It’s been two years since the pandemic began, many churches have achieved initial success in online pastoral ministries. For the younger generation of believers who are proficient in using smart devices such as mobile phones and computers, they may have been used to online gatherings. But as for the hundreds of rural churches, how have they been conducting gatherings? For those middle-aged and elderly rural believers who cannot participate in online worship, how could they go through this difficult time?
Recently, a staff member of Gospel Times, an online Chinese Christian newspaper talked with an elder in charge of a village church somewhere in North China on the phone. Having interviewed her, we got a glimpse of the situation of the rural churches and their members under the epidemic.
Gospel Times: Hello, what is the current situation of believers in your church? How have they stuck to their beliefs during the epidemic of COVID-19?
Elder Z: We are a village church which was established in 1899 when the gospel took root here. Later, with the services and inheritance of pastors from generation to generation, the church has continued to this day. Since the division of the pastoral areas in 2002, we have become the central church of the pastoral area, with a dozen rural fellowships under the pastoral area and around the township.
Before the pandemic, there were more than 500 believers in the church. But afterwards, the church has stopped gatherings since the first half of last year, which haven’t resumed yet.
In addition, there are quite a lot of elderly believers here, most of whom are not in good physical condition or have limited mobility. After the outbreak of COVID-19, their family members might have dissuaded them from attending church out of the consideration of epidemic prevention or travel inconvenience, or other reasons. Now there are probably about 150 believers here who can often attend services.
Gospel Times: How did the church carry out the pastoral ministries during the suspension due to the epidemic? How did they go?
Elder Z: During the suspension period, we set up a WeChat group for believers to carry out the pastoral care. We followed churches in cities to organize believers to study the Bible online. Before this Easter Sunday, we have basically completed our Bible study for one time.
Besides, our followers also collected the widely circulated short spiritual hymns, such as the 401st hymn from the Chinese New Hymnal with the title God Loves the World, and recorded them for learning. We hope to do the evangelism ministry with these short catchy songs.
Speaking of other forms of online pastoral care, it has been really difficult to do it just by the church itself. On the one hand, basically both volunteers and believers here are middle-aged and elderly farmers whose education levels are not very high, many of whom don’t know how to use mobile phones, especially the elders. It’s alright to organize a Bible study or prayer in the WeChat group. However, pastoral ministries such as Sunday services, mainly rely on the live streaming of sermons by churches in the cities.
Though on-site gatherings were suspended in the past two years due to the epidemic, the church's visitation ministry has not stopped. With regard to those believers who were sick or had difficulties at home, the visiting group and church staff would visit them and pray for them, encouraging them not to lose faith in God. I believe this is part of pastoral care.
Gospel Times: In the past two years, based on your observations, can you talk about the current situation of rural churches?
Elder Z: I think what our village churches lack most right now are young volunteers and leading pastors.
In terms of young volunteers, I can only say that there are fewer and fewer young people staying in villages now. Those who are able-bodied are going out to work in cities. Most of our churches and rural meeting points depend on middle-aged female believers and volunteers, who can do well in leading daily spiritual practice or visitation services, but can’t fulfill churches’ needs related to physical labor, pluming and electricity maintenance, audio equipment, or the Internet.
To give a practical example, all aspects of work have now involved smart and electronic devices. Sometimes the church in the city needs us to collect some information about our church or believers, for which we have to submit the electronic version. Unfortunately, here we don’t have any church staff who can use computers. So, we all write it down by hand, and then ask the young people in the village to type it in a computer before we can submit it. We can do it a couple of times to begin with, but it’s not a long-term solution. Therefore, the church staff often pray together, asking the Lord to provide us with young volunteers who can take on the burden of helping the church store more information electronically.
The need for leading pastors is more urgent. Since our church is not too far from the city, so pastors in the city come to preach here every now and then for convenient transportation. But in other remote mountainous areas, it is difficult for churches to lead pastoral ministries.
There is a meeting point on the mountain in our neighborhood town. Originally, those who attended services were few elderly people. Due to the pandemic, even fewer believers would come to meetings. Now there are less than 10 people who don’t even know how to use mobile phones. With no one leading, they can only pray together at gatherings, which makes me feel very sad. My greatest wish is that Jesus would send more young pastors here to lead these old Christians and terminate the epidemic as soon as possible, so that all Christians can return to the Lord’s temple to worship together.
