Approved to be established on July 12, 2001, Xifo Church in Tai'an County, Liaoning Province was originally a place for family activities. In August 1999, four bungalows were purchased to serve as the activity places of the church.
In August 2004, it was rebuilt on the same site. The new church covers an area of 1,125 square meters with a floor area of 485 square meters. The exterior of the church presents a Gothic architectural style. Inside the church, there are tables, chairs, sound equipment, air conditioning, and other facilities, and a cross hangs high in front of the main hall.
On the left and right sides of the church are offices, libraries, and so on. The main hall can accommodate more than 500 people for worship and other activities. At present, there are four preachers and about 350 believers, which is of a certain scale in the local village.
Sister Li Jing believed in the Lord in 1989. Since then, she has regarded the family affairs of God as major events and has taken it as her duty to shepherd the believers. She also gave her only daughter to the Lord.
Her daughter was an excellent student at Tai'an High School, but when it was time to face the college entrance examination, she told her mother that God had called her. Enlightened by God's revelation, Li supported her daughter to go to a seminary and become a full-time preacher after graduation. Today, she is a pastor of a church in Anshan City.
Xifo Church became the main place of Christian faith in Xifo town. After the earthquakes in Wenchuan, Sichuan, and Yushu, Qinghai, the congregation donated 4,000 yuan to the disaster areas. They visit poor households and nursing homes during the Spring Festival and other festivals, with a donation that has reached more than 3,000 yuan.
According to the Tai'an Ethnic and Religious Records published by the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau of Tai'an County in 2017, among the believers of Xifo Church, there are 11 large households with more than 100 mu (16.47 acres) of land, 18 professional households with more than three vegetable greenhouses, and nine specialized households with more than 50,000 yuan of annual income in the clothing business. Twelve large pig farmers receive an annual output of more than 10,000 pigs per year and the other 12 large households raise more than 10,000 chickens per year.
(This article was written by a staff writer for Gospel Times from Tai'an County, Liaoning Province.)
- Translated by Stephen Huang
辽宁省台安县西佛教会于2001年7月12日获批设立。教堂的起初是家庭活动点，1999年8月购买4间平房作为教堂的活动场所。
2004年8月在原地重新翻建，新教堂占地面积1,125平方米，建筑面积达485平方米。教堂外部呈现哥特式的建筑风格，堂内桌椅和音响空调等设施一应俱全，主堂前方圣台十字架高悬。
教堂左右两侧建有副堂办公室、图书室等。主堂可容纳500多人做礼拜等活动。现有传道人4人，信众有350人左右，这在当地的乡村已经是具有一定规模的了。
李静姊妹自1989年信主以来，把神家的事看做大事、把牧养信徒当做己任。她也将自己的独生女献给了主。
她的女儿本来是台安高中成绩优异的学生，但是在面临高考的时候，当女儿告诉妈妈神呼召她的时候，李经历了神的启示后，支持女儿读神学院，毕业后到教会做专职传道人。如今，已是鞍山市一个教会的牧师。
西佛教会成为西佛镇基督教信仰的主要场所。在四川汶川和青海玉树发生大地震后，信徒纷纷志愿为灾区捐款4000元；他们关爱社会、服务社会，每逢过年过节走访特困户和敬老院，为他们和老人捐款捐物达3000余元。
据台安县民族宗教事务局2017年的《台安民族宗教志》介绍：西佛教堂信徒当中就有种地百亩以上大户11家、三栋以上蔬菜大棚的专业户18户、年收入达5万元服装生意大户以上的专业户9户；年出栏万只以上的养猪大户12户；年出栏万只以上的养鸡大户有12户等。
西佛教会的同工们说，他们是小教会。再小也是主耶稣为元首，这里是主的圣殿，这里有三一的神与他们同在，上帝是他们的堡垒。
（福音时报特约撰稿人于辽宁省台安县）
这里有神的同在——访辽宁台安县西佛基督教会
Approved to be established on July 12, 2001, Xifo Church in Tai'an County, Liaoning Province was originally a place for family activities. In August 1999, four bungalows were purchased to serve as the activity places of the church.
In August 2004, it was rebuilt on the same site. The new church covers an area of 1,125 square meters with a floor area of 485 square meters. The exterior of the church presents a Gothic architectural style. Inside the church, there are tables, chairs, sound equipment, air conditioning, and other facilities, and a cross hangs high in front of the main hall.
On the left and right sides of the church are offices, libraries, and so on. The main hall can accommodate more than 500 people for worship and other activities. At present, there are four preachers and about 350 believers, which is of a certain scale in the local village.
Sister Li Jing believed in the Lord in 1989. Since then, she has regarded the family affairs of God as major events and has taken it as her duty to shepherd the believers. She also gave her only daughter to the Lord.
Her daughter was an excellent student at Tai'an High School, but when it was time to face the college entrance examination, she told her mother that God had called her. Enlightened by God's revelation, Li supported her daughter to go to a seminary and become a full-time preacher after graduation. Today, she is a pastor of a church in Anshan City.
Xifo Church became the main place of Christian faith in Xifo town. After the earthquakes in Wenchuan, Sichuan, and Yushu, Qinghai, the congregation donated 4,000 yuan to the disaster areas. They visit poor households and nursing homes during the Spring Festival and other festivals, with a donation that has reached more than 3,000 yuan.
According to the Tai'an Ethnic and Religious Records published by the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau of Tai'an County in 2017, among the believers of Xifo Church, there are 11 large households with more than 100 mu (16.47 acres) of land, 18 professional households with more than three vegetable greenhouses, and nine specialized households with more than 50,000 yuan of annual income in the clothing business. Twelve large pig farmers receive an annual output of more than 10,000 pigs per year and the other 12 large households raise more than 10,000 chickens per year.
(This article was written by a staff writer for Gospel Times from Tai'an County, Liaoning Province.)
- Translated by Stephen Huang
[Church Feature] Xifo Church in Tai'an County, Liaoning Province
