Easter Sunday 2022 falls on April 17 this year.
For Christians living in Shanghai, this Easter Sunday meant the same as this March: continuity of lockdown, mass nucleic acid tests, food rush, and the wait for news about resumptions.
But what was different this Easter was the content posted on their WeChat Moments with beautiful pictures full of bright and hopeful celebrations of the resurrection. Many people celebrated Easter with other believers online or with their families at home - a day of great significance to them.
On March 1, a local COVID-19 positive patient was found in Shanghai. Then in mid-March, some communities in Shanghai were locked down and controlled as early as possible due to the pandemic. On March 27, taking Huangpu River as the boundary, Shanghai adopted the “half-city” mode of taking turns to seal and control for nucleic acid tests. From March 27 to April 1, Pudong and Puxi were locked down one after another. Up to now, some people have not been out of their residences for nearly 40 days at most, while some for nearly 20 days at least.
Life: I experienced God’s grace through food supplies.
A female believer surnamed Chen lives in Huinan Town, Pudong New Area. Hers was one of the first communities in Shanghai to be closed down in March. Since mid-March, she has been unable to get out of her community. Although it is only herself and her daughter, food has gradually become a concern for her.
Looking back on her life in the past month, Chen said, “I am very grateful as I think I have experienced God’s grace several times this month. I ate out noodles one day, but the next day supplies arrived.” Just before the lockdown, when she prayed for the Russian-Ukrainian war, she thought that Ukraine was a wheat exporter and their war might lead to a world food crisis, so she placed an order online to buy more than half a dozen kilos of rice. At that time, there happened to be a female Christian who sent her some sea fish from another location. “I planned to freeze it in the refrigerator for a few days and send it to my father in other places, but the community was sealed before I mailed it. Looking back like this, everything is by the grace of God.”
She works for a charity organization in which the people they serve are all adults in good condition. “There is mostly no influence on the charity.” However, she knew that her colleagues in Puxi were encountering difficulties. “Volunteers can’t get through now, so only one staff member is there.”
Faith: Online services to pray and encourage each other
Elder Zhou lives in Puxi District. Before the lockdown of Puxi and Pudong on April 1, he lived in a community that had been free for a short time, so he quickly went door-to-door to deliver food to some Christians who were short of food in Puxi.
Before this outbreak, believers seldom gathered in person on Sundays. After the outbreak, all communities were closed and controlled. Around April 1, Pudong and Puxi kept indoors, which made it difficult to meet even inside one community. This is a situation that most churches and Christians in Shanghai have to face now.
Unable to meet in person, Zhou met church members on the Internet, studying scriptures and encouraging each other with prayers. One female Christian that he nurtured said, “Instead of being affected, the church seems resurgent. Being sealed at home, believers can participate in various training courses, having time to study basic theology in the evening or pray together in the morning.”
“The Easter service was also held online,” Elder Zhou said.
But there were also some Christians whose confidence was affected by the status quo. He explained, “The pandemic has brought a lot of pressure on life, and it is inconvenient to buy food. Most believers who rent houses work in private companies, and there is no income if they don't work but stay at home.”
Pastoral care: the need for spiritual and psychological care has surged
Living in Songjiang District, Rev. Li helped deliver food and cared for some elderly people in the community during the occasional resumptions of the community before April 1. There are now 310,000 elderly people living alone in Shanghai, which is a large group that needs care the most.
He solved some problems in his WeChat account that many people would face during the period of isolation. For example, "What should I do if I get more and more anxious?", "What if the parent-child relationship is tense?", "What if the relationship between husband and wife is tense?", and "How can suffering be treated?"
Jiang, a male Christian engaged in a cultural ministry, shared on his own official WeChat account that many people ask him on how to avoid listlessness and collapse after a long period of home confinement. In particular, he suggested that believers, of course, first pray and read the scriptures. At this time, they could practice living in prayer completely and pray for all the needy. Then, if the family members did not live together, of course, they should try their best to solve the minimum living needs such as arranging their own food. Even though outings were banned, they could try their best to care for and help those in special need (some believers contacted each other to work voluntarily to help several needy people). Then be patient and read excellent literary works or listen to classical music, he added.
“Try to read classics and don’t get caught up in bad online junk, which will aggravate mental stress,” Jiang stressed.
Meditation: Seeking grace from adversity.
