On Oct 7, nearly 70 seniors over 70-year-old attended congregate birthday party accompanied by their families at Xixia District Christian Church in Ningxia Yinchuan during which they counted God's blessings and had a grateful group birthday.
On that day, the church prepared the birthday cake well in advance. The service was titled "16 Years of Grace", and was presided over by Preacher Wu Xiufeng. After the sermon by Preacher Chang Yuanyuan, the seniors were invited onto the stage and had corsages pined by the ushers and photos taken to mark the occasion.
Next they ate the cake. Two senior representatives lit the candles and everyone offered wishes to God. The ushers cut the cake and brought them to the congregation one by one. In another section, "Count Your Blessings," all the seniors stood up and testified about what God had done in their lives and thanked God for His provision.
According to an employee from Xixia Church, it is the church's tradition to throw birthday parties for seniors at least 70 years old, hoping to pass the serving attitude of "respect the aged and care for the young". Usually it is in September, however, this year it got postponed to National Day (October).
Xixia District Christian Church locates in the Capital of Ningxia Yinchuan Xixia District and it is one of the typical Christian churches in Yinchuan. It was built in 2005 and has a congragation of some 450.
