Situated in County Huaiyang, Zhoukou, Liangzhuang Church held a baptism service on July 11 in Henan.
Rev. Ma Xin, the chairman of Zhoukou CCC&TSPM, baptized 13 seekers by sprinkling them with holy water, including a blind brother. A sister who accompanied him was already all tears before the baptism.
The rural church, subordinate to the local CCC&TSPM, has a Sunday attendance of more than 300. 80% of the congregation are the elderly as the younger generation move to work in the cities.
It also held a retreat lasting for six days, starting from July 10. The church staff told CCD that the retreat that intended to go on for just three days but it was prolonged by another three days under the request of a local leader. Elder Li and Preacher Wang from the city's CCC&TSPM were responsible for delivering the sermons and the decision doubled their working time.
"I obeyed. Since they proposed the request, we obeyed. It's always easy to say obedience out but it is hard to do it. But as a servant of God, I would like to obey. " Said Preacher Wang.
There were two sermons that lasted five hours each day during the retreat, ending at 4 pm when the believers could return home to work in the land exactly after sunset.