A female Christian with the surname of Luo, who lives in the urban area, suddenly had a fever on the evening of April 9. At that time, the antigen test was still coming out negative. She thought that it was just because she was too tired recently that she caught a common cold, then began to stay in bed. Unexpectedly, two days later, with abnormal nucleic acid test result, she started to experience a sore throat and chills when her fever just dropped.
Soon after, she received a call from the CDC that she needed to be transferred to the cubical hospital. This made her feel most worried about her sleep. She felt anxious about being unable to sleep well when she went to the hospital. That night, she could not sleep well because of anxiety, so she asked some familiar believers to pray for her together. She herself calmed down, feeling the comfort brought by her faith. “I read a verse: The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. She hoped God would go ahead of her, so she could go there to just sleep and read some books to have a relaxation.”
When she relaxed, at one o'clock in the morning on April 12, after the heavy rain ended, she was informed to leave for the cubical hospital immediately. “My biggest worry before was that too many people there might stop me from sleeping well. After I came here, I didn’t expect that there would be a room of four, so I would get more rest in the hospital. I have a positive attitude and eat well. I expect to turn negative in the tests as soon as possible in a week or so.”
In the hospital, she had room to walk around. After meditating much while walking, she neglected the desire for fame and fortune, fears, gains and losses that she valued before, having a deeper understanding of the essence of life.
On Easter, she shared with other believers virtually that she could not say that all she was experiencing was good but “a kind of suffering”. Yet “seeking God’s grace from suffering” was the lesson she learned from this experience.
Love: Be a good neighbor to the 310,000 elderly people living alone and migrant workers.
With the extension of the closure time, the elderly have become one of the most concerned groups in this city. The official WeChat account of Daily People posted an article on April 11, "For Shanghai, one of the earliest cities in China to enter an aging society, '317,400 elderly people living alone have become one of the most vulnerable groups in the current pandemic in Shanghai.'
On April 8, an article titled “Helping the Aging-Friendly Community” received the highest hits. The author is a lady who was born after the 1990s and lives in an aging community in Shanghai. Living by snapping up and hoarding supplies, she wrote down her own experiences. “The 93-year-old grandmother living alone next door cooks rice congee every day, and the vegetables have long since run out.” “Grandma downstairs has cooked a pot of vegetable rice which she has eaten six times this day.” There are a huge amount of requests for help written in this article because many elderly people don’t know how to use smartphones, let alone online shopping and group messaging. Since the closure, buying medicine is the most difficult practical problem. Therefore, many volunteers and young people have come forward to help these lonely neighbors around them.
At the same time, the situation of some migrant workers working in the suburbs of Shanghai is also worthy of attention. Around April 15, a lot of official WeChat account articles about this group caused a screen hit, saying that ordinary people in the pandemic helped each other and kept warm in various ways. But “there is a group of people who contribute a lot to the pandemic but have never been noticed. These are the migrant workers who build the hospital working hard during the day and lying on the sandy dusty floor at night.” Despite being the builders and supporters of the city, they are the most easily overlooked group.
“There is an old man who needs flour, vegetables, and milk. Can you help him?”
“Where is the neighborhood in Shanghai?”
“What is the name of the community?”
“OK, this will be arranged in the afternoon.”
It was mid-April when several Christians spontaneously launched a WeChat group to care and help each other, which is not affiliated with any organization. All believers in Shanghai can join the group by scanning the QR code. Some people might send out some information similar to the above kind of help, and some people might respond and give help. If there is no direct help, many people will forward it to the WeChat Moment to find someone who can provide indirect help.
Amid the COVID spike in Shanghai, some elderly people in many old communities can’t grab vegetables with their phones, lack food and materials, and some patients with chronic diseases lack ordinary life-saving medicines. Many Christians have taken action and are willing to help them with love. People can send help messages in this group, and those who have the ability can help others. The focus of the group is on migrant workers who can’t go home and have to live on streets.”
They will update the help information in real time. There is verified information including the name, time, address, and other basic information of the people in need, showing whether there is any assistance or not. And they will then turn each call into a specific task.
“Just do what you have to do”, said one of the members who urged others to help those around them in need, or just drop off food packages in the same community, or help buy medicines.
“Now anyone who sends an encouraging message and forwards a message asking for help is a lovely person,” a male Christian surnamed Li commented on these love actions.
"Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire," quoted by Luo Xiang, a jurist and professor, when he forwarded a message of “Urgent Need for Volunteers Delivering Medicine” on April 16.
