The terrible pandemic has been ongoing for nearly four months. Churches around the world have suspended all on-site meetings during the pandemic in an effort to combat the virus. At the same time, in line with the principle of being responsible for each believer and following the Bible's teaching of never stopping to meet, pastors and workers of churches around the world also carried out some corresponding responses in a timely manner.
In these days of continuing to stay at home, churches around the world have started a variety of online activities, such as the Sunday worship, Tomb-Sweeping Day memorial, Easter singing...all online. Now online gatherings have become the best way for believers and pastors to contact and communicate with each other.
With the date for reopening the church undecided and home-worship without an ending date, in order to help believers better conduct spiritual practices during this special period so as not to waste time, some churches have created suitable methods of spiritual practices for believers at home on a network platform, such as all forms of online Bible reading.
Recently, the church in Jinsha New District in Qitaihe City, Heilongjiang Province, launched on its official account a Bible reading plan entitled, "the Bible accompanies you every day". By talking with the workers who are responsible for the activities, we have found that church pastors started this activity to make brothers and sisters more eager to listen to the word of God during this special period. Meanwhile, the official account is also a direct and suitable way to reach believers of all ages. The church is also continuously giving updates according to the different requirements of believers.
The Bible says, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." The co-workers in the church of Jinsha New District hope that through this form, brothers and sisters can encourage each other and promote Bible-reading. By reading the words from the mouth of God day after day, one can finish the whole Bible in one year. By doing that, one can also form a good habit of Bible-reading.
The activity starts at 6 a.m. each morning when a new article is posted on the public page informing believers of the day's reading plan and verses for recitation. Believers who complete their daily plan punch in and interact with each other in the message area. At the end of each article, there is a section listing some questions about the Scripture. Each day, 10 questions are given based on the Scripture read that day. Then believers write the answers in the message area. The reference answers will be published the next day.
The event was started on April 22 and has lasted for 15 consecutive days. Church staff said, "We received feedback from believers every day. At first, we often received questions from believers who had just followed our official account and weren't familiar with the activity. But gradually, we received more and more feedback about the benefits they received from the activity. They said that this activity helps them participate in Bible reading with regularity. Through reading while listening, the experience is so different. Finally, through answering questions about the scripture, they read the Bible more carefully, which strengthens their memory, and makes them remember the discourses better.
"The brothers and sisters in the choir are especially enthusiastic and take an active part in the activity every day. They will take out little notebooks prepared in advance, write the answers carefully and wait for the reference answers to be released the next day. This activity not only helps believers of the church put the words of God first and meditate on them every day but also helps their families. One sister shared: 'I post articles in my Wechat family group every time the official account updates, and my families will actively respond when they see them. The grandmother, who is in her 70s, will pick up the Bible and participate in the Bible reading program with her family, which is especially touching. Grandma listened to the audios while reading, and the problem of unknown words and unclear parts is also conveniently resolved.'"
At present, the coworkers of the church in Jinsha New District are still exploring and innovating, and there are still many areas that need to be improved. "The new part is still under construction. To avoid believers quitting or being half-hearted, the church will take some steps, such as establishing a scripture reading group. Bible-reading will be reported every day, and there will be a special person to daily record and upload screenshots so that believers can encourage each other to move forward.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
这场突如其来的疫情已持续近四个月，此期间各地教堂暂停了一切实地聚会活动，同心对抗病毒。与此同时本着对每一位信徒负责及圣经中不可停止聚会的教导的原则，各地教堂的牧者同工们也及时进行了此次的应对举措。
在这持续居家的日子里，各地教会纷纷开启了各种云端活动，如主日的云礼拜，清明节的云祭扫，复活节的云献唱……此时云端聚会成为了信徒与牧者、信徒与信徒彼此之间交流沟通、联络的最好方式。
现下，看着复会不知何日，居家礼拜的方式也不知还要到何时，为了帮助信徒在此期间更好地灵修，时间不被白白流逝，部分教会在网络平台开展了针对当下信徒居家灵修方式，如各式各样的云读经。
近期，黑龙江七台河市金沙新区教会在公众号平台推出“《圣经》伴您每一天读经计划”。通过负责此次活动的同工了解到，教会牧者创办此次活动是想在此特殊时期带动弟兄姐妹更渴慕上帝的话语，而公众号方式也是比较直观适用于各个年龄层信徒使用的网络方式，同时教会也是根据信徒们不同的需求进行持续的更新调整。
圣经记载：“人活着不是单靠食物，乃是靠神口里所出的一切话”。金沙新区教会盼望弟兄姐妹可以通过这一形式来促进彼此每日读经，日积月累，一年就可以将整本圣经通读一遍，还可以养成良好的读经习惯。
此活动以每日清晨6点在公众号发布文章告知信徒今日的读经计划和背诵的经文开始。每日完成计划的信徒可在留言处打卡并与之互动。文末还设有经文答题环节，每天结合所读的经文给出10道小题，信徒可将答案写在留言区，次日公布答案。
