Nine members from a catechism class of the Shatoujiao Church in Shenzhen were baptized on May 19, 2019.
According to the official WeChat account of the church, Rev. Qiu Quan led the baptismal service and baptized them, and they then received the Eucharist.
In line with the records of Chung-Ying Street Historical Museum, Christian faith has spread to Shatoujiao by Rudolf Lechler and Philip Winnes, missionaries from the Basel Mission Society of Switzerland, as early as the mid-19th century. Other missionaries from churches in Hong Kong came successively to preach and convert the inhabitants and set up gathering sites in factories and houses.
After 2000, Christians in Shatoujiao started to gather on their own, and therefore they gradually formed three family meeting places in accordance with the three languages spoken: Mandarin, Chaoshan and Hakka dialects. There was no communication between these three groups.
In 2004, the Shenzhen branch of the China Christian Council (CCC) and Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) paid attention to the registration of Shatoujiao Church. On the one hand, they urged the family gathering sites to work together. On the other hand, they applied to the religion department of the government for a place to establish a church. On June 28, 2006, the CCC and TSPM of Shenzhen rented a space on the 4th floor of a building in an industrial zone in Yantian District. On June 8, 2007, government permission was given for Christians to use the space. On September 29, 2007, the Shatoujiao Christian Church was officially established.
The church was maintained well after its establishment. The church took part in various social works, such as visiting seniors in nursing homes, taking care of children with disabilities, helping people in poverty, providing disaster relief, comforting and compensating orphans and widows, and planting trees. All of these have been well received by the community.
-Translated by Lin Changfeng
