On Jan 16th, fellow workers of Tian'en Church in Gejiu City, Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province went to Mojia, a Yi village in Baohe County, with drums and an electric guitar. They praised the Lord by singing and dancing with the sole Christian family there.
According to Pastor Huang of the church, the Gospel has been introduced to the village long ago. It might have been when Yi people went downtown to sell vegetables that they heard the good news and spread the seed of the Gospel to that village, over 20 km from Gejiu City. There were three families which believed in God, but now only the family of Brother Li remains. Four of the five Li brothers are Christians, and with their wives and children total 14 Christians.
"Because they lack pastoring, believers become sluggish and they're more easily confused by earthly things. So we need to strengthen them and make the weak strong," said Pastor Huang.
The pastor also shared that it used to be convenient for believers to go to church for worship, but with later town planning the church changed location and was rebuilt. This affected the believers' normal worship. Though he believed it's not just the relocation of the church but, more importantly, the faith. The church also felt responsible because it was difficult to visit the villages. They can't visit believers in distant places on a regular basis. "Now, the church has a car for Gospel ministry, so that we can visit villages in further places and strengthen the believers."
There are many villages in Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Minorities with different branches, like Yi people, live there. They live in remote areas and it is not convenient to go to town. They grow many vegetables and fruits to sell in the market in order to lessen their difficulties. Many young people in the village choose to go out to work and leave seniors and children behind. The fellow workers want to care for them too.
At the moment, most of the Christians in Jinping Miao, Yao, and Dai Autonomous County are Miao. Two churches are there to serve the needs of the believers for worship. "We're thankful that 12 of 13 counties and cities in Honghe Prefecture have churches that publicly worship God," Pastor Huang told CCD.
Translated by: Grace Hubl
