From January 22 to 23, dozens of church staff of the Gaizhou Eternal Life Church, a centennial church in northeast China's Liaoning Province, visited 39 disadvantaged households and retired church staff at minus 20 degrees Celsius.
Starting January 20, in collaboration with Yingkou Municipal CC&TSPM, the church has kicked off its visitation event “Greet the Spring Festival with Love and Targeted Assistance” before the Chinese New Year which falls on February 10. The focus and main targets of this visit are retired preachers, elderly deacons, leaders of the affiliated meeting points, co-workers with great contributions, heads of the churches in various towns and villages, as well as elderly believers who are in difficulties due to illness or loss of their only child, the widowed and lonely, the weak, and the needy.
In a rundown shanty, a 95-year-old bedridden Christian man who has lost his son is being cared for by his widowed daughter-in-law. At a nursing home, despite suffering from the difficulties of serious kidney disease with regular dialysis, a sister managed to bring nearly 30 people to the Lord. Even in illness, she carries out her mission of preaching the gospel. A senior deacon of the church, whose home once served as a meeting point for 18 years, lived happily with his wife in his later years. At the home of an old bedridden sister with epilepsy who could hardly speak, she struggled to raise her head and slur, trying to communicate with the visiting team.
Among the recipients of the visits are a believer who lost both her son and husband and is now living alone; a sick believer with a disabled family member but still has to support the family; a 70-year-old heart disease patient with disabled children in need of care; and believers suffering from myasthenia, kidney dialysis, tumor disease, and heart disease.
The residences of the church's initial leaders, elderly deacons, and workers who used to work in the church no longer appear to be in such poor shape after retirement. Some of them have a comfortable life with good health.
Some families’ conditions are concerning in the rural areas of Gaizhou. There are decaying houses hung with plastic sheets, and some are even reluctant to use heated-bed stoves for warmth, but the smoke was "backflow,” flooding the house as the firewood burned. Some disabled people are also widowed, living alone with illnesses. An elderly sister, who has never been married, lives with and supports her paralyzed brother. An elderly believer who has been following Jesus for 30 years has cared for his bedridden wife for 26 years, feeding her, collecting her excrement, and always being by her side while keeping the house clean and tidy. A 73-year-old sister and her husband died of a heart attack a few days ago, and her daughter-in-law had previously committed suicide due to depression, leaving her son at college in need of care from the 73-year-old grandma.
Despite such poor living conditions, Christian couplets, calligraphies, paintings pasted on their windowsills, Bibles placed on broken chairs, and sermons played on phones can all be noticed in the homes of needy believers.
During the visits, seven men and one woman prayed to accept Jesus as their savior.
Unlike the visits in previous years, this visitation event of the Eternal Life Church features targeted assistance. The grassroots churches and groups were required to report the congregants in need, who would be "announced" publicly for feedback. Then, a visit based on the list will be made to identify those who truly need help.
Rev. Zheng Jinyue, head of the church, and her co-workers discussed the solutions for the issues noticed. Some believers’ heated-bed stoves are in bad condition with smoke "backflowing," which will easily cause carbon monoxide poisoning. They plan to rebuild their heated-bed stove (commonly known as “Kang” in Chinese, which is a traditional heated platform used for daily living and sleeping in northern China's severe winters.). The leaders of meeting points should be one-on-one responsible for providing targeted support to needy believers.
Meanwhile, churches across Gaizhou City, including towns and villages, have initiated visitation activities before the 2024 Spring Festival.
(The article was originally published by the Gospel Times and the author reported in Gaizhou, Liaoning.)
- Translated by Poppy Chan
1月22日到23日，盖州永生堂的十多位同工于零下20度探访了39户disadvantaged households和退休的教会工人。
其实，从1月20日开始，辽宁省营口市的盖州市基督教两会和永生堂就开始了“迎新春送爱心、精准帮扶”的春节前探访慰问活动。此次探访的重点和主要对象分为已经退休的传道人、老执事、教会中的点长、付出多的同工、各乡镇教会负责人、所有的传道人和因病致困、因失独致贫的老年弟兄姊妹、鳏寡孤独、体弱的人、需要帮助的肢体等，为他们送去春节慰问品和慰问金。
其中，一位卧床不起的老弟兄今年95岁，儿子去世，由寡居的儿媳来抚养他，住在破旧的棚户里面。在一家敬老院，一姊妹因为肾衰重病在身，需要透析，生活困难，不过，经过她的福传，约有近三十位信徒受洗归主；即使在有病情期间，也不忘在敬老院传福音。教会的一个老执事和妻子晚年生活幸福，他的家曾经有18年作为聚会点。在一位因为癫痫病卧床不起，基本不能说话的老姊妹家，当她看到大家来探访，抬起头来，口齿不清地说了一些话。
探访的对象中还有那失去了儿子又失去了丈夫、独居的肢体；那家里有残疾人的、自己也有病，还要支撑生活的信徒；那身患心脏病、70多岁还要照顾残疾儿女的；还有那些患肌无力、肾病透析、肿瘤疾病、心脏疾病的信徒……
而教会的原负责人和老执事们、为教会做过贡献的同工的家中不再是那种破烂的样子，有的是过着小康的生活，并且身体健康。
