As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, recently, some church staff and believers in Nanjing and Shanghai have participated in local volunteer services.
Sun Honglei, a church worker based in Qixia District, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province said that he had worked as a volunteer for a month and a half in July and August last year. Upon the coronavirus resurgence on March 17 and 18 this year, the sub-district office recruited volunteers. Sun and other fellow workers signed up immediately, mainly working on nucleic acid testing, epidemiological surveys and door-to-door sampling.
"Last year, in total 11 staff members joined volunteer teams, including all the pastoral staff and some administrative church board members in Qixia District. This year, 29 Christians have become volunteers. The PCR testing points in the nearby streets are specially administered by our volunteers. Four Christian volunteers work on one site, from 7.30 am to 8 pm every day, till this day,” he said.
Being a volunteer, in addition to wearing protective clothing all day, made one feel hot and sweaty, and physically exhausted, more importantly, it was also dangerous as they had direct contact with the people who came for PCR testing. "My family doesn't quite agree with me on being a volunteer. However, I think this work is sacred in which I can contribute to the fight against the epidemic, so I decided to join and have also organized an anti-epidemic commando to work together. I remember I was in close contact with the COVID-19 positive people twice when I was doing sampling information registration. Later, after the epidemiological investigations and the evidence collection from various aspects by Nanjing Health Commission, I was cleared from the suspicion of being a close contact, but still quarantined for three days," he added.
Sun said that at present, every church provided virtual worship services, and pastoring was carried out in WeChat groups. Considering that some believers might not listen to the uploaded recordings, instead, the WeChat 60-second voice messaging method was adopted. The choir singing was pre-recorded, and the sermons were fully prepared. The pastors of all Christian venues in the whole district took turns to preach and share the sermons. Elder believers could listen to the whole service continuously by clicking on the first voice message which would be followed automatically till the last one.
"The current challenge is that the church cannot provide accurate pastoral care by visiting believers at home or praying for the bedridden believers in person, which could affect their confidence. For example, some followers returned to their heavenly homes, but pastors couldn’t go to pray on-site, for that reason their families would feel very sad," said Sun. Besides the Sunday service, Qixia District Church also arranged other ministries, such as organizing prayer meetings in the WeChat groups at 5:30 every morning, followed by reciting the scriptures of the Three-Year Lectionary. After the service was finished, believers could freely praise and pray. At the moment daily Bible reading has been ministered through WeChat daily attendance and solitaire functions. In the evening, the church arranged vespers and daily devotions to encourage believers to seek intimacy with God. Meditations during Passion Week were also conducted online. Right now, the Sunday sermons followed the Three-Year Lectionary. At other times, sermons would be delivered according to the needs of believers. In order to do the ministries well under the epidemic influence, church co-workers would hold meetings in the WeChat group to discuss problems and release special prayer requests every day.
A very realistic problem was that donations to the church were down. Elderly believers didn’t have smartphones so that they couldn’t give offerings through WeChat red envelopes, or by scanning the church’s QR code. Nonetheless, some believers were so conscious of giving that they would make offerings with fixed tithes to the church once a month. Some would save their offerings and bring it to church when the onsite gatherings were resumed.
The loss of believers was inevitable. Currently, the church could only provide online pastoring. As a result, some believers couldn’t relate accordingly, and so they found it difficult to read the Bible and pray at home, so they would seek other ways. When in-person visitation was not possible, church co-workers would call and text believers, and pray for them through video calls. "Seeing the preachers of the church, they will find peace in their hearts and feel comforted. If there is an actual need, we will also organize a small number of co-workers to visit them at their homes."
As to participating in volunteer services, Sun said that he was doing it every day, depending on the epidemic status. For the past week or so, they had purchased supplies for the lockdown communities, helped the elders buy medicines, register them in hospitals, pay the fees, find a doctor to prescribe and collect medicines. At most they served 18 people at one time. The food supplies would be enough for each household to eat for half a month to a month.
The situation in Shanghai was even less optimistic. According to a female Christian living in Minhang District, her church encouraged believers to participate in social work, resulting in some believers becoming volunteers, working as residential building leaders, or even in makeshift cabins. Home-based believers would keep in touch with some elder Christians. They had also received a believer who came from out of town to see a doctor for cancer. When that believers fell ill, they helped to make emergency calls. Once some believers in her church were infected and stayed in the mobile cabin hospitals, they would notify and pray for each other.
