Jack Tai was supposed to grow up, leave his homeland of China, and get wealthy working for an American company – at least, that was the plan. He was expected to be successful and make his parents proud.
“My parents were farmers, and they grew corn and rice. They didn’t have any religion. They were just hardworking people,” he shares.
But Jack’s plans took a turn when he met missionaries sent by the International Mission Board (IMB). While studying English in college, he stumbled upon a ministry group that taught more than just a foreign language.
“I felt convicted when they talked about the story of Christ and the gospel. As a young person, I think I was at a point of life crisis, trying to form my own worldview. My atheistic, naturalistic worldview didn’t make sense,” Jack recalls. “I received the gospel right there in the English corner.”
Suddenly, Jack was living for more – more than success, possessions, or his own kingdom.
“My personal dreams, compared to the missionaries’ lifestyle, just dwindled in size,” he says. “I felt a sense of a burden, a responsibility as a Chinese believer, that I should do something for my own country, for my own fellow believers. So that’s why I decided to go into ministry. And the missionaries, they loved on me, they discipled me. I would say my spiritual DNA about sharing the gospel, evangelism and church planting was inspired by them.”
So instead of leaving China to chase a high-paying job in the United States, Jack and his wife, Lydia, served in an underground church in China for a decade. “Although the authorities knew about us, it was a matter of when they may choose to shut us down,” Jack shares. “It was a daily challenge.”
Eventually, Jack sensed God leading his family to Dallas, Texas. It was one of the hardest decisions they’d ever made.
“I thought I would pastor that church for my whole life,” says Jack. “But when I moved here, God really opened my eyes to the great need in the harvest field. There is around 100,000 Chinese immigrant population in the DFW Metroplex, and 90 percent of them are unreached.”
In the weeks that followed, God laid it on Jack’s heart to plant a church to reach the Chinese in the Dallas area – and he knew exactly where he could turn for resources and support in the journey.
“I find within the SBC network there’s a huge passion and burden to pursue the lost.” Jack says, “And now as a church planter with Send Network, I feel very supported by a group of same-minded church planters, and also a network with resources, coaching and training.”
In the year and a half since Jack and his wife started Joy Church from their living room, in Plano, Texas, five people have come to know Christ and followed in believer’s baptism.
“What excites me is that God is bringing so many new friends and nonbelievers,” he says. “We’re seeing His kingdom grow.”
During a Global Vision Trip this year – a collaborative effort between the IMB and Send Network that sends new church planters overseas to partner with IMB teams around the world, Jack discovered an even broader perspective for God’s plan for his life and church.
“As I started a small church it was easy for me to think ‘I am a mission, I need other churches to support me.’ But I realized during that trip, we are on mission with God, and although we are small, we have to have a global perspective because we serve a big God,” he shares.
“That trip was very inspiring for me to see how God grows His kingdom through the IMB, the local missionaries, and also the church planters with NAMB.”
Wherever God has led Jack and his wife, the SBC has walked with them—resourcing, equipping, and encouraging their work.
“I’m just grateful to be part of this family,” Jack says with a smile. “I feel like a spoiled kid, honestly—with the amazing support I get from SBC churches.”
Published July 21, 2025