- Translated by Charlie Li
4月17日，是一年一度的复活节。
今年的复活节对居住在上海的弟兄姐妹而言，意味着和之前近一个月的时间类似的是：继续封控居家、继续或核酸或抗原、继续或抢菜或团购、继续不知道什么时候会有解封的消息。
但与之不一样的是，这一天他们的朋友圈的内容不少也换成了充满明亮和希望的庆祝复活的美图，并且不少人或在网上与弟兄姐妹们，或在家中与家人一起庆祝复活节——这一个对他们而言深具意义的日子。
3月1日，上海发现1例本土新冠肺炎阳性患者。3月中旬，上海一些小区因疫情情况最早一批开始封控。3月27日，上海以黄浦江为界，采取“半城”轮流封控模式，进行核酸筛查。在3月27日至4月1日，浦东和浦西陆续封控。截止到目前，有的人长则将近40天未出小区一次，短则有近20天的时间了。
生活：食物供应经历上帝的恩典
陈姊妹家住上海浦东新区的惠南镇，是上海3月因疫情最早封控的小区之一，3月中旬就开始小区只进不出，虽然她只有自己和女儿二个人，但是仍旧食物逐渐成为一个让她担心的问题。
回顾过去一个月的生活，陈姊妹说：“很感恩，我觉得我这一个月真是几次经历上帝的恩典。曾经真的吃到家里没有一把面了，有一天真的就这样，第二天发的物资就到了。”封控前，正好有次为俄乌战争祷告时，想到乌克兰是小麦输出国，他们发生战争的可能会导致世界粮食危机，于是就在网上下单买了十几斤的米。恰好当时有个姐妹给她从外地寄了点海鱼，“想在冰箱冻几天冻硬一些寄给外地的我爸，还没寄小区就封了。这样回头看，凡是都有上帝的恩典。”
她在一家慈善事工服事，因为服事的都是成年人，大家情况都还好，“所以服事的事工上基本没任何影响。”但是她知道的自己事工在浦西的同工遇到难题，“志愿者现在都过不去，所以只有一位工作人员在那里。”
信仰：线上聚会彼此祷告和鼓励
周长老家住浦西。在4.1浦东浦西陆续封控之前，他所住的小区曾经短暂解封过，他就赶紧就挨家挨户给在浦西的一些缺菜的弟兄姐妹家去送菜。
疫情前，周日的实体聚会已经很难进行了，疫情后各个小区封控，4月1日前后浦东浦西实行足不出户，导致即使是住一个小区也很难见面。这是大部分教会和基督徒都不得不面临的情况。
无法实体见面，周长老就和弟兄姐妹在网络上见面、查经、彼此鼓励和祷告。他所牧养的一位姊妹说：“教会非但没有受影响，相反觉得比之前复兴了。因为大家都封在家里，所以可以参加各种培训，也有时间晚上学习基础神学，还有早上一起祷告。”
“复活节纪念也是线上举行。”周长老说。
不过也有弟兄姐妹的信心因为现状受到影响的。他解释说，“疫情带来不小的生活压力，购买蔬菜不方便，弟兄姐妹租房子住的比较多，没办法工作就没有工资了，因为大部分在私人公司打工，都只能在家休息。”
牧养：精神和心理关怀的需要激增
李牧师家住松江区，4月1日之前他在小区偶尔解封期间帮助送菜和关怀小区里面一些老人。上海封控期间，有31万的独居老人，这是一个很大的最需要关怀的群体。
他常常透过朋友圈分享自己所看到和思考的一些隔离期间很多人都会面对的问题：越来越焦虑怎么办？亲子关系紧张怎么办？夫妻关系紧张怎么办？如何看待苦难？等等。
姜老师是一位从事文化事工的弟兄，他在自己的公众号分享到，不少人问到他“长时间的居家封控，应该怎样避免精神萎靡、崩溃？”他特别提到，信徒当然首先建议要祷告读经，这时候也正可以操练完全活在祈祷中也为所有困厄者代祷；然后如果家人不同在当然要尽可能解决安排自己的食用等起码生活需要；尽管自己被禁也尽可能设法关心帮助特别有需要的人（我们这里弟兄姐妹们就互相联系动用志愿者关系帮助了几位困难者）；然后要耐下心来读优秀文学作品或古典音乐。
“尽量读经典、不要陷入烂看网络垃圾中，会加重精神压力。”姜老师强调说。
默想：从患难中寻找恩典
住在市区的罗姊妹4月9日的周六晚上突然发烧，当时抗原仍旧阴性，她以为只是因为最近太累了所以引起一场普通的感冒，开始卧床休息，没想到二天后突然显示之前做的核酸异常。刚刚退烧的她开始经历喉咙痛和身体发冷。
