of Mayflower would find a proper home.
“We never dreamed that home would be Midland,” says Wood, who in January 2024 offered the church’s student ministry area as a worship space to the members of Mayflower.
Founded in 1886, missions have always been the heart of FBC Midland. According to Wood, “This was a natural extension of who we have always been. Pastor Pan has been a joy to partner with. He has a bright spirit and loves his people as a shepherd should.”
Initially when children from Mayflower began meeting at First Baptist, they weren’t used to intermixing with FBC kids, but that’s all in the past now.
“They feel like they are at home when they’re in the building, and that’s what we want,” says Wood, who witnessed transition at their church picnic held four months after the Mayflower congregation began meeting at the church building. When people from Mayflower exited their cars, members of First Baptist welcomed them by showing them how to navigate a picnic.
“Language barriers aside, it was all about smiling and loving one another,” notes Wood, who especially enjoyed watching the kids play together in the bounce houses. In addition, some church members brought their horses to the picnic.
“Our Chinese friends had never been close to a horse, so they took lots of pictures,” adds Wood.
Another big turning point came last fall when Wood was walking through the church and heard First Baptist kids teasing Mayflower kids and vice versa.
“I realized that there’s no more ‘ours’ and ‘theirs,’” he says. “There’s just ‘all of ours.’”