A church elder in Songjiang District did not participate in the pastoral ministries of any fellowship. The CC&TSPM in his district had basically suspended theirs. The co-workers were locked at home, working on delivering weekly Sunday sermons on the WeChat official account. This elder nurtured believers by writing and posting articles on his WeChat Moments. For example, during Passion Week, he wrote a series. "I am deeply indebted to pastoring the believers. All I can do is to write and share sermons on WeChat Moments."
According to the official Shanghai Christian WeChat account, at the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic outbreak in Songjiang District, the pastoral staff of the district CC&TSPM and some believers from various churches actively took part in the community epidemic prevention work. Some of them were professional medical staff, doing nucleic acid testing for the residents on the front line. Some joined the community volunteer teams to maintain order on the community PCR testing sites. Some delivered supplies to residents as community couriers. Some distributed antigen test kits to residents door-to-door. Many believers’ family members worked as front-line anti-epidemic personnel. Therefore, "through Songjiang Branch of Shanghai Charity Foundation, Songjiang District CC&TSPM donated 50,000 yuan worth of protective clothing and other anti-epidemic materials to the front-line epidemic prevention volunteers in the community.”
In addition, Shanghai Christian churches in all districts have contributed to fighting against the pandemic on different levels. For example, CC&TSPM in Qingpu District, Jiading District, and Fengxian District donated food, daily necessities and pandemic relief supplies to the front-line anti-epidemic workers.
- Translated by Shuya Wang
随着新冠疫情还在持续，最近，南京和上海的一些教会同工和信徒参与了当地的志愿服务。
南京市栖霞区的孙红雷同工说，他在去年7月和8月就参与了一个半月的志愿服务。今年3月的17、18日，疫情再次爆发，街道办招募志愿者，他和同工们就直接报名了，主要做核酸检测、人员信息流调和上门采样。
“去年共有11位同工参与，包括栖霞区的所有教职人员和部分堂委信徒，今年共有29位，附近街道的核酸检测点是专门由我们志愿者承担的，一个点位4个人，从早上7点半到晚上8点，直到今天还在参与。”
做志愿服务工作，除了整日身着防护服，闷热流汗，身体疲累，还具有危险性。他们要直接面对来做核酸的人员，存在被感染的风险。“我的家人并不太同意我参与志愿服务，但我认为这个工作很神圣，能为抗疫出一份力，就决定参与并组织抗疫突击队共同参与。记得有两次，我在做采样信息登记的时候，跟阳性人员密切接触。后面经过流调和卫健委的多方取证，才排除了密接嫌疑，还是被隔离了三天。”
孙同工说，目前每个教会礼拜都是线上的形式，通过微信群进行牧养，考虑到只上传录音会有信徒不听，所以采用语音60秒的方式。诗班献唱是提前录制好的，讲道是充分准备好，全区牧者传道各个场所轮流讲道分享，年纪大的信徒只要点开第一个语音就可以持续听到最后，连贯性较好。
“目前所面临的挑战是不能做到精准牧养，不能到信徒家里探访，也不能到病床前祷告，他们的信心会受到影响。比如，有的信徒回了天家，牧师们不能去现场祷告，家属就很难受。”孙同工说。除了主日礼拜，栖霞区教会也安排了其他事工，比如每天早晨五点半在群里组织祷告，之后诵读三代经课的经文，结束后信徒可以自由赞美、祷告，现在已经形成了读经打卡接龙的模式。晚上则会安排晚祷并每日灵修，鼓励信徒与主亲近，受难周的默想也是在网上进行。目前，教会礼拜天的讲道是按照三代经课进行的，在其他时间会根据信徒的需要进行针对性的讲道。为了在疫情之下做好事工，同工们会在群里开会，交流问题，每天发出特别的代祷事项。
一个很现实的问题是，教会的奉献款在减少，年龄大的信徒没有智能手机，不会发红包，教会的二维码也扫不了。但有的信徒很有奉献意识，他们把固定的十一奉献拿出来，一个月到教会一次进行奉献；有的是放在一起，等重新开放聚会的时候一起带过去。
信徒的流失是难免的，目前教会只能提供线上牧养，有的信徒得不到相应的喂养，很难自己在家读经祷告，就会寻找其他方式。在不能实地探访的时候，教会同工就给信徒打电话和发信息，通过视频为他们祷告。“看到教会的传道人，他们的心里会踏实很多，能够得到安慰，实在有需要了我们也会组织少部分同工进行上门探访。”
回到做志愿者的事，孙同工说每天都在做，要看疫情情况。最近一个多礼拜，他们还为封控小区采购物资，帮助老人购买药品，在医院里挂号、交费、找医生开药和拿药。最多一次是为18个人服务，那些物资够每户居民吃半个月到一个月。
