Jackie Pullinger was a fresh music graduate from the Royal College of Music in London when she felt an unmistakable pull to go to Hong Kong. She had no mission organisation backing her, no contacts, and no plan. In 1966, at twenty-two years old, she bought the cheapest boat ticket she could find and sailed east.
Into the Walled City
She ended up teaching music in the Kowloon Walled City — a lawless, densely packed settlement controlled by Triad gangs, riddled with opium dens and prostitution. It was the last place anyone would choose to build a life. Jackie started a youth club for the boys who lived there, many of whom were already addicted to heroin by their early teens.
No Programme, Just Presence
Jackie did not arrive with a strategy. She showed up, day after day, in a place most people avoided. She learned Cantonese. She played games with gang members. She listened. And over time, something extraordinary happened — young men began getting free from heroin addiction, not through medical intervention, but through prayer. They described the withdrawals stopping supernaturally, sometimes overnight.
Sixty Years and Counting
Jackie Pullinger has now spent nearly sixty years in Hong Kong. The work that began in a makeshift classroom in the Walled City has grown into St Stephen's Society, which has helped thousands recover from addiction. She never left. She never sought fame. She simply stayed in the classroom God gave her.
What This Means for You
Jackie's story started with a young graduate who did not wait for the perfect plan. She went where she felt called and let God fill in the details. If you are a student or teacher wondering whether your training has a bigger purpose — it does. And the classroom might look nothing like what you expect.