When it comes to rural churches, many would think of problems such as the loss of young people, the lack of pastors, the backward equipment, and insufficient support. However, grass-roots churches also have co-workers who still insist on serving pastors and Christians who simply love the Lord. God not only works in the spacious and bright city churches with abundant talents but also in the rural churches with only the old and sick.
My spiritual hometown is a rural church in North China. As long as I can remember, my mother took me to the church. The church has no fixed place and has moved several times, sometimes in the rented houses of believers and sometimes in the rented houses of villagers. At that time, there were many young people in the gathering. There were many more sisters than brothers, and brothers joining in praise and worship was particularly powerful. People sat or stood and worshiped God together, while the children played outside or slept in their parents' arms. Sometimes they woke up in a daze during the praise, peaceful and satisfied. This is the picture left in my mind from the beginning.
With heavy study tasks, I never went to church again. Later, I went to another city to study, and I heard from my mother that the government had granted the church a place so that it could build its own church. During this period, some believers left the village and went out to work or help their children with their babies. Only occasionally did they come back for a few days and show up at the church. Gradually, the church was left with only the old and sick. My mother was on the finance staff of the church. With a scarcity of talents, she gradually became the backbone of the church and served every affair, from church construction to Sunday sermons, church receptions, and garden planting.
Occasionally, she would ask me some questions about God and ask me points regarding a collection of sermons. When I was home occasionally, she would invite me to church. As they all knew that I was serving, they would force me to go on stage for exhortation and prayer. The sincere and enthusiastic faces were full of enthusiasm and love for me from a younger generation.
During the pandemic, churches could not gather. They set up a WeChat group and started online worship. At the time of worship, the preachers would send the prepared recordings to the group. Sometimes the preachers had no time to prepare the teaching, and they would find an article in the serial sermons from other pastors for the group.
After restoring in-person worship, they resumed the gathering as soon as possible. The church has gatherings every Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, including praise and worship meetings, prayer meetings, and Sunday services. My mother said that they recently resumed morning prayers and excitedly shared a witness with me.
Aunt Chen, who is about the same age as my mother, has been in poor health and has always felt weak since the first pandemic wave. She went to a big hospital in the city and took medicine for nearly half a year, but she never improved. After a gathering, my cousin gave my mother a few onion seedlings, and my mother planted them in the church yard. Aunt Chen saw my mother busy there alone, so she came with another sister to help her. As a result, she felt very bad when my mother met her the next day. My mother learned that she basically did not sleep all night. She said, "If I don't help you, there are all the old and sick. No one can help you. But if I help you, I feel so bad about my body that I didn't sleep all night."
Listening to Aunt Chen's experience, my mother was very surprised. "How can you be so serious with such light work? This is not right. Let’s go to the church tomorrow morning to pray and ask the Lord for treatment." The next morning, they went to church to pray, and Aunt Chen began to build up her confidence. She said, "I went to see a doctor everywhere, and I spent RMB 10,000 on curing and medicine. But I never improved at all. From today on, I will stop taking medicine and concentrate on praying for God."
In this way, on the third and fourth days, they went again to church early in the morning to pray, and slowly other brothers and sisters followed. In this way, Aunt Chen got better magically after a week. Moreover, the church's morning prayer has also begun to resume through this. The number of people participating in morning prayer has increased from two or three to more than a dozen now. My mother said that as more people joined, they began to arrange for people to take turns opening the church door.
My mother on the other side of the phone was full of gratitude and joy. She said that when the burdens were too heavy for her, she would entrust them to God through prayer. She is praying for the church's development, for each of our children, and for God’s blessing on our work and lives.
- Translated by Oliver Zuo
提到乡村教会，很多人想到的是年轻人流失、牧者缺乏、设备落后、供养不足等一系列问题，可是，除了这些，基层教会还有依然坚持热心服侍的牧者同工、单纯爱主的基督徒。神的工作在人才济济、宽敞明亮的城市教会中，也在看起来只有“老弱病残”的乡村教会里。
我的属灵故乡是位于华北地区的一个乡村教堂，从我记事起，母亲就带我去教会聚会。教会没有固定场所，经历过数次移动，有时候租信徒的房子，有时候租同村人的房子，当时聚会还很多年轻人，虽然姐妹偏多，但偶尔还会有几个弟兄，有弟兄加入的赞美声格外有力量。大家或坐或站，一起敬拜神，而孩子要不就在外面玩，要不就睡在父母怀中，有时候迷迷糊糊在赞美声中醒来，非常平安和满足。这是最初信仰留在我里面的画面。
随着学业加重，我再不去教堂。后来更外出读书，中间听母亲说，政府给教会批了块地方，教会可以建自己的堂了。这个期间，也有信徒陆续因外出打工，或者帮孩子带娃而离开了这个村子。只是偶尔回来几天，在教会露个面，教堂慢慢只剩下了老弱病残。母亲本是教会的财务，随着人才稀缺，她慢慢成为了教会的骨干力量，大到教会修建、主日讲道，小到教会接待、院子种菜，都需要她的服侍。
她偶尔也会就一些信仰的问题来问我，拿着讲道集问我哪里哪里怎么讲。我偶尔回家，她拉我去教会，弟兄姐妹都知道我也在服侍，硬要我上台劝勉祷告两句。真挚而热情的脸充满了对后辈的热情和爱。
疫情期间，教会不能聚会，他们也建起了微信群，开始了网络敬拜。到了礼拜时间，讲道人就把准备好的录音发到群里，有时候讲道人来不及准备或者没有准备，他们就会找其他牧者的系列讲道择一篇发过去。