-Translated by Shuya Wang
疫情两年来，许多教会对于线上牧养探索已经初有成效，而对于能够熟练使用手机、电脑等智能设备的年轻一代信徒而言，线上聚会可能已经习惯。可是，对于城市以外的成百上千的乡村教会而言，他们的聚会又是如何开展？那些无法参与线上敬拜的中老年农村信徒，在这艰难的时间，他们又是如何度过的？
近日，福音时报同工与华北某地一乡村教会的负责长老取得了电话联系，通过她的介绍，我们得以一瞥疫情下的乡村教会与信徒的境况。
福音时报：长老您好，请问教会目前信徒情况如何？疫情期间信徒信仰状况如何？
Z长老：我们这虽然是一间村里的教会，但是建立的时间是比较悠久的，1899年开始福音就在这里扎根了，后来在一代又一代的传道人的服侍和传承下，教会延续到了今天，自从2002年划分牧区以后，我们这里成为了牧区的中心堂，还覆盖牧区底下及乡镇周边十几个农村活动点。
疫情之前，教会的信徒能有500余人，但是因为疫情，教会从去年上半年开始就停了聚会，到现在也没恢复。
另外，我们这里老年弟兄姊妹还是挺多的，他们大部分身体状况不太好或者是行动不便，疫情之后，他们的家人可能出于防疫或者出行不便的考虑，或者是其他原因，反正就没让再来教会了，现在我们这里能常常参加礼拜的信徒大概还能有个150多人。
福音时报：那疫情暂停期间教会是怎么样开展信徒牧养的呢？开展是否顺利呢？
Z长老：在暂停期间我们这也是建立了信徒微信群开展牧养，会仿着城里教会的形式组织信徒开展线上查经，在复活节前，我们的查经也基本进行完一轮了。
除了组织查经，我们的弟兄姊妹们还自己把流传比较广的灵歌短歌收集起来，进行学唱录音，就像新编赞美诗401首《神爱世人》那样，大家希望能借着这些朗朗上口的短歌能起到传福音的作用。
要说其他形式的线上牧养，目前光靠教会自身确实挺难做起来的，一方面这里都是中老年人，不管是服侍的义工还是信徒，大家基本都是农民，文化水平不是很高，好些弟兄姊妹不会使用手机，更别说老年人了，在微信群里组织个查经或者祷告还行，像主日聚会这些主要还是靠城里大教堂的讲道直播进行牧养。
另外，疫情这两年，虽然不能实地聚会了，但是教会的探访事工没有停，对那些有疾病的或者家中有难事的的弟兄姊妹，探访组同工会上门到他们家里走访看望，为他们代祷祝福，劝勉鼓励他们不要丧失对主的信心。我想这应该也算是牧养的一部分吧。
福音时报：疫情两年来，结合您的所见所闻，您可以聊聊农村教会现状吗？
Z长老：我觉得现在我们这里的乡村教会最缺的就是青年服侍义工和带领的牧者。
在青年义工这方面，我只能说，现在留在村里的年轻人越来越少，身强力壮的都出去打工去了，我们这的教会和农村聚会点大部分都是靠着中年的姊妹义工来顶着，在日常的灵修带领或是教会里的探望服侍上，大家可以做得很好。但是，教会要是在体力劳动或者是水、电、音响设备还有网络这方面有需求的话，这些中年姊妹是很难做到的。
举个最实际的例子，现在各方面工作都转到了智能化电子化，城里教会有时候需要我们收集教会或信徒的一些资料，需要交电子版，我们这里根本就没有会用电脑的同工，大家都是靠手写记下来，再托村里懂电脑的年轻人打出来我们才能交上去，一次两次可以，时间长了这也不是办法。所以同工们常常聚在一起祷告，求主给我们预备有负担的青年义工能够帮助教会，打开我们的出路，我们也希望能够给教会多留存一些资料。
至于带领牧者那更是需要，我们这情况还算可以的，离城里还不算太远，交通也相对方便，所以城里的牧者也会隔三差五来这里讲道。但是其他偏远一些的山区，他们那里的教会带领牧养就很难开展了。
在隔壁乡镇的山上有一个聚会点，本来聚会的人就不多，而且都是老年人，疫情一来，聚会的人更少了，现在只有不到10个人，这些老信徒连手机都不会用，也没有人带领，每次聚会就只能是聚在一起祷告，让人挺痛心的。愿主能够施恩怜悯这些老弟兄姊妹，希望能够坚立起更多年轻传道带领他们，也愿主能够早日止息疫情，让所有弟兄姊妹能够回到主的圣殿，共同敬拜，这就是我最大的心愿了。
疫情下农村教会境况如何？我跟一位乡村教会的牧者聊了聊
It’s been two years since the pandemic began, many churches have achieved initial success in online pastoral ministries. For the younger generation of believers who are proficient in using smart devices such as mobile phones and computers, they may have been used to online gatherings. But as for the hundreds of rural churches, how have they been conducting gatherings? For those middle-aged and elderly rural believers who cannot participate in online worship, how could they go through this difficult time?
