There is a small town, called Nansheng, locating in Pinghe county, Fujian province with a population of about ten thousand people. The town has two churches of different denominations, one being the Nansheng Protestant Church and the other the Real Jesus Church.
The Protestant Church has a history of about one hundred years. In February 1848, American Christian Reformed Church brought Christianity to Xiamen, and then to Nansheng town, Pinghe county in 1874.
Before that, the British Presbyterian Church founded Wuzhaiwei Jingai Christian Church, which in 1870 had been affiliated with the China Inland Mission. After that, the Reformed Church and Presbyterian Church were combined to form the "Jingnan Church" in 1883 in order to show the unity between the denominations.
Two generous friends in New Jersey of USA offered money to build Nansheng Church Chapel of about 200 square meters, as well as other buildings including the pastor's residence, etc.
Pastor Lin Wenqu, who originated from Tongan city, came in 1887 and was the first pastor for 11 years. Other pastors and preachers came after 1950.
The church was closed for 28 years from 1951 to 1977, and the chapel was occupied by a sugar mill. In 1978, believers met at various points on Sunday. In 1984, after approval, the meetings were resumed and part of the property of the church was recovered. On March 15, 1985, the first church elders' council was founded, which opened a new page for the Nansheng Church.
In 1992, to celebrate the centenary of the church, the council decided to demolish the first three bungalows of the old church and rebuild a three-story building as a ministry and reception room. On December 8, 1999, the new chapel was completed.
Today, unique scenery has been created with the Nansheng Church and the Nansheng Park opposite each other, brightly reflecting each other across the stream that runs between them.
- Translated by Heirs Han
