On Sunday, July 18, I visited Grace Church in Zhoujia Town, Dashiqiao City, Liaoning Province, located on the mountains of southern Liaoning Province.
Stepping on this land, I felt a sense of homecoming: this was the place where my father fought in his lifetime and my mother came to faith in Jesus Christ in the nearby Tangchi Church, which has a history of more than 100 years. Therefore, I can say that the "root" of my faith is here.
The believers entered the sanctuary in accordance with the COVID-19 pandemic prevention requirements. Elder Mu Lina led the congregation to read the scripture and then preached a sermon on the topic of "Lord, Take Me Out of the Sinful Sodom". Although the sermon did not contain any profound theological theory, it was full of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In her sermon, she combined the scriptures and the reality and testimonies of villages to inspire the congregation to reflect on themselves and be vigilant, following the Lord to walk out of the "Sodom" and "Gomorrah" in their hearts and staying away from sins, to be believers with clean hands and a clear heart which please the Lord.
In the past, the churches in Zhoujia Town were basically scattered family congregations and activity sites, all of which endured hardships in the early times. In 2009, the church pastors and co-workers made a prayerful vow to build a church for the Lord. At that time, in order to go through the procedures for building the church, the pastor ran to the township almost every day to seek approval from the relevant leaders, and it was finally completed.
The next step was to build the church. However, the budget for purchasing an existing building, building a main church, purchasing land, and building the fences was over 1.4 million yuan. The town of Zhoujia, where the church is located, is not a rich place. The believers there made a living by farming and working outside, and their annual contributions were very limited. The saving of 20,000 RMB then was only a drop in the bucket to build the church.
At that time, pastors from poor rural areas, bringing all kinds of approvals and procedures for the building of the church, went to visit and sought help from the big churches in big cities such as Shenyang, Yingkou, and Anshan in Liaoning. They were frugal and ran around with the hard-working and persevering spirit of rural believers. They took the lead in giving all the savings they had at home and even borrowed money in their own names.
For God, there is nothing too hard. In October 2009, the township church with a building area of more than 1,300 square meters was finally built, the first church of its size in the area to be approved as a worship place.
Today, Grace Church has become a meeting center for believers from 17 villages in Zhoujia Township, with hundreds of believers on the rolls. The leaders of the Dashiqiao City CC&TSPM, to which the church belongs, also care about the church and supportively train and promote the preachers.
(The article is originally published by the Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Elle Wang
7月18日主日，笔者来到位于辽南东部山区的辽宁省大石桥市周家镇的恩典堂拜访。
踏上这块土地，一种回家的亲切感油然而生：这里曾经是我的父亲生前战斗过的地方；我的母亲信主耶稣也是在毗邻这里、具有百余年历史的汤池教会，我受母亲的影响而信主，可以说，我信仰的“根”源自这里。
信徒按照防疫要求进入圣殿聚会，在那里随着领诗的姊妹颂赞。母丽娜长老带领会众读经，以《主啊，带我走出罪恶的所多玛》为题为主证道。长老的证道虽然没有高深的神学理论，却是充满圣灵的启示，在证道中结合经文、结合乡村的实际和见证，启发会众反省和儆醒自己，跟主走出内心的“所多玛”、“蛾摩拉”，远离罪恶、手洁心清，做主喜悦的信徒。
历史上周家镇的教会基本上是分散的家庭聚会点、活动点，起初都经历了风雨的艰辛，2009年，教堂的牧者和同工们在祷告中立下了为主建设一个教堂的誓愿。为了跑建堂的手续，在那一段时间里，牧长天天跑镇里找有关领导恳请批准，后终于完备了。
接下来就是建堂了。购买一个现成的楼房、再建一个主堂，还要购买土地、修建围墙，预算需要140多万元。而教堂所在地的周家镇不是富裕的地方，信徒所依赖的就是土地和外出打工，每年的奉献也是非常有限。当时只有区区的两万元，对于建堂是杯水车薪。
当时农村贫苦地区的牧长带着建堂的各种批文和手续，到辽宁的沈阳、营口、鞍山等地“大教会”去拜访和寻求帮助。她们省吃俭用，以乡村信徒那种吃苦耐劳的坚忍精神奔波。她们带头将家中的仅有积蓄全部奉献，甚至要以自己的名义去借钱。
在上帝没有难成的事，2009年10月，建筑面积有1300多平方米的乡镇教堂终于建成了，这是该地区第一个具有规模的教堂、获准成为了宗教场所。
如今的恩典堂，成为了周家镇17个村信徒的聚会中心，在册的信徒达到了数百人。教堂所属的大石桥市基督教两会领导也很关心教堂，对传道人进行培训、提升。
恩典堂里蒙恩典——访辽宁大石桥周家镇恩典堂
On Sunday, July 18, I visited Grace Church in Zhoujia Town, Dashiqiao City, Liaoning Province, located on the mountains of southern Liaoning Province.
Stepping on this land, I felt a sense of homecoming: this was the place where my father fought in his lifetime and my mother came to faith in Jesus Christ in the nearby Tangchi Church, which has a history of more than 100 years. Therefore, I can say that the "root" of my faith is here.
The believers entered the sanctuary in accordance with the COVID-19 pandemic prevention requirements. Elder Mu Lina led the congregation to read the scripture and then preached a sermon on the topic of "Lord, Take Me Out of the Sinful Sodom". Although the sermon did not contain any profound theological theory, it was full of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In her sermon, she combined the scriptures and the reality and testimonies of villages to inspire the congregation to reflect on themselves and be vigilant, following the Lord to walk out of the "Sodom" and "Gomorrah" in their hearts and staying away from sins, to be believers with clean hands and a clear heart which please the Lord.
In the past, the churches in Zhoujia Town were basically scattered family congregations and activity sites, all of which endured hardships in the early times. In 2009, the church pastors and co-workers made a prayerful vow to build a church for the Lord. At that time, in order to go through the procedures for building the church, the pastor ran to the township almost every day to seek approval from the relevant leaders, and it was finally completed.
The next step was to build the church. However, the budget for purchasing an existing building, building a main church, purchasing land, and building the fences was over 1.4 million yuan. The town of Zhoujia, where the church is located, is not a rich place. The believers there made a living by farming and working outside, and their annual contributions were very limited. The saving of 20,000 RMB then was only a drop in the bucket to build the church.
At that time, pastors from poor rural areas, bringing all kinds of approvals and procedures for the building of the church, went to visit and sought help from the big churches in big cities such as Shenyang, Yingkou, and Anshan in Liaoning. They were frugal and ran around with the hard-working and persevering spirit of rural believers. They took the lead in giving all the savings they had at home and even borrowed money in their own names.
For God, there is nothing too hard. In October 2009, the township church with a building area of more than 1,300 square meters was finally built, the first church of its size in the area to be approved as a worship place.
Today, Grace Church has become a meeting center for believers from 17 villages in Zhoujia Township, with hundreds of believers on the rolls. The leaders of the Dashiqiao City CC&TSPM, to which the church belongs, also care about the church and supportively train and promote the preachers.
(The article is originally published by the Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Elle Wang
A Visit to Grace Church in Zhoujia Town, Dashiqiao, Liaoning