活动于4月22日举办，目前已连续更新8天，现下仍在持续。教会同工说，“每次都会收到来自信徒的反馈，有对刚接触还没摸清熟路的信徒会有一些疑问的反馈，而后面更多的是来自信徒受益的反馈：称此活动帮助自己可有计划有规律性的参加，通过边听边读感受和体会都不一样，最后通过圣经知识答题更是提高了自己在读经上面变的更认真仔细，起到很好的巩固作用，对话语印象变的更深刻。
“特别是诗班的弟兄姐妹们，热情高涨，每天积极参与，到答题环节拿出事先准备好的小本子，认认真真写好答案，等待明天公布。 这一活动不但帮助到了堂内信徒将神的话语放在首位，每天默想查看，同时也帮助到了信徒家人。一个姊妹分享说：‘每日公众号更新她都会将文章发到家人群里，家人看到了就会有所回应，特别是70多岁的姥姥也会拿起圣经与家人一起参加读经计划。姥姥听着音频，不认识的字 看不清的地方也都解决了。’”
现下金沙新区教会的同工仍在继续摸索，创新，也有很多不成熟的地方需要改进。“后期全新板块还在运作当中，避免信徒坚持不下去，出现三天打鱼两天晒网的现象，教会将会做出一些应措方法，如建立读经群，每日将读经打卡上报，会有专人记录，每天截图上传，使信徒之间彼此勉励前行。”
The terrible pandemic has been ongoing for nearly four months. Churches around the world have suspended all on-site meetings during the pandemic in an effort to combat the virus. At the same time, in line with the principle of being responsible for each believer and following the Bible's teaching of never stopping to meet, pastors and workers of churches around the world also carried out some corresponding responses in a timely manner.
In these days of continuing to stay at home, churches around the world have started a variety of online activities, such as the Sunday worship, Tomb-Sweeping Day memorial, Easter singing...all online. Now online gatherings have become the best way for believers and pastors to contact and communicate with each other.
With the date for reopening the church undecided and home-worship without an ending date, in order to help believers better conduct spiritual practices during this special period so as not to waste time, some churches have created suitable methods of spiritual practices for believers at home on a network platform, such as all forms of online Bible reading.
Recently, the church in Jinsha New District in Qitaihe City, Heilongjiang Province, launched on its official account a Bible reading plan entitled, "the Bible accompanies you every day". By talking with the workers who are responsible for the activities, we have found that church pastors started this activity to make brothers and sisters more eager to listen to the word of God during this special period. Meanwhile, the official account is also a direct and suitable way to reach believers of all ages. The church is also continuously giving updates according to the different requirements of believers.
The Bible says, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." The co-workers in the church of Jinsha New District hope that through this form, brothers and sisters can encourage each other and promote Bible-reading. By reading the words from the mouth of God day after day, one can finish the whole Bible in one year. By doing that, one can also form a good habit of Bible-reading.
The activity starts at 6 a.m. each morning when a new article is posted on the public page informing believers of the day's reading plan and verses for recitation. Believers who complete their daily plan punch in and interact with each other in the message area. At the end of each article, there is a section listing some questions about the Scripture. Each day, 10 questions are given based on the Scripture read that day. Then believers write the answers in the message area. The reference answers will be published the next day.
The event was started on April 22 and has lasted for 15 consecutive days. Church staff said, "We received feedback from believers every day. At first, we often received questions from believers who had just followed our official account and weren't familiar with the activity. But gradually, we received more and more feedback about the benefits they received from the activity. They said that this activity helps them participate in Bible reading with regularity. Through reading while listening, the experience is so different. Finally, through answering questions about the scripture, they read the Bible more carefully, which strengthens their memory, and makes them remember the discourses better.
"The brothers and sisters in the choir are especially enthusiastic and take an active part in the activity every day. They will take out little notebooks prepared in advance, write the answers carefully and wait for the reference answers to be released the next day. This activity not only helps believers of the church put the words of God first and meditate on them every day but also helps their families. One sister shared: 'I post articles in my Wechat family group every time the official account updates, and my families will actively respond when they see them. The grandmother, who is in her 70s, will pick up the Bible and participate in the Bible reading program with her family, which is especially touching. Grandma listened to the audios while reading, and the problem of unknown words and unclear parts is also conveniently resolved.'"
At present, the coworkers of the church in Jinsha New District are still exploring and innovating, and there are still many areas that need to be improved. "The new part is still under construction. To avoid believers quitting or being half-hearted, the church will take some steps, such as establishing a scripture reading group. Bible-reading will be reported every day, and there will be a special person to daily record and upload screenshots so that believers can encourage each other to move forward.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
Heilongjiang Church Launches Online Bible Program
