Due to the pandemic, many churches in China stopped meeting in person for three years. Now, many churches are meeting in person again. But for a variety of reasons, attendance was much lower than it was before the epidemic. For some, the number dropped by more than half. How do we find those "lost" believers? Visitation is an important initiative.
A chairman of TSPM in a prefecture-level city in North China said that although the church did not weaken online pastoral care during the epidemic, the loss of more than half of the city's believers is still quite serious. A local church in Liaoning has started to visit believers who did not attend the church.
The pastor of a township church in Dandong, Liaoning, saw that many people couldn't get together because of the epidemic, so he went to different villages to pastor and comfort the worried believers. This made them more passionate about their faith and ensure that the church would get offerings.
The senior pastor of a church in Changchun also said that the church's visitation team did most of the work to keep believers connected to the church when there were no on-site gatherings for a long time.
Even when there isn't an epidemic, visitation is an important part of the church's pastoral care. A pastor in Jiangsu who has been in charge of churches for almost 20 years holds that preaching, visiting, and management are the three most important parts of pastoral care. Among them, preaching is a flat form of pastoring everyone, while visiting can carry out more detailed and in-depth care.
Pastor Tian of Daqiao Church in Yangzhou City states that visiting elderly Christians who aren't well educated with poor comprehensive skills is a good way to care for them. By visiting, you can understand the difficulties in their lives and then teach them to apply biblical truths to explain them. In fact, it is difficult for them to understand logical biblical explanations in church meetings.
Elder Sun Zhaocheng, an 82-year-old man from Danyang, Zhenjiang City, argues that love, which is the core of visitation, can revive the church. For example, he said that if a believer does not attend the Sunday worship and then the church staff visits him the next week, the church can grow. Also, he added that pastors and ministers shouldn't only visit Christians with whom they get along well.
Pastor Zhang Yezhong of Guangxi Beihai Church also attaches great importance to visitation work. After a visit, he wrote, "Especially when believers are in need, we preachers should follow the Lord's command to deliver the love of Christ to believers' houses and hearts."
- Translated by Livingstones
经历了三年疫情的长时间暂停实地聚会，目前国内多地教会已恢复实地聚会。然而，因为种种原因，前来实地参加聚会的信徒数较疫情前大幅较少，有的甚至减少了一半多。如何寻回那些“流失”的信徒呢？探访是一个重要的举措。
华北一地级市的基督教两会的主席称，虽然疫情期间教会没有放松线上牧养，但是全市信徒流失过半情况依旧相当严峻。辽宁一间基层教会已经开始着手探访没来聚会的信徒。
疫情期间，辽宁丹东一乡镇教会的牧者，在面临着不能多人聚会的情况下，奔走于不同的乡村，给不安的信徒们以牧养和安慰。既保持了信徒们的信仰热情，也保证了教会的奉献收入。
长春一间教会的主任牧师也表示，在长时间不能实地聚会期间，主要是靠着教会的探访组维系着信徒与教会的相连。
抛开疫情，就是在常规状态下的教会牧养中，探访也是一项重要的事工。江苏一位牧会近二十年的牧者认为讲台、探访和管理是教会牧养的三大支柱，讲台是针对所有人的平面化的牧养，而探访则可以进行更为细致、深入的牧养。
扬州市大桥堂的田牧师认为，探访对于牧养文化程度低、理解能力差的老年信徒有好的果效。藉着了解他们生活中的难处，然后教导他们应用圣经真理来解释。如果只是在证道中逻辑性的讲解圣经，他们很难理解。
镇江市丹阳的八旬孙兆成长老认为，探访的本质是爱，可以复兴教会。他举例来说，一个信徒没有来参加主日礼拜，第二周就有教会同工去他家探访，这个教会是可以发展的。他提醒说，教牧同工在探访时不能只探访跟自己关系好的信徒。
广西北海堂的张业忠牧师也很重视探访工作。他在一次探访后写道，“越是在信徒需要的时刻，我们传道人应该按照主的嘱托，把基督里的爱送到信徒家中和心里。”
多位牧者指出：探访是一项不可轻忽的事工
Due to the pandemic, many churches in China stopped meeting in person for three years. Now, many churches are meeting in person again. But for a variety of reasons, attendance was much lower than it was before the epidemic. For some, the number dropped by more than half. How do we find those "lost" believers? Visitation is an important initiative.
A chairman of TSPM in a prefecture-level city in North China said that although the church did not weaken online pastoral care during the epidemic, the loss of more than half of the city's believers is still quite serious. A local church in Liaoning has started to visit believers who did not attend the church.
The pastor of a township church in Dandong, Liaoning, saw that many people couldn't get together because of the epidemic, so he went to different villages to pastor and comfort the worried believers. This made them more passionate about their faith and ensure that the church would get offerings.
The senior pastor of a church in Changchun also said that the church's visitation team did most of the work to keep believers connected to the church when there were no on-site gatherings for a long time.
Even when there isn't an epidemic, visitation is an important part of the church's pastoral care. A pastor in Jiangsu who has been in charge of churches for almost 20 years holds that preaching, visiting, and management are the three most important parts of pastoral care. Among them, preaching is a flat form of pastoring everyone, while visiting can carry out more detailed and in-depth care.
Pastor Tian of Daqiao Church in Yangzhou City states that visiting elderly Christians who aren't well educated with poor comprehensive skills is a good way to care for them. By visiting, you can understand the difficulties in their lives and then teach them to apply biblical truths to explain them. In fact, it is difficult for them to understand logical biblical explanations in church meetings.
Elder Sun Zhaocheng, an 82-year-old man from Danyang, Zhenjiang City, argues that love, which is the core of visitation, can revive the church. For example, he said that if a believer does not attend the Sunday worship and then the church staff visits him the next week, the church can grow. Also, he added that pastors and ministers shouldn't only visit Christians with whom they get along well.
Pastor Zhang Yezhong of Guangxi Beihai Church also attaches great importance to visitation work. After a visit, he wrote, "Especially when believers are in need, we preachers should follow the Lord's command to deliver the love of Christ to believers' houses and hearts."
- Translated by Livingstones
Visitation Ministry Cannot Be Ignored, Several Pastor Say
