China special part 3 of 3: Suffering church shares blessings

Revd Luo is a woman who wears many hats. In church, she preaches, leads the choir and does home visits. At home, she is a mother and wife.

‘It is indeed a big challenge to balance my time and energy well!’ she says.

Luo is a Bible School graduate who moved to a rural area to serve a small church with the aim of growing and expanding it. However, it has proven to be an uphill task.

Many worshippers moved out of the area, elderly Christians found it difficult to get to the church in its rural location, there were not enough church staff to share the workload, offerings barely covered the daily expenses of Luo’s family, and religious cults were active in the region.

As the difficulties intensified, Luo realised that God was moulding her. He was drawing her towards him, to depend on him more.

‘Each time when we feel that there is no way out, we kneel down and ask God to strengthen us,’ she said.

Despite all the challenges and lacking money, Luo responded by leading the 100-strong church to bless the community.

‘We are supporting 46 poor local college students with 3,000 Yuan (£340) per student annually. This year is the fourth consecutive year. We are thankful our initiative has been recognised by the authorities. We are grateful to be the channel of blessing, to play our role as salt and light of the world. This is because there are people out there who have supported us and so we can in turn bless others!’

When you bless churches in China through your kind giving, they often feel a duty to share those blessings with others despite their own challenging circumstances. A gift can go a long way in China.

This is the final part in a three-part series on difficulties facing the Church in China during 2020, the year of the pandemic. If you want to support Bible work in China and elsewhere on a regular basis please join Bible a Month. A small, regular gift can go a long way in China, especially in supporting needy church workers in poorer rural areas where an estimated 60 per cent of Christians live.

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