Catholic Schools in U.S. Court China’s Youth, and Their Cash (secular source)

NYT ^ | April 7, 2014 | KYLE SPENCER

[NYer]

WAYNE, N.J. — When she arrived at DePaul Catholic High School to join the class of 2014, Di Wang hardly lacked for international experience. The daughter of a Chinese petroleum executive from Shaanxi, she had attended an elite summer camp in Japan. She knew firsthand the pleasures of French cuisine. Her favorite movie was “The Godfather.”

Her worldly exposure, though, did not extend to the particulars of a Roman Catholic education. Ms. Wang, 18, got her first lesson on that inside the school’s lobby. Gazing up at an emaciated Jesus hanging from a wooden cross, she was so startled she recalls gasping: “Oh, my God! So this is a Catholic school.”

She is hardly an anomaly. American parochial schools from Westchester County to Washington State are becoming magnets for the offspring of Chinese real estate tycoons, energy executives and government officials. The schools are aggressively recruiting them, flying admissions officers to China, hiring agencies to produce glossy brochures in Chinese, and putting up web pages with eye-catching photos of blond, tousled-haired students gamboling around with their beaming Chinese classmates.

She is hardly an anomaly. American parochial schools from Westchester County to Washington State are becoming magnets for the offspring of Chinese real estate tycoons, energy executives and government officials. The schools are aggressively recruiting them, flying admissions officers to China, hiring agencies to produce glossy brochures in Chinese, and putting up web pages with eye-catching photos of blond, tousled-haired students gamboling around with their beaming Chinese classmates.

snip

The schools do not require the students to convert. But, several school officials said, they must be respectful during prayers, enroll in mandatory theology courses and fulfill required Christian service hours, which means, for example, tutoring low-income students in a church basement or serving at a Catholic soup kitchen.

[NYer]

Jiacheng Wang, a senior at John F. Kennedy from Ningbo, a coastal city, said he left China to obtain a well-rounded education in the arts and sciences. “I wanted to have time to do the things I love,” he said, including drumming and singing. He said that the school’s religious affiliation played almost no role in his decision to enroll, but he now finds the school’s daily prayers calming. Sometimes before bed now, he prays alone.

DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne, N.J., recruits students from China. Credit Ángel Franco/The New York Times “I believe in science,” Mr. Wang said. “But now, I’m kind of 50 percent Christian. I start to believe this God stuff.”

Asked during a phone interview from China whether she believed her son would convert, his mother, Li Qijun, 46, replied dismissively in Mandarin. “That won’t happen.”

Ping!

[MattinNJ]

Just saw something that Jesus was more popular than Mao on Chinese Twitter

[sitetest]

My sons’ high school (which is my own alma mater) has always had a sprinkling of international students, but this coming fall will begin a formal program of welcoming Chinese students to the school. The initial number for this coming year’s enrollment will be 10, I think.

[GreyFriar]

Thank you for this post. It blends well with this article that Jesus is more popular than Mao on China’s twitter”

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/04/07/jesus_more_popular_than_mao_on_chinese_twitter_infographic

[cumbo78]

A couple of inconvenient facts left out of the story. The Chinese Government requires 8th graders to take a standardized test. If the student does not place at or near the top, the child cannot continue on to higher education. They are designated to trade schools or directly to work. Now that there is a middle class in China, some choose to send their children to the US to continue on. In addition, inner city Catholic Schools are often rejected for the program based on their racial and ethnic makeup. Seems the program can only "sell" a certain "type" of school to Chinese parents.

[zot]

Thanks for the ping. I guess this is a form of evangelism.

[Jeff Chandler]

inner city Catholic Schools are often rejected for the program based on their racial and ethnic makeup. Seems the program can only "sell" a certain "type" of school to Chinese parents.

I just don't understand why parents wouldn't want to send their children to schools located in the inner-city.

[ottbmare]

Mom may be out of luck, if that’s her sincere wish for her son. But it may also just be prudent for her to say so, whether she really believes so or not. As my own relatives in a Communist country once found, it may not always be wise to declare for Christ openly until the position is stronger. As long as Christians are still persecuted in China—and they are, despite their growing numbers—Mom may just be thinking that openly admitting that he has converted, or might convert, isn’t a smart thing for her son to do.

[ottbmare]

Mom may be out of luck, if that’s her sincere wish for her son. But it may also just be prudent for her to say so, whether she really believes so or not. As my own relatives in a Communist country once found, it may not always be wise to declare for Christ openly until the position is stronger. As long as Christians are still persecuted in China—and they are, despite their growing numbers—Mom may just be thinking that openly admitting that he has converted, or might convert, isn’t a smart thing for her son to do.

[NYer]

An excellent observation. That makes perfect sense especially if the government can recall her son’s visa. Thanks for the post and ping! Hope you and the family are doing well.

[cumbo78]

You mean like the one I teach in that has top of the line technology, new facilities, where 98% of our senior class graduates wih a full Regents diploma, and our valedictorian had to decide between full rides to Cornell or Columbia? God forbid they see the real world.

[Jeff Chandler]

Location, location, location.