On August 31, 2020, the Christian Council & Three-self Patriotic Movement of Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of Jilin Province held a meeting in the city of Dunhua.
According to Jilin CC&TSPM, the meeting introduced how the COVID-19 pandemic has become been normalized and the resumption of activities in churches with Han believers as the main body. The meeting also requested that the sites which have resumed activities and strengthening the monitoring management of epidemic prevention and control and instructed believers to establish good hygiene habits. As autumn and winter approach, it is important to prevent the recurrence of COVID-19 as well as the outbreak of winter influenza.
Places that have not yet resumed activities were required to implement regular prevention and control measures, prepare for the resumption of activities as required by government departments, and resume activities as soon as possible. A special discussion on how to recover lost believers after the resumption of activities was held, and some specific suggestions were put forward.
The meeting also looked at how to deal with the Korean "Shincheonji" cult, prevent the infiltration of foreign forces, and do its best to maintain the stability of the border areas.
In view of the absence of teaching staff in different places, it was decided to set up a Chinese teaching group for the Christian Council & Three-self Patriotic Movement of Yanbian Prefecture to undertake the task of preaching after the resumption of activities in places without teaching staff.
The Chinese pastoral group consists of six young pastoral workers, including two pastors and four priests from Yanji city, Dunhua, Hunchun, Longjing, and Helong in Yanbian Prefecture, who are the backbone colleagues of the churches in these areas.
In order to solve the problem of the loss of missionaries in the grass-roots churches, it was decided to hold a volunteer training class at an appropriate time while requiring the churches to improve the basic pension and medical insurance for full-time clerical personnel as soon as possible. And young fellow practitioners with a calling and a sense of mission shall be selected to apply to theological schools at all levels.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
