Looming Tragedy

Abstract

Zhou’s family disintegrated in the sudden storm of her mother’s arrest due to the government crackdown on a folk religion. This shaped her mental capacity for pessimism, expecting more looming tragedies around her. She excelled in academic studies but lost a sense of grounding direction in life. Zhou had multiple exposures to the Christian message before she came to the faith. She describes this journey as God’s providence. As a young adult, Zhou’s desires for emotional intimacy were fulfilled by reliable friendships from Christian believers. It was liberating for Zhou that her conversion enabled her to look back and name her mother’s experiences as an injustice. At church, Zhou wrestled with a Christian complementarianism that discouraged women from working as professionals.