Letters from Zhejiang (2000s)

2000

"My grandfather led our rural church. He was one of the first group of 40 evangelists in the Wenzhou region. He died last October, aged 95, having given his entire life to the ministry of the gospel. The Holy Spirit was upon him. He evangelized so well that now we have eight churches. All are working together harmoniously for the Lord. It is true revival.... My father is a retired teacher and is an overseer of the churches. Not only does he have to arrange all the preaching and pastor the flock, he also oversees everything else.

The church members are very scattered as this is a poor mountain area, and it stretches to some offshore islands 100 km [62 miles] away. Every time my father goes to preach he has to take food and gifts for the old people. His health is not good and three years ago he had a major operation.... I long to be able to give up my job and study the Bible so I can help my father in the ministry."[1]

"I am a freshman at university. For my age, I should be quite mature. Yet what is meant by maturity? Is it to lie, to take advantage of others or to do empty talk? My peers are doing this. It appears that this is the way of society. Yet this is not my style. As I am not talkative, I am often left behind. What should I do? Should I follow their path or stay on my own?[2]

2001

"I am learning to serve the Lord. In 1998 we established a youth fellowship. Praise God, He set us apart from this sinful world so we did not spend all our time on the dance floor or playing computer games. Every time we meet the Holy Spirit works powerfully in our midst and we are filled with joy. Many of our young people are making great spiritual progress. The church leaders are very happy, too, but the temptations of this world are great, especially in this region of economic growth. It is difficult for young people to stand firm, so we are praying fervently."[3]

"Some of our church members are confused by the Eastern Lightning cult, and some of our leaders have adopted strange teachings and extreme behaviors. They emphasize singing and reading the Bible, but they do not allow us to do other things at church."[4]

"We live in a rural area. Our church was established not long ago and already we have five meeting points with more than 100 members. Most of our members are old grandmas and impoverished people. Few are young or middle-aged, and none are very enthusiastic. The farmers' lives are so busy that they do not even attend Sunday services regularly. Their spiritual lives are weak and fragile. This causes great difficulties. If people are available in the daytime, we gather then. If not, we meet in the evenings. Please teach us what to do."[5]

"My church has a congregation of 500-600 members, of whom 400-500 are sisters. Not many of the brothers are spiritually gifted, and there is no discipleship training. Every year we baptize more than 30 new believers into the church, but at the same time there are ten or more who leave. They begin to love the world and are not allowed to take Communion because of sin. Most of our members are spiritually weak or newly baptized. Our incompetent pastor is restricted by his lack of knowledge and poor spiritual life. He sees the fragile spiritual lives of the congregation, but his ability is not equal to his ambition. There is no training of young men to carry on the ministry."[6]

2002

"Today is an age of upheavals and fast changing technology. Everyone turns to money with a manic obsession. I have experienced an ample life but also that of poverty. Thank the Lord, neither riches nor poverty has any impact, because His grace is sufficient for me. The most touching thing in my life is to know God and to be His child. My brightest treasure is God and my greatest satisfaction comes from glorifying Him with my words and deeds. However dark and corrupted this age may become, and how deeply money is loved, I will not follow after them. I want to be the salt and light of my society, to show forth the glory of my Lord and bring more people to Him."[7]

"I am 21-years-old and it should be the best time of my life. However, I am tortured by sickness and all my days are difficult and long. I was once very healthy but, at the age of 14, I suddenly contracted an illness in my head, chest, abdomen, and the joints of my limbs. I was in great pain and sorrow when dealing with this hopeless situation.

One day a Christian in our village came to my home to borrow something. He was shocked to see me lying in bed and asked what had happened. I told him how I had gone through two operations and I needed to stay in bed. He preached the gospel and asked me to believe in the Lord. After discussion with my parents, I confessed Christ last October. Many brothers and sisters have visited and prayed for me after my conversion. They teach me how to read the Bible and pray, and they take me to church on Sundays. My whole life has become better, although my neck vertebrae and right leg are giving me problems again and I think I need another operation. I really don't know what to do."[8]

"At school I was really powerless to overcome my weakness, and I felt deep drowsiness every time class was in progress. A friend gave me a booklet entitled, 'Knowing the True God'. Thank God that He helped me read it through and I knelt next to my bed and prayed the prayer in the back of the booklet. Amazingly, the next day I began to sing out loud with great joy in my heart. My friend took me to a church meeting where I felt a strong power inside of me, and now I have fellowship with other sisters in the church and I feel the love of God."[9]

2005

"We meet in a Christian brother's home. Recently, people from the Three-Self Church came and told us we had to join their movement. Our church consists of middle-aged and elderly men and women, and there is not the slightest benefit for us in joining the Three-Self. Moreover, everybody has a bad feeling about the Three-Self. They have said they will come and forcibly interfere with our church. When our members heard this they all felt worried. We fear our church will not be able to continue."[10]

2006

"There is no mission department in my church. I was so touched by the Lord that I want to go to Mongolia to carry out mission work, but I am at a loss as to how to begin. I feel overwhelmed by the scale of the undertaking and feel that doing this by personal effort will not take me very far. I have held back, but I find this unbearable too."[11]

"Last year the Public Security came to my school looking for me, but I was away. A Christian sister said they will come looking for me at work. When fear came upon me, through prayer God granted me great peace. Up until now the police have not found me. The fellowship I attended at university is facing persecution. Our meetings now have to be very secret. To think that my name is written on a government black-list is enough to make me lose hope, but my name is also written in the Lamb's Book of Life. I don't know what the future will hold. Perhaps I will lose my job or even languish in jail, but I believe God is in control of everything. Whatever I have to face is all according to His perfect will."[12]

2007

"In the past few years I have spread the gospel in various provinces. Now, my family and I are serving in a prosperous city, but without any systematic theological training I am learning as I minister. Many entrepreneurs here welcome church members to spread the gospel among their staff, but because of my limited knowledge I don't know how to share the gospel with the better-educated workers. Please pray for me."[13]

2008

"Conservative estimates put the number of migrant workers in Wenzhou at two million. Just those living in the area near our church number 35,000. The workers are faced with many complex issues, such as the common occurrences of pregnancy out of wedlock and rampant divorce. We therefore established marriage counseling to help them, and we take the opportunity to share the gospel with those who attend. We very much need books on marriage counseling."[14]

2009

"A church here in Zhejiang has spent more than nine million Yuan (approximately US$1.3 million) on building a church (including the land and construction fees), but they only have a congregation of 300 to 400 people, and there are few regular worshippers on Sundays. Most members are from farming areas and cannot afford to give large offerings. The construction costs were paid for by two brothers who run businesses, on top of a four million Yuan loan. The church's obligation to pay back the loan has restricted the development of their ministries."[15]