Churches in Jiexiu City and Linyi County in Yuncheng, Shanxi, were repaired two months after record-breaking rainstorms, while some are due to be restored after the Lunar New Year.
The Gospel Times, an online Chinese Christian newspaper, contacted the pastors from the two churches in the affected area.
Due to the heavy rainfall which took place during China’s National Day vacation period, among four affected rows of old houses belonging to Jiexiu Church, two dilapidated houses in the first row completely collapsed. Recently, the church has demolished these dangerous houses and planned to build a parking lot there for believers to pull over.
According to Rev. Fan Wanmin from the church, as the walls inside the church and the attached houses for the choir leaked, the repair work is set to be conducted next year. In addition, staff of the church visited 11 rural meeting points and more than 120 believers, presenting rice and flour to 35 volunteers who did preaching and logistics work throughout the year.
"Visits will be also carried out before Christmas, which is a test for the church, as it is a challenging time for pandemic prevention and control," said Fan.
"Due to the COVID-19 prevention and control, in-person gatherings have not resumed. May God protect and bless the Linyi Church so that believers can return to the sanctuary to worship and praise Him!" said Elder Yue Yinshan, director of Linyin County TSPM and head of the Linyi County Church.
In the virtual interview, Yue stated that the Luocun meeting point subordinate to the church has been restored after being damaged by the heavy rain in October, and the houses of Fushoutun Church have been demolished, with the reconstruction to start early next year.
The main structure of Linyi County Church did not suffer much damage, but the auxiliary buildings fell down, which did not impact the ongoing church ministry. The church planned to do repair work after the Spring Festival, Yue continued.
After the disaster, staff workers of the church paid visits to the flood-hit churches and believers in Xinjiang County and Jishan County, with a donation of 40,000 yuan from Christians in Linyi County. However, in light of the recent pandemic, the church did not conduct any further visits, for the time being, Yue said.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
