Lately, I’ve found myself dipping in and out of a few books. Perhaps it reflects the questions on my mind, or perhaps I’ve simply been searching for a bit of comfort.
One of them was Nevil Shute’s On the Beach, a novel that opens with a young Australian naval officer preparing for a submarine patrol. He is about to spend time away from his wife and newborn child. Although the mission isn’t expected to be long, World War III has already broken out, and radiation from the Northern Hemisphere is slowly drifting south. Global energy resources are dwindling. For him, going on duty means earning enough income to help his family survive the coming winter. What is striking in the story is that, even as the end of the world approaches, the characters carry on with life almost as usual. Apart from the reduced public transport caused by fuel shortages, daily life remains outwardly calm. This quiet, unsettling contrast becomes a defining backdrop of the novel.
Many younger Chinese Christians may not be familiar with Professor Nai Zin Zia, yet the “Library of Christian Classics,” which he helped translate and publish through the Chinese Christian Literature Council, has been deeply influential for pastors and seminary students. Nai studied abroad, and because of the Chinese Civil War, he was forced to leave his hometown and take refuge in Hong Kong. He later immigrated to the United States, and eventually moved to Guangzhou in his later years to live with his son. Dr. Ho Ching-cheong wrote about Nai’s experience of diaspora, focusing especially on his reflections and activities in Hong Kong during the 1950s and 60s. Nai explored questions of religious identity, cultural identity, and the tensions between the two. He engaged in Confucian-Christian dialogue with New Confucian scholars and discussed the relationship between Christianity and Chinese culture with Christian intellectuals.
For many Chinese who have moved to the UK, the immigrant journey is a blend of unfamiliarity, adjustment, and emotional complexity. Alongside painful experiences of rejection and discrimination, there are also moments of welcome and recognition. Memories of home—its routines, flavours, and rhythms—can turn into motivation to bring those traditions into our daily lives here. New networks form among both old acquaintances and newly arrived immigrants, helping people stay connected and even build community. As we search for our sense of identity, our horizons inevitably widen. Life in the UK is shaped not only by local politics but also by the economic and geopolitical climate of Europe and the United States. The world feels increasingly unstable and unpredictable. We seek a place of safety, only to discover that every country has its own struggles.
Retired Professor Ying Fuk-tsang once encouraged believers experiencing diaspora by quoting 1 Peter: we are “chosen… scattered… exiles.” Yet we share life with one another, carrying each other’s burdens, becoming a community bound together by God’s calling. This brings to mind a short story I once read online:
Mangroves grow along soft, muddy coastlines, constantly exposed to rising and falling tides. On the surface, each tree seems to stand alone, as if it could be washed away at any moment. But if you dive beneath the water, you’ll see that their roots are tightly intertwined underground, forming a vast, inseparable network. When strong waves crash in, it isn’t the strength of one tree that withstands the force, but the quiet support of the entire interconnected system.
My prayer is that the congregation of Ebenezer Chinese Christian Church, when facing the uncertainties around us and the inner struggle for identity, will find strength through our relationship with Jesus Christ—standing firm together, supporting one another, weathering life’s storms as one community.
Your Pastor,
Pastor Gilbert [Jan 2026]