而在盖州的农村探访中，一些家庭又呈现出令人心疼的景象。有的破旧房子，挂着塑料布，有的连火炕都不舍得烧；烧柴禾的炉灶“倒烟”，满屋子都是；有的残疾人还加上了鳏寡孤独和疾病；一位终身未嫁的姊妹伺候瘫痪的哥哥；一位老弟兄信主三十多年，地伺候了瘫痪在床妻子26年，喂饭、端屎接尿，对妻子不离不弃，而屋里还干干净净；一位73岁的老姊妹，三天前丈夫因心脏病归天家，她的儿媳妇早些时候因为忧郁症自杀，还有一个在读大学的孙子需要抚养。
尽管一些困难信徒是住在低矮的房屋、屋里也没有什么豪华的家具，但是他们的窗台上贴着基督教信仰的春联、字画，破凳子上仍旧放着《圣经》，手机里播放讲道音频。
在探访的过程中，有七位弟兄和一位姊妹做了决志祷告。
与往年的春节前走访慰问不同，永生堂这次的探访着重突出重点：事先把全地区需要帮助的对象由基层的堂点和小组报上来，在教会有关的群里“公示”，征求意见；然后根据这些名单，先进行一次探访，从中确定真正需要帮扶的对象。
永生堂负责人郑金月牧师和同工们结合发现的问题还研究了下一步的措施，比如有的信徒家中火炕不好，而且“倒烟”容易产生一氧化碳中毒，准备帮助他们重新修火炕；把需要帮助的信徒和负责他们的点长一对一地当面结合起来，精准帮扶。
与此同时，整个盖州市地区，包括乡镇、村落的基督教堂点都已经铺开了2024年度的新春探访慰问。
（福音时报特约撰稿人于辽宁盖州报道）
辽宁一县级教牧同工在严东中开展例行的春节前探访。
From January 22 to 23, dozens of church staff of the Gaizhou Eternal Life Church, a centennial church in northeast China's Liaoning Province, visited 39 disadvantaged households and retired church staff at minus 20 degrees Celsius.
Starting January 20, in collaboration with Yingkou Municipal CC&TSPM, the church has kicked off its visitation event “Greet the Spring Festival with Love and Targeted Assistance” before the Chinese New Year which falls on February 10. The focus and main targets of this visit are retired preachers, elderly deacons, leaders of the affiliated meeting points, co-workers with great contributions, heads of the churches in various towns and villages, as well as elderly believers who are in difficulties due to illness or loss of their only child, the widowed and lonely, the weak, and the needy.
In a rundown shanty, a 95-year-old bedridden Christian man who has lost his son is being cared for by his widowed daughter-in-law. At a nursing home, despite suffering from the difficulties of serious kidney disease with regular dialysis, a sister managed to bring nearly 30 people to the Lord. Even in illness, she carries out her mission of preaching the gospel. A senior deacon of the church, whose home once served as a meeting point for 18 years, lived happily with his wife in his later years. At the home of an old bedridden sister with epilepsy who could hardly speak, she struggled to raise her head and slur, trying to communicate with the visiting team.
Among the recipients of the visits are a believer who lost both her son and husband and is now living alone; a sick believer with a disabled family member but still has to support the family; a 70-year-old heart disease patient with disabled children in need of care; and believers suffering from myasthenia, kidney dialysis, tumor disease, and heart disease.
The residences of the church's initial leaders, elderly deacons, and workers who used to work in the church no longer appear to be in such poor shape after retirement. Some of them have a comfortable life with good health.
Some families’ conditions are concerning in the rural areas of Gaizhou. There are decaying houses hung with plastic sheets, and some are even reluctant to use heated-bed stoves for warmth, but the smoke was "backflow,” flooding the house as the firewood burned. Some disabled people are also widowed, living alone with illnesses. An elderly sister, who has never been married, lives with and supports her paralyzed brother. An elderly believer who has been following Jesus for 30 years has cared for his bedridden wife for 26 years, feeding her, collecting her excrement, and always being by her side while keeping the house clean and tidy. A 73-year-old sister and her husband died of a heart attack a few days ago, and her daughter-in-law had previously committed suicide due to depression, leaving her son at college in need of care from the 73-year-old grandma.
Despite such poor living conditions, Christian couplets, calligraphies, paintings pasted on their windowsills, Bibles placed on broken chairs, and sermons played on phones can all be noticed in the homes of needy believers.
During the visits, seven men and one woman prayed to accept Jesus as their savior.
Unlike the visits in previous years, this visitation event of the Eternal Life Church features targeted assistance. The grassroots churches and groups were required to report the congregants in need, who would be "announced" publicly for feedback. Then, a visit based on the list will be made to identify those who truly need help.
Rev. Zheng Jinyue, head of the church, and her co-workers discussed the solutions for the issues noticed. Some believers’ heated-bed stoves are in bad condition with smoke "backflowing," which will easily cause carbon monoxide poisoning. They plan to rebuild their heated-bed stove (commonly known as “Kang” in Chinese, which is a traditional heated platform used for daily living and sleeping in northern China's severe winters.). The leaders of meeting points should be one-on-one responsible for providing targeted support to needy believers.
Meanwhile, churches across Gaizhou City, including towns and villages, have initiated visitation activities before the 2024 Spring Festival.
(The article was originally published by the Gospel Times and the author reported in Gaizhou, Liaoning.)
- Translated by Poppy Chan
Northeast County Church Warms Needy Below Zero Degree
