"I come from Hubei, and my husband, my child and I planned to return to Hubei for the Chinese New Year. But a few days before going back, my parents called me not to return to Hubei. Later, the outbreak in Wuhan became more and more serious. During that time, I would be nervous and panicky after reading the news every day. I would be cranky, thinking, 'What should I do if my family is diagnosed?' " Sister Luo of Xiangcheng Church in Suzhou City shared the Easter greeting in a video.
Although there have been some Sunday sermons preached every week, there has been no face-to-face communication, and a priest in the church proposed the idea of recording Easter greetings via videos. Recording the pastor’s words would convey the pastor's recent feelings of serving. Also, some brothers and sisters were invited to record greetings and share their feelings, which could help everyone comfort each other.
As Sister Luo shared, when she was panicky, she clung to God and to the online worship service organized by the church. She carefully read the scriptures and prayed at home, having to adjust her personal spirituality. Slowly, she found that her relationship with God became more and more intimate. "Only when we fully trust God and look up to God, can we understand God's beautiful will in our lives," she said.
The pastor of the church Xu Enbei shared the joy of the Lord’s resurrection in a video, saying that, “Although we have no resurrection eggs, no baptisms, and no programs to celebrate the resurrection in the church this year, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus in our own places, which is a great joy!" He also shared the progress of online pastoral care by the church for more than two months and expressed his gratitude to all the coworkers who participated in serving.
According to Sister Cao, the pastor of the church, the baptism preparation classes and step-by-step training held every year in the church were changed to online beginning from the first half of this year. Since there were no on-site meetings for more than two months, it was temporarily impossible to count the number of new believers. In addition, registration and classes online are difficult for those older friends attending the baptism preparation classes. After the pandemic, they could participate in on-site baptism preparation classes. The baptism plan could only be determined after the pandemic.
- Translated by Heirs Han
复活节的特殊“见面”——苏州相城堂录制牧者寄语、肢体问候视频
“我的老家在湖北，本来这个春节我们一家三口打算回湖北过年，但在要回去的前几天，家里人打来电话，嘱咐不让回湖北。后来武汉疫情爆发，也越来越严重。那段时间我每天看完新闻都会紧张、恐慌，我会胡思乱想‘要是家人被确诊了怎么办？’”苏州市相城基督教堂的罗姐妹在复活节问候视频里分享道。
虽然每周都有主日信息的推送，但大家都没有面对面交流，该堂一位牧师就提出了录制复活节问候视频的想法。录制牧者寄语，传递牧者最近服侍的心情，也邀请一些弟兄姐妹录制肢体问候，分享他们最近的感受，大家互相安慰。
正如罗姐妹所分享的，她在恐慌之时，紧紧抓住神，也紧紧抓住教会组织的线上聚会活动，在家认真地读经、祷告，调整个人灵修。慢慢地，她发现自己与神的关系越来越亲密了，并且告白：“只有我们完全信靠神仰望神的时候，才能明白神在我们生命中那美好的旨意。”
该堂许恩杯牧师在牧者寄语视频中分享主复活的喜乐，“虽然我们今年没有复活蛋，没有受洗礼拜，没有在教堂庆祝复活的节目，但是我们在各自的地方庆祝耶稣的复活，这是极大的喜乐！”他分享了该堂两个多月以来线上牧养的进展，并对所有参与服侍的同工表达了感谢。
据该堂传道曹姐妹分享，该堂每年都会举办的慕道班及阶梯培训，今年上半年改为线上进行。由于两个多月没有实地聚会，暂时无法统计有无新增慕道友。另外，线上报名及线上上课对于年纪大的慕道友都有难度，等疫情之后，他们可以参加实地的慕道班。洗礼计划目前也只能等疫情之后才能确定。
"I come from Hubei, and my husband, my child and I planned to return to Hubei for the Chinese New Year. But a few days before going back, my parents called me not to return to Hubei. Later, the outbreak in Wuhan became more and more serious. During that time, I would be nervous and panicky after reading the news every day. I would be cranky, thinking, 'What should I do if my family is diagnosed?' " Sister Luo of Xiangcheng Church in Suzhou City shared the Easter greeting in a video.
Although there have been some Sunday sermons preached every week, there has been no face-to-face communication, and a priest in the church proposed the idea of recording Easter greetings via videos. Recording the pastor’s words would convey the pastor's recent feelings of serving. Also, some brothers and sisters were invited to record greetings and share their feelings, which could help everyone comfort each other.
As Sister Luo shared, when she was panicky, she clung to God and to the online worship service organized by the church. She carefully read the scriptures and prayed at home, having to adjust her personal spirituality. Slowly, she found that her relationship with God became more and more intimate. "Only when we fully trust God and look up to God, can we understand God's beautiful will in our lives," she said.
The pastor of the church Xu Enbei shared the joy of the Lord’s resurrection in a video, saying that, “Although we have no resurrection eggs, no baptisms, and no programs to celebrate the resurrection in the church this year, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus in our own places, which is a great joy!" He also shared the progress of online pastoral care by the church for more than two months and expressed his gratitude to all the coworkers who participated in serving.
According to Sister Cao, the pastor of the church, the baptism preparation classes and step-by-step training held every year in the church were changed to online beginning from the first half of this year. Since there were no on-site meetings for more than two months, it was temporarily impossible to count the number of new believers. In addition, registration and classes online are difficult for those older friends attending the baptism preparation classes. After the pandemic, they could participate in on-site baptism preparation classes. The baptism plan could only be determined after the pandemic.
- Translated by Heirs Han
“Special” Easter: Greetings from Videos
