On June 3, 2018, I attended the communion service held in the church in Xin District, Tongchuan, Shaanxi.
Over 300 people sat in the main hall with a seating capacity of over 1,000 people. After the service, about 50 participants stayed and prayed before the sanctuary. The senior pastor Rev. Li Wenbin placed his hands on some of them and prayed for them.
In the beginning, a group of more than 40 people gathered in a hall of 50 square meters (0.012 acres), in June 2006.
Rev. Li said that he and his wife who lived more than 300 km away from the district were called by God to pastor the congregation here over ten years ago. They started with zero and built the church on a barren land.
At the end of 2003, they purchased a land of 9 mu (1.48 acres) at the expense of over 300,000 yuan. Two and a half years later, a courtyard, walls, and a bungalow with an area of 300 square meters (0.074 acres) were completed. The church construction that cost over 4 million yuan was started in 2010 and completed in 2012.
Two moving stories were set under the circumstance.
On a summer's day when heavy rains struck, an elderly sister saw another sister praying on her knees in the muddy water beside the church foundation pit, as wet as a drowned cat, which moved the believers. To supervise the project, the believers took turns to be on duty even though the weather was really hot. They even changed shifts to go to the toilet.
One evening a brother was on duty at the construction site and slept with white sheets covered on his body against mosquito bites. At midnight, someone drove a truck into the site to steal something but fled away when seeing him...
The new church covers a land of 1,000 square meters (0.24 acres) with a floor space of around 2,000 square meters (0.49 acres).
Despite its short history, the church has over 400 members and 90 seekers. Moreover, it establishes detailed work duties for pastoral staff and an administration system for financial management, makes annual and short-term work plans, and ferries old believers to and from the church. It has also a garden, a canteen and resting rooms to provide meals and accommodation.
- Translated by Karen Luo
