Two Critical Lessons from the Arrowtown Chinese Settlement We Can Apply to our Multicultural Ministry

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)

We had the chance to revisit Arrowtown in October 2021. We toured the historic Chinese Settlement.

The Arrowtown Chinese Settlement is a heritage-listed, historic village in Arrowtown, New Zealand, set up by Chinese people during the Otago Gold Rush of the 1860s. The Settlement is sometimes called a village restored and is now a popular tourist attraction. It is close to Arrowtown on the banks of Bush Creek, a tributary of the Arrow River. (Source: Wikipedia).

Let me share briefly the story of these Chinese migrants of the 1860s based on the information boards installed in the Village. In sharing, I have no intention of highlighting the mistakes made in the past or passing judgment on any ethnic group.

My purpose is to glean lessons from history and develop another example of using faith-wisdom as a tool. Yes, we are all God’s work in progress.

It is important to note that the 1860s was quite a different time. Information was very limited. There wasn’t digital technology then that we now have that could have enabled the early New Zealand settlers to know more about one another’s ethnicity and culture.

I commend the Department of Conservation for reconstructing and restoring the hut ruins at the Arrowtown Chinese Settlement and providing information boards narrating their stories.

I took the time to read some of them. We can only imagine the hardships and challenges these Chinese migrants went through during that “golden” era.

The restored and reconstructed dwelling remains serve as a grim but hollow reminder of New Zealand life once upon a time, which, for me, is a precious treasure, much more precious than the gold they mined.

Visiting the site and reading the stories of the Arrowtown Chinese gold miners gave us a sad feeling of knowing and understanding what they all went through.

I believe that posting the narratives on this hallowed place shows New Zealand is on its journey to come to terms with its past.

I see the information boards’ desire to inform and educate the present generation on what must be the right thing to do, especially in the context of justice and in the eyes of the Almighty God. I will mention more in the continuation of this article.

Nevertheless, their story presents valuable lessons for a church that wants a robust, meaningful, and growing multicultural ministry.

As migrants from the Philippines, we faced many challenges, but they paled compared to those of these early Chinese migrants.

Learning about them, I can say they were New Zealand’s multicultural trailblazers. They presented a multicultural ministry challenge to the European settlers and, most of all, to the church people in the 1860s.

Peasant farmers seeking wealth and honour

Almost every Chinese gold seeker came from the Cantonese province of Guangdong in South China. Here, life for small farmers was a struggle for survival against over-population, unemployment, disease and political turmoil.

Gold-seeking offered an escape from poverty. Those who could help finance another to leave gave the most precious gift of “li shung” (to give life). From the mid-19th century, a steady stream of migrants headed for goldfields in the United States, Australia, Canada and, from 1865, New Zealand.

Invited but unwelcome – the harsh reality of goldfield life

Physical and emotional challenges extended beyond the search for gold. After Guangdong’s near-tropical climate, the newcomers would have been shocked by Otago’s brutally cold winters and made anxious by local hostility towards them.

A desperate invitation

By 1865, Otago’s first gold rush was already over, and thousands of European gold miners were leaving for new West Coast goldfields.

Fear that the province’s economy would collapse persuaded the Provincial Council to invite Chinese miners to Otago from the Australian goldfields. Opposition was countered by the argument that an “increase in population, even were it in the shape of chimpanzees, would be preferable to no population at all” (Otago Witness, 1867).

Now, I could continue presenting what I’ve read from the information boards, which describe the lives of the early Chinese settlers, their living condition, and the travails they went through when they got older and the gold rush was over.

However, for the sake of brevity and focusing more on the lessons learned from history and how we of the present will not repeat past mistakes, I’m presenting two challenging but straightforward learning points.

Two critical multicultural lessons from the Arrowtown Chinese Settlement

If your church is struggling on the multicultural front, the Arrowtown Chinese Settlement presents many faith-wisdom lessons we can use.

As we went through the Chinese Village’s story, two things on the information boards caught my attention because they can profoundly affect how we conduct our multicultural ministry in the church.

1. They kept to themselves

The Chinese did their best to avoid trouble. They kept to themselves, living largely outside the European Community and depending on each other for support.

Why did they have to:

• do their best to keep out of trouble?
• keep to themselves?
• to live primarily outside the European community?
• to depend on each other for support?

The answers to my “Why” questions are apparent. I mentioned some earlier in the article, and another information board photo also explains.

• They faced increasing resentment as their numbers swelled and their business interest expanded.
• European prejudice fed eagerly on vicious rumours of Chinese debauchery and disease.
• European prejudice fuelled the fear that New Zealand could be colonised by an “inferior race.”

So, how can this be a multicultural ministry lesson we can apply in the church?

We can apply this lesson by asking ourselves what our church’s or some church members’ sentiments are towards present-day migrants.

Have you heard of this thought or sentiment about multicultural ministry that says, “It’s good that you’re doing multicultural ministry because the migrants are comfortable being among themselves”?

When we started the multicultural response ministry a few years ago, I heard that statement from a few church leaders who expressed their appreciation for the ministry we were starting.

I can’t blame them or judge them for having such a sentiment or idea, for the arrival of migrants in a European majority congregation can cause discomfort at the onset.

However, now is the time to realise that the idea of “being comfortable amongst themselves” is not good because it could mean segregating the multi-ethnic congregation and the majority ethnic group, pushing the minority to the margin.

Thinking and saying the “migrants are comfortable amongst themselves” could mean that we, who have been together in the church for many years and generations, don’t want to be inconvenienced by the migrant’s presence.

Interestingly, the organisation of mono-ethnic churches by migrants around New Zealand is also reflective of many migrants’ desire to be “comfortable among themselves. This puts them in a situation where they are isolated from the mainstream and prefer their exclusivity.

What practical steps does our church need to take?

The Arrowtown Chinese Settlement teaches us that the migrants don’t need to keep among themselves if, as a church or individual believer,

• get rid of all our prejudices,
• establish genuine friendly relationships with people from different cultures,
• welcome people from other cultures in our church community and
• be a dependable support in times of need.

The Bible verses below serve as a reminder to all of us:

Psalm 68:5-6
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
    is God in his holy dwelling.
God sets the lonely in families,
    he leads out the prisoners with singing;
    but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.