恢复崇拜后，他们也是第一时间就恢复了聚会，教会每个周四、周六、周日都有聚会，有赞美会、祷告会、主日礼拜等。母亲说，他们最近还恢复了晨祷，并兴致勃勃地跟我分享了一个见证。
有位陈阿姨，和母亲差不多大，自第一波疫情感染后，身体就一直不好，总是觉得浑身乏力，去市里大医院看了吃了近半年药也没有好转。一次聚会后，一个表哥送了母亲几垄葱苗，母亲便把它栽到了教会的院子里，陈阿姨看母亲一个人在那忙活，便和另一个姊妹一起帮她。结果母亲第二天遇见她，她整个人非常不好，问起来才知道她前一晚上基本整晚没睡，“你说说，不帮你干吧，都是老弱病残，没人帮你搭把手，帮你一起干吧，你看看，我难受得一晚上没睡……”
听着陈阿姨的遭遇，母亲非常吃惊，“怎么拢两苗葱就严重成这样？这不对劲，明早咱俩去教会祷告去，求主医治。”第二天一早，两人就去教会祷告了，陈阿姨也开始建立起信心，她说：“我到处看医生，看病加吃药，花了有一万块钱，结果一点都没有好转。从今天起，我不吃药了，专心祷告仰望神。”
就这样，第三天、第四天，两人风雨无阻，一大早就去教会祷告，慢慢教会其他弟兄姐妹也开始加入，就这样过了一周，陈阿姨病神奇的好了。而且藉着这个事情，教会的晨祷事工也开始重新恢复了，参与晨祷的人数从起初的两三个到现在的十几个，母亲说，人数增多后，他们开始安排每人负责一周，早早预备着去教会开门。
电话那边的母亲，满是感恩和喜乐，她说很多担子太重了，她担不动，便藉着祷告交托给神，她在为教会的发展祷告，也在为我们每一个子女祷告，求神祝福我们的工作和生活。
一间只剩“老弱病残”的乡村教会开始了晨祷
When it comes to rural churches, many would think of problems such as the loss of young people, the lack of pastors, the backward equipment, and insufficient support. However, grass-roots churches also have co-workers who still insist on serving pastors and Christians who simply love the Lord. God not only works in the spacious and bright city churches with abundant talents but also in the rural churches with only the old and sick.
My spiritual hometown is a rural church in North China. As long as I can remember, my mother took me to the church. The church has no fixed place and has moved several times, sometimes in the rented houses of believers and sometimes in the rented houses of villagers. At that time, there were many young people in the gathering. There were many more sisters than brothers, and brothers joining in praise and worship was particularly powerful. People sat or stood and worshiped God together, while the children played outside or slept in their parents' arms. Sometimes they woke up in a daze during the praise, peaceful and satisfied. This is the picture left in my mind from the beginning.
With heavy study tasks, I never went to church again. Later, I went to another city to study, and I heard from my mother that the government had granted the church a place so that it could build its own church. During this period, some believers left the village and went out to work or help their children with their babies. Only occasionally did they come back for a few days and show up at the church. Gradually, the church was left with only the old and sick. My mother was on the finance staff of the church. With a scarcity of talents, she gradually became the backbone of the church and served every affair, from church construction to Sunday sermons, church receptions, and garden planting.
Occasionally, she would ask me some questions about God and ask me points regarding a collection of sermons. When I was home occasionally, she would invite me to church. As they all knew that I was serving, they would force me to go on stage for exhortation and prayer. The sincere and enthusiastic faces were full of enthusiasm and love for me from a younger generation.
During the pandemic, churches could not gather. They set up a WeChat group and started online worship. At the time of worship, the preachers would send the prepared recordings to the group. Sometimes the preachers had no time to prepare the teaching, and they would find an article in the serial sermons from other pastors for the group.
After restoring in-person worship, they resumed the gathering as soon as possible. The church has gatherings every Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, including praise and worship meetings, prayer meetings, and Sunday services. My mother said that they recently resumed morning prayers and excitedly shared a witness with me.
Aunt Chen, who is about the same age as my mother, has been in poor health and has always felt weak since the first pandemic wave. She went to a big hospital in the city and took medicine for nearly half a year, but she never improved. After a gathering, my cousin gave my mother a few onion seedlings, and my mother planted them in the church yard. Aunt Chen saw my mother busy there alone, so she came with another sister to help her. As a result, she felt very bad when my mother met her the next day. My mother learned that she basically did not sleep all night. She said, "If I don't help you, there are all the old and sick. No one can help you. But if I help you, I feel so bad about my body that I didn't sleep all night."
Listening to Aunt Chen's experience, my mother was very surprised. "How can you be so serious with such light work? This is not right. Let’s go to the church tomorrow morning to pray and ask the Lord for treatment." The next morning, they went to church to pray, and Aunt Chen began to build up her confidence. She said, "I went to see a doctor everywhere, and I spent RMB 10,000 on curing and medicine. But I never improved at all. From today on, I will stop taking medicine and concentrate on praying for God."
In this way, on the third and fourth days, they went again to church early in the morning to pray, and slowly other brothers and sisters followed. In this way, Aunt Chen got better magically after a week. Moreover, the church's morning prayer has also begun to resume through this. The number of people participating in morning prayer has increased from two or three to more than a dozen now. My mother said that as more people joined, they began to arrange for people to take turns opening the church door.
My mother on the other side of the phone was full of gratitude and joy. She said that when the burdens were too heavy for her, she would entrust them to God through prayer. She is praying for the church's development, for each of our children, and for God’s blessing on our work and lives.
- Translated by Oliver Zuo
Rural Church With Old, Sick Believers Begins Morning Prayers
