Chinese Saint
🇨🇳Wang Zai
1898–1975 · Chinese · Evangelist, Mission Founder & Overseas Chinese Leader
“God's call knows no borders; where Chinese people are, the Gospel must go.”
Biography
Wang Zai (Leland Wang) was born in Fujian Province in 1898 and came to faith in Christ in his youth. He was deeply influenced by the faith missions movement and Hudson Taylor's principles of trusting God for all material needs. After serving in China, he responded to the challenge of reaching Chinese people around the world and became one of the pioneering figures in Chinese diaspora missions. He founded the Chinese Foreign Missionary Union, one of the first Chinese-led missionary organizations, to send Chinese missionaries to evangelize Chinese communities abroad. Wang Zai traveled extensively to Southeast Asia, North America, and other regions with large Chinese populations, planting churches and encouraging evangelism in the diaspora. His vision was for the Chinese church to take responsibility for reaching its own people worldwide, not depending solely on Western missionaries. He was a capable preacher and an inspiring leader who attracted and mentored many younger workers into missionary service. Moving to the United States in his later years, he continued his ministry among Chinese Americans until his death in 1975. His life represented an early expression of the missionary calling of the Chinese church itself—the church not merely as a field of mission but as an agent of mission.
Key Works
Wang Zai's most significant institutional work was the founding of the Chinese Foreign Missionary Union, which pioneered Chinese-led cross-cultural missions to the diaspora. His evangelistic messages and teaching were recorded and distributed among Chinese communities internationally. He contributed to Chinese Christian periodicals and wrote devotional materials that encouraged believers toward missionary commitment. His organizational vision and the missionary societies he helped establish created infrastructure for Chinese diaspora evangelism that continued long after his death.
Legacy
Wang Zai's legacy is the principle that the Chinese church is a sending church, not only a receiving church. His founding of the Chinese Foreign Missionary Union anticipated the global Chinese missionary movement that would flourish decades later. By reaching Chinese communities in Southeast Asia and North America, he helped establish networks of Chinese evangelical churches that became significant centers of Chinese Christianity. He challenged the Chinese church to see the worldwide Chinese diaspora as a primary mission field.