Writers Make Up Sensational Headline of Sad Church Story to Make Money, Pastor Says

The Thanksgiving Church (Yunlou Church)
The Thanksgiving Church (Yunlou Church) (photo: Provided by Normadics)
By CCD contributor: Normadics July 15th, 2019

Recently some Christian WeChat accounts released clickbait headlines about an unfortunate church in Jiangxi province in order to recruit money. 

One of headlines claimed that Yunlou (Thanksgiving) Church's pastor was captive by the devil and his congregation was hungry for feeding. Another one argued that the shabby Jiangxi church passers-by mistook it for a toilet became famous and might make readers cry for it.

To clarify the fact, a church worker and I visited the church's former leader.

He was more commonly known as Luo Daqing, but his identity card showed his name as Luo Zhaodun. I got acquainted with Luo in the late 1990s. Having a Seventh-day Adventist Church background, he said that he had no idea why he was reported about online. Luo, often suffered from emphysema, shared that someone visited him in the hospital and asked him if he wanted to raise funds. However he denied that persons raised funds for him. 

At 70, Luo told us that he lives in a nursing home as a resident who is guaranteed food, clothing, medical care, housing and burial expenses by the government. Instead of being reported as being extremely poor, he is granted an allowance every month. He added that he has two brothers, of whom the more elderly died last year. Except for this, he does not have any other blood relations. His ex-wife and daughter left him. The former passed away a few years ago and the latter is still missing. His adoptive daughter lives in Hangzhou.

Luo lives 20 kilometers away from the Yunlou Meeting Point and is often admitted to hospital due to illness. He said that people had not worshipped at the meeting point for many years. As a result, it became dilapidated. 

Authorities revealed that the place of assembly was actually an ancestral hall and annulled last year.  

- Translated by Karen Luo

related articles
LATEST FROM Opinion