ICC Note:
Many Chinese students that become Christians while studying abroad leave their faith once they return home according to Foreign Policy. The article says that “as many as tens of thousands who converted to the Christian faith overseas return to China every year.” Some believe that an estimated 80% of them stop going to church once they return to China. Many of them find it difficult to find a place of worship like they are familiar with abroad. Many Chinese church members are also wary of new believers. Government officials are known to spy on churches and sometimes from within a congregation. This environment can make it difficult for new converts to maintain their faith in a place where it is strongly oppressed.  
2/3/2017 China (Foreign Policy) – drew Wang’s father kept calling him: “Come, help us fold these.” But Wang no longer wanted to help his parents prepare paper offerings. Burning fake money and other paper effigies on certain days on the Chinese lunar calendar is a tradition many Chinese families, including Wang’s, keep in the hope that their ancestors will receive and enjoy the ersatz gifts in the other world and protect family members in this one. Wang had followed this practice since he was a child. But two months before leaving London after two years of study, Wang had been baptized against his parents’ wishes.
Since the early 2010s, increasing numbers of Chinese students have studied abroad, mostly in English-speaking countries; a majority of them have landed in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Among them, as many as tens of thousands who converted to the Christian faith overseas return to China every year. (No statistics on this trend are publicly available; this estimate reflects conversations with multiple sources close to the issue.)
…
[Full Story]