Recently, a staff member of Gospel Times, an online Chinese Christian newspaper talked with an elder in charge of a village church somewhere in North China on the phone. Having interviewed her, we got a glimpse of the situation of the rural churches and their members under the epidemic.
Gospel Times: Hello, what is the current situation of believers in your church? How have they stuck to their beliefs during the epidemic of COVID-19?
Elder Z: We are a village church which was established in 1899 when the gospel took root here. Later, with the services and inheritance of pastors from generation to generation, the church has continued to this day. Since the division of the pastoral areas in 2002, we have become the central church of the pastoral area, with a dozen rural fellowships under the pastoral area and around the township.
Before the pandemic, there were more than 500 believers in the church. But afterwards, the church has stopped gatherings since the first half of last year, which haven’t resumed yet.
In addition, there are quite a lot of elderly believers here, most of whom are not in good physical condition or have limited mobility. After the outbreak of COVID-19, their family members might have dissuaded them from attending church out of the consideration of epidemic prevention or travel inconvenience, or other reasons. Now there are probably about 150 believers here who can often attend services.
Gospel Times: How did the church carry out the pastoral ministries during the suspension due to the epidemic? How did they go?
Elder Z: During the suspension period, we set up a WeChat group for believers to carry out the pastoral care. We followed churches in cities to organize believers to study the Bible online. Before this Easter Sunday, we have basically completed our Bible study for one time.
Besides, our followers also collected the widely circulated short spiritual hymns, such as the 401st hymn from the Chinese New Hymnal with the title God Loves the World, and recorded them for learning. We hope to do the evangelism ministry with these short catchy songs.
Speaking of other forms of online pastoral care, it has been really difficult to do it just by the church itself. On the one hand, basically both volunteers and believers here are middle-aged and elderly farmers whose education levels are not very high, many of whom don’t know how to use mobile phones, especially the elders. It’s alright to organize a Bible study or prayer in the WeChat group. However, pastoral ministries such as Sunday services, mainly rely on the live streaming of sermons by churches in the cities.
Though on-site gatherings were suspended in the past two years due to the epidemic, the church's visitation ministry has not stopped. With regard to those believers who were sick or had difficulties at home, the visiting group and church staff would visit them and pray for them, encouraging them not to lose faith in God. I believe this is part of pastoral care.
Gospel Times: In the past two years, based on your observations, can you talk about the current situation of rural churches?
Elder Z: I think what our village churches lack most right now are young volunteers and leading pastors.
In terms of young volunteers, I can only say that there are fewer and fewer young people staying in villages now. Those who are able-bodied are going out to work in cities. Most of our churches and rural meeting points depend on middle-aged female believers and volunteers, who can do well in leading daily spiritual practice or visitation services, but can’t fulfill churches’ needs related to physical labor, pluming and electricity maintenance, audio equipment, or the Internet.
To give a practical example, all aspects of work have now involved smart and electronic devices. Sometimes the church in the city needs us to collect some information about our church or believers, for which we have to submit the electronic version. Unfortunately, here we don’t have any church staff who can use computers. So, we all write it down by hand, and then ask the young people in the village to type it in a computer before we can submit it. We can do it a couple of times to begin with, but it’s not a long-term solution. Therefore, the church staff often pray together, asking the Lord to provide us with young volunteers who can take on the burden of helping the church store more information electronically.
The need for leading pastors is more urgent. Since our church is not too far from the city, so pastors in the city come to preach here every now and then for convenient transportation. But in other remote mountainous areas, it is difficult for churches to lead pastoral ministries.
There is a meeting point on the mountain in our neighborhood town. Originally, those who attended services were few elderly people. Due to the pandemic, even fewer believers would come to meetings. Now there are less than 10 people who don’t even know how to use mobile phones. With no one leading, they can only pray together at gatherings, which makes me feel very sad. My greatest wish is that Jesus would send more young pastors here to lead these old Christians and terminate the epidemic as soon as possible, so that all Christians can return to the Lord’s temple to worship together.
-Translated by Shuya Wang
Pastor From Village Church Shares About Situation of Rural Churches Amid COVID-19