不久后，她收到疾控中心的电话，需要转运到方舱。这让最担心睡眠质量的她感到焦虑，就担心去了方舱睡不好，当晚她因为焦虑无法很好的入睡，于是寻找熟悉的弟兄姐妹帮助她一起祷告，她自己也安静下来感受到信仰带给她的安慰，“我看到一句话：耶和华亲自在你前头行，与你同在；他决不撇下你，也不离弃你；你不要害怕，也不要惊慌。希望上帝在我前头行,我放宽心，在那里睡觉看看书就可以了。”
当她放宽心，4月12日凌晨1点钟，大雨结束后收到通知马上动身去方舱了。“我之前最担心的是人太多睡不好，来了之后没想到这里是四个人一个房间，所以我在方舱会得到比较多的休息，心态还好，吃的也不错，期待一周左右可以尽快转阴。”
在方舱，她有了散步的空间，在散步中她默想很多，看淡很多之前看重的名利、得失和惧怕等，对生命的本质有了更深的认识。
复活节时，她在网上对弟兄姐妹分享说，她不能说她经历的这些都是好的、是“一种苦难”，但是“从患难中寻找上帝的恩典”是这次经历让她学习到的功课。
爱心：做31万独居老人和农民工的好邻舍
伴随着封控时间的延长，老人成为这个城市最需要关注的人群之一。公众号《每日人物》在4月11日的一篇文章写到：对上海这个中国最早迈入老龄化社会的城市之一而言，“31.74万独居老人，成为上海本轮疫情中，最脆弱的人群之一。”
4月8日，一篇《帮帮老人小区》的公号文章引起刷屏。作者是一位90后女生，居住在上海某老龄化小区，要靠抢购物资和囤货生活，她写下自己的见闻，“隔壁93岁的独居奶奶每天煮白粥喝，蔬菜早就没了”，“楼下奶奶烧了一锅菜饭，每天热热已经吃了六顿”。这篇文章下出现海量求助信息——因为许多老人不懂怎么使用智能手机，更不懂团购和接龙，封控以来，吃饭和买药是面临的最难的实际问题。因此，不少志愿者、年轻人陆续站出来帮助身边这些邻里孤老。
与此同时，一些在上海郊区打工的农民工的情况也值得关注。4月15日前后，不少有关他们这个群体的情况的微信公众号文章引起刷屏，说到除了处于疫情中的普通人用各种方式互相帮助和取暖，但“有一群人，疫情中总有他们的身影，却从未上过热搜。那就是援建方舱医院的农民工。白天辛苦干活，晚上在沙地打地铺。”他们作为城市的建设者、支援者，却是最容易被忽视的群体。
“有一个老人，他需要面粉蔬菜和牛奶，能帮助到他们吗？”
“在上海哪里的小区？”
“小区的名字是？”
“好的，下午安排。”
这是4月中旬，几位基督徒自发发起一个“爱心互助群”，它不隶属于任何机构，凡是上海本地的爱心弟兄姐妹都可以扫二维码入群，有的人会发出一些类似上面这种求助的信息，有的人就会回应和做出帮助，如果遇到没有直接能帮助的，不少人就会转发在朋友圈寻找可以提供间接帮助的人。
组群的目的是“现在上海疫情严峻，好多老小区的一些老年人不会用手机抢菜，缺乏食品物资，也有一些慢性病的患者缺乏了平常的救命药，好多家人已经行动起来，愿意用爱心来帮助他们....有需要的可以在里发求助信息，有能力的也可以帮助其他人。重点关注对象是回不了家，流落街头的农民工。”
他们会实时更新求助信息，里面有核实好的信息包括求助人姓名和时间、地址、基本情况等，有是否已经有协助等信息，把一个个呼求转化成一个个具体的帮助任务去实现。
“只管做好自己该做的”，这是其中一位成员强调的话，去真实的帮助身边那些有需要的人，或者只是同个小区送下食物包，或者帮助买一次药。
“现在任何一个哪怕（朋友圈）发一条鼓励人的信息，转一条求助的信息，他/她都是可爱的人。”一位李弟兄这样评价这些爱心行动。
这也许就如同4月16日下午罗翔在转发“急寻公益送药志愿者”时所评论的：“拯救一个人的生命，也就是在拯救全世界（whoever saves one life ,saves the world entire ）”
上海疫情下的复活节：基督徒的生活、信仰和爱心
Easter Sunday 2022 falls on April 17 this year.