上海的情况更不容乐观。一位在闵行区的姐妹介绍，她所在教会很鼓励信徒参与社会工作，有的信徒就做了志愿者，比如楼组长，甚至到方舱工作。居家的信徒会联络一些年长的肢体。他们还接待了一位从外地来看病、患有癌症的信徒，就在对方犯病时，他们帮忙打急救电话。她所在教会也有信徒被感染而住进了方舱，他们会互通信息、彼此代祷。
松江区的一位长老没有参与具体堂点的牧养工作，他所在区两会的工作基本停止，同工们都被封控在家里，仍在做的就是通过微信公众号每周推送主日讲道。这位长老通过写文章分享到朋友圈来牧养信徒，比如在受难周，他就写了一个系列。“对信徒的牧养深感亏欠，我所能做的只有写讲章分享在朋友圈了。”
据上海基督教微信公众号消息，在松江区疫情初始，区基督教两会教牧同工和各堂部分信徒就积极参与到社区防疫工作中。他们之中有的本就是医护人员，在疫情的第一线为居民群众做核酸检测工作；有的加入社区志愿者队伍，为社区核酸检测现场维护秩序；有的为居民送发物资做起社区快递员工作；有的为居民挨家挨户上门发放抗原检测盒；也有许多信徒因为家属在抗疫第一线，“松江区基督教两会还筹集了价值5万元的防护服等防疫物资，通过松江慈善基金会，捐赠给社区一线的防疫志愿者。”
此外，上海各区基督教都不同程度地为抗疫奉献力量。比如，青浦区基督教两会、嘉定区基督教两会和奉贤区购买了食物、日用品和防疫物资慰问在一线的防疫工作者。
疫情之下的南京与上海 有教会同工与信徒参与志愿服务
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, recently, some church staff and believers in Nanjing and Shanghai have participated in local volunteer services.
Sun Honglei, a church worker based in Qixia District, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province said that he had worked as a volunteer for a month and a half in July and August last year. Upon the coronavirus resurgence on March 17 and 18 this year, the sub-district office recruited volunteers. Sun and other fellow workers signed up immediately, mainly working on nucleic acid testing, epidemiological surveys and door-to-door sampling.
"Last year, in total 11 staff members joined volunteer teams, including all the pastoral staff and some administrative church board members in Qixia District. This year, 29 Christians have become volunteers. The PCR testing points in the nearby streets are specially administered by our volunteers. Four Christian volunteers work on one site, from 7.30 am to 8 pm every day, till this day,” he said.
Being a volunteer, in addition to wearing protective clothing all day, made one feel hot and sweaty, and physically exhausted, more importantly, it was also dangerous as they had direct contact with the people who came for PCR testing. "My family doesn't quite agree with me on being a volunteer. However, I think this work is sacred in which I can contribute to the fight against the epidemic, so I decided to join and have also organized an anti-epidemic commando to work together. I remember I was in close contact with the COVID-19 positive people twice when I was doing sampling information registration. Later, after the epidemiological investigations and the evidence collection from various aspects by Nanjing Health Commission, I was cleared from the suspicion of being a close contact, but still quarantined for three days," he added.
Sun said that at present, every church provided virtual worship services, and pastoring was carried out in WeChat groups. Considering that some believers might not listen to the uploaded recordings, instead, the WeChat 60-second voice messaging method was adopted. The choir singing was pre-recorded, and the sermons were fully prepared. The pastors of all Christian venues in the whole district took turns to preach and share the sermons. Elder believers could listen to the whole service continuously by clicking on the first voice message which would be followed automatically till the last one.
