Weimin Zhang had no idea what a Christian was, nor what it meant to be a pastor, when she first came to Australia to study in 2005 – but fast forward to 2024 and she is set to be ordained along with 11 other pastors at the BUV’s Ordination Service in October.

The Chinese-born mother of three came to study accounting at Deakin University, where her three roommates invited her to attend their bible study group. The friendly group shared Chinese food and spoke Min’s native language together, and she heard about God for the first time.

She started attending church and, at a youth camp one month later, she accepted Christ as her Saviour after the pastor preached about God’s unconditional love. “That camp was very, very special for me. The pastor told us Jesus always has a special love for us all, but it depends if we’re willing to receive that love. I don’t know what happened but the tears were coming down because I didn’t know that someone loved me. Half a month later I was baptised.”

In 2008 she attended a church camp and was challenged when the pastor preached from the passage of John 21 where Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me more than these?”  Min said: “I felt God clearly calling to me to ministry, and this was so scary for me – I said, ‘No God, there’s a lot of things I want to do! I came to Australia for study, I want to get permanent residency here, I want to be a good daughter and repay my parents’ money for my study.’ My boyfriend was also not a Christian yet and I didn’t want to give him up. But I think there are many people who hear God’s voice and feel scared. My wise pastor said it was good for me to discern what God was calling me to do rather than reject Him, and he recommended that I do the one-year TransFormation course at Whitley College to listen and see where He would lead me.”

While she was still considering this during the camp, her boyfriend (now husband) became a Christian. This removed one barrier that she had prayed about and was one confirmation of God’s call to study ministry.

Over the next several years she completed the TransFormation course, then an internship and a Diploma of Theology, interspersed with breaks while having her three children, working through post-natal depression and serving at her church. “When I had post-natal depression, I saw God differently because I love God and know that He is good, and I understood more fully how deep His love is for me although sometimes I am so weak and not capable! He helped me work through the two-year journey so that my faith grew stronger.”

During her ordination discernment year, Min worked through her worry that she was not old enough or wise enough to become a pastor, and she and her church community discerned that pastoring was indeed God’s call on her life. “There are not many bilingual pastors because you need to use English to learn theology, but it’s hard enough already without the language differences! Although I didn’t feel I had all the skills or feel capable as a pastor, I have the heart and the passion to care for people and I’d rather trust God and his calling for my life than just leave it and do nothing.”

Min has already been able to share this passion for looking after people through ministries at her home church (Northcote Baptist). She has clarified her calling to serve as a multicultural pastor through the ordination formation process and has since moved on to serve at Balwyn Baptist Church, a multicultural congregation. She has worked with the young adults and youth since 2023. 

In the middle of this year she was seconded to Box Hill Baptist Church for three months as a bridge builder with the Chinese community. “The church runs a weekly Community Bakehouse and they had around 200 people regularly come to get bread -most of them Chinese. But some of them would always turn up three or four hours early. Without knowing their language, the church didn’t know why or what needs the community had, and they wanted to know how to serve them better.” Min learned that the people loved meeting with other Chinese speakers for social reasons because their English skills were limited. As a result, the church has started a trial in providing an open social space for them to play table tennis and games together, and an opportunity to learn English.