For Christians living in Shanghai, this Easter Sunday meant the same as this March: continuity of lockdown, mass nucleic acid tests, food rush, and the wait for news about resumptions.
But what was different this Easter was the content posted on their WeChat Moments with beautiful pictures full of bright and hopeful celebrations of the resurrection. Many people celebrated Easter with other believers online or with their families at home - a day of great significance to them.
On March 1, a local COVID-19 positive patient was found in Shanghai. Then in mid-March, some communities in Shanghai were locked down and controlled as early as possible due to the pandemic. On March 27, taking Huangpu River as the boundary, Shanghai adopted the “half-city” mode of taking turns to seal and control for nucleic acid tests. From March 27 to April 1, Pudong and Puxi were locked down one after another. Up to now, some people have not been out of their residences for nearly 40 days at most, while some for nearly 20 days at least.
Life: I experienced God’s grace through food supplies.
A female believer surnamed Chen lives in Huinan Town, Pudong New Area. Hers was one of the first communities in Shanghai to be closed down in March. Since mid-March, she has been unable to get out of her community. Although it is only herself and her daughter, food has gradually become a concern for her.
Looking back on her life in the past month, Chen said, “I am very grateful as I think I have experienced God’s grace several times this month. I ate out noodles one day, but the next day supplies arrived.” Just before the lockdown, when she prayed for the Russian-Ukrainian war, she thought that Ukraine was a wheat exporter and their war might lead to a world food crisis, so she placed an order online to buy more than half a dozen kilos of rice. At that time, there happened to be a female Christian who sent her some sea fish from another location. “I planned to freeze it in the refrigerator for a few days and send it to my father in other places, but the community was sealed before I mailed it. Looking back like this, everything is by the grace of God.”
She works for a charity organization in which the people they serve are all adults in good condition. “There is mostly no influence on the charity.” However, she knew that her colleagues in Puxi were encountering difficulties. “Volunteers can’t get through now, so only one staff member is there.”
Faith: Online services to pray and encourage each other
Elder Zhou lives in Puxi District. Before the lockdown of Puxi and Pudong on April 1, he lived in a community that had been free for a short time, so he quickly went door-to-door to deliver food to some Christians who were short of food in Puxi.
Before this outbreak, believers seldom gathered in person on Sundays. After the outbreak, all communities were closed and controlled. Around April 1, Pudong and Puxi kept indoors, which made it difficult to meet even inside one community. This is a situation that most churches and Christians in Shanghai have to face now.
Unable to meet in person, Zhou met church members on the Internet, studying scriptures and encouraging each other with prayers. One female Christian that he nurtured said, “Instead of being affected, the church seems resurgent. Being sealed at home, believers can participate in various training courses, having time to study basic theology in the evening or pray together in the morning.”
“The Easter service was also held online,” Elder Zhou said.
But there were also some Christians whose confidence was affected by the status quo. He explained, “The pandemic has brought a lot of pressure on life, and it is inconvenient to buy food. Most believers who rent houses work in private companies, and there is no income if they don't work but stay at home.”
Pastoral care: the need for spiritual and psychological care has surged
Living in Songjiang District, Rev. Li helped deliver food and cared for some elderly people in the community during the occasional resumptions of the community before April 1. There are now 310,000 elderly people living alone in Shanghai, which is a large group that needs care the most.
He solved some problems in his WeChat account that many people would face during the period of isolation. For example, "What should I do if I get more and more anxious?", "What if the parent-child relationship is tense?", "What if the relationship between husband and wife is tense?", and "How can suffering be treated?"
Jiang, a male Christian engaged in a cultural ministry, shared on his own official WeChat account that many people ask him on how to avoid listlessness and collapse after a long period of home confinement. In particular, he suggested that believers, of course, first pray and read the scriptures. At this time, they could practice living in prayer completely and pray for all the needy. Then, if the family members did not live together, of course, they should try their best to solve the minimum living needs such as arranging their own food. Even though outings were banned, they could try their best to care for and help those in special need (some believers contacted each other to work voluntarily to help several needy people). Then be patient and read excellent literary works or listen to classical music, he added.
“Try to read classics and don’t get caught up in bad online junk, which will aggravate mental stress,” Jiang stressed.
Meditation: Seeking grace from adversity.