"The current challenge is that the church cannot provide accurate pastoral care by visiting believers at home or praying for the bedridden believers in person, which could affect their confidence. For example, some followers returned to their heavenly homes, but pastors couldn’t go to pray on-site, for that reason their families would feel very sad," said Sun. Besides the Sunday service, Qixia District Church also arranged other ministries, such as organizing prayer meetings in the WeChat groups at 5:30 every morning, followed by reciting the scriptures of the Three-Year Lectionary. After the service was finished, believers could freely praise and pray. At the moment daily Bible reading has been ministered through WeChat daily attendance and solitaire functions. In the evening, the church arranged vespers and daily devotions to encourage believers to seek intimacy with God. Meditations during Passion Week were also conducted online. Right now, the Sunday sermons followed the Three-Year Lectionary. At other times, sermons would be delivered according to the needs of believers. In order to do the ministries well under the epidemic influence, church co-workers would hold meetings in the WeChat group to discuss problems and release special prayer requests every day.
A very realistic problem was that donations to the church were down. Elderly believers didn’t have smartphones so that they couldn’t give offerings through WeChat red envelopes, or by scanning the church’s QR code. Nonetheless, some believers were so conscious of giving that they would make offerings with fixed tithes to the church once a month. Some would save their offerings and bring it to church when the onsite gatherings were resumed.
The loss of believers was inevitable. Currently, the church could only provide online pastoring. As a result, some believers couldn’t relate accordingly, and so they found it difficult to read the Bible and pray at home, so they would seek other ways. When in-person visitation was not possible, church co-workers would call and text believers, and pray for them through video calls. "Seeing the preachers of the church, they will find peace in their hearts and feel comforted. If there is an actual need, we will also organize a small number of co-workers to visit them at their homes."
As to participating in volunteer services, Sun said that he was doing it every day, depending on the epidemic status. For the past week or so, they had purchased supplies for the lockdown communities, helped the elders buy medicines, register them in hospitals, pay the fees, find a doctor to prescribe and collect medicines. At most they served 18 people at one time. The food supplies would be enough for each household to eat for half a month to a month.
The situation in Shanghai was even less optimistic. According to a female Christian living in Minhang District, her church encouraged believers to participate in social work, resulting in some believers becoming volunteers, working as residential building leaders, or even in makeshift cabins. Home-based believers would keep in touch with some elder Christians. They had also received a believer who came from out of town to see a doctor for cancer. When that believers fell ill, they helped to make emergency calls. Once some believers in her church were infected and stayed in the mobile cabin hospitals, they would notify and pray for each other.
A church elder in Songjiang District did not participate in the pastoral ministries of any fellowship. The CC&TSPM in his district had basically suspended theirs. The co-workers were locked at home, working on delivering weekly Sunday sermons on the WeChat official account. This elder nurtured believers by writing and posting articles on his WeChat Moments. For example, during Passion Week, he wrote a series. "I am deeply indebted to pastoring the believers. All I can do is to write and share sermons on WeChat Moments."
According to the official Shanghai Christian WeChat account, at the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic outbreak in Songjiang District, the pastoral staff of the district CC&TSPM and some believers from various churches actively took part in the community epidemic prevention work. Some of them were professional medical staff, doing nucleic acid testing for the residents on the front line. Some joined the community volunteer teams to maintain order on the community PCR testing sites. Some delivered supplies to residents as community couriers. Some distributed antigen test kits to residents door-to-door. Many believers’ family members worked as front-line anti-epidemic personnel. Therefore, "through Songjiang Branch of Shanghai Charity Foundation, Songjiang District CC&TSPM donated 50,000 yuan worth of protective clothing and other anti-epidemic materials to the front-line epidemic prevention volunteers in the community.”
In addition, Shanghai Christian churches in all districts have contributed to fighting against the pandemic on different levels. For example, CC&TSPM in Qingpu District, Jiading District, and Fengxian District donated food, daily necessities and pandemic relief supplies to the front-line anti-epidemic workers.
- Translated by Shuya Wang
Church Staff, Believers Volunteer in Nanjing, Shanghai Under Lockdown