A female Christian with the surname of Luo, who lives in the urban area, suddenly had a fever on the evening of April 9. At that time, the antigen test was still coming out negative. She thought that it was just because she was too tired recently that she caught a common cold, then began to stay in bed. Unexpectedly, two days later, with abnormal nucleic acid test result, she started to experience a sore throat and chills when her fever just dropped.
Soon after, she received a call from the CDC that she needed to be transferred to the cubical hospital. This made her feel most worried about her sleep. She felt anxious about being unable to sleep well when she went to the hospital. That night, she could not sleep well because of anxiety, so she asked some familiar believers to pray for her together. She herself calmed down, feeling the comfort brought by her faith. “I read a verse: The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. She hoped God would go ahead of her, so she could go there to just sleep and read some books to have a relaxation.”
When she relaxed, at one o'clock in the morning on April 12, after the heavy rain ended, she was informed to leave for the cubical hospital immediately. “My biggest worry before was that too many people there might stop me from sleeping well. After I came here, I didn’t expect that there would be a room of four, so I would get more rest in the hospital. I have a positive attitude and eat well. I expect to turn negative in the tests as soon as possible in a week or so.”
In the hospital, she had room to walk around. After meditating much while walking, she neglected the desire for fame and fortune, fears, gains and losses that she valued before, having a deeper understanding of the essence of life.
On Easter, she shared with other believers virtually that she could not say that all she was experiencing was good but “a kind of suffering”. Yet “seeking God’s grace from suffering” was the lesson she learned from this experience.
Love: Be a good neighbor to the 310,000 elderly people living alone and migrant workers.
With the extension of the closure time, the elderly have become one of the most concerned groups in this city. The official WeChat account of Daily People posted an article on April 11, "For Shanghai, one of the earliest cities in China to enter an aging society, '317,400 elderly people living alone have become one of the most vulnerable groups in the current pandemic in Shanghai.'
On April 8, an article titled “Helping the Aging-Friendly Community” received the highest hits. The author is a lady who was born after the 1990s and lives in an aging community in Shanghai. Living by snapping up and hoarding supplies, she wrote down her own experiences. “The 93-year-old grandmother living alone next door cooks rice congee every day, and the vegetables have long since run out.” “Grandma downstairs has cooked a pot of vegetable rice which she has eaten six times this day.” There are a huge amount of requests for help written in this article because many elderly people don’t know how to use smartphones, let alone online shopping and group messaging. Since the closure, buying medicine is the most difficult practical problem. Therefore, many volunteers and young people have come forward to help these lonely neighbors around them.
At the same time, the situation of some migrant workers working in the suburbs of Shanghai is also worthy of attention. Around April 15, a lot of official WeChat account articles about this group caused a screen hit, saying that ordinary people in the pandemic helped each other and kept warm in various ways. But “there is a group of people who contribute a lot to the pandemic but have never been noticed. These are the migrant workers who build the hospital working hard during the day and lying on the sandy dusty floor at night.” Despite being the builders and supporters of the city, they are the most easily overlooked group.
“There is an old man who needs flour, vegetables, and milk. Can you help him?”
“Where is the neighborhood in Shanghai?”
“What is the name of the community?”
“OK, this will be arranged in the afternoon.”
It was mid-April when several Christians spontaneously launched a WeChat group to care and help each other, which is not affiliated with any organization. All believers in Shanghai can join the group by scanning the QR code. Some people might send out some information similar to the above kind of help, and some people might respond and give help. If there is no direct help, many people will forward it to the WeChat Moment to find someone who can provide indirect help.
Amid the COVID spike in Shanghai, some elderly people in many old communities can’t grab vegetables with their phones, lack food and materials, and some patients with chronic diseases lack ordinary life-saving medicines. Many Christians have taken action and are willing to help them with love. People can send help messages in this group, and those who have the ability can help others. The focus of the group is on migrant workers who can’t go home and have to live on streets.”
They will update the help information in real time. There is verified information including the name, time, address, and other basic information of the people in need, showing whether there is any assistance or not. And they will then turn each call into a specific task.
“Just do what you have to do”, said one of the members who urged others to help those around them in need, or just drop off food packages in the same community, or help buy medicines.
“Now anyone who sends an encouraging message and forwards a message asking for help is a lovely person,” a male Christian surnamed Li commented on these love actions.
"Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire," quoted by Luo Xiang, a jurist and professor, when he forwarded a message of “Urgent Need for Volunteers Delivering Medicine” on April 16.
- Translated by Charlie Li
Easter in Shanghai: Christians' Life, Faith, Love Under COVID-19 Lockdown
