With the frequent occurrence of COVID-19 outbreaks recently, the epidemic prevention and control situation is tough and complex.
Since March 13, as medical staff and volunteers in Jinjiang, Fujian Province, have been fighting in the front line, leaders of Chendai Church in Fujian discussed on WeChat groups, deciding on to whom and how much to donate. On March 19, the church contributed 50,000 yuan to the People's Government of Chendai Town, and 14,000 yuan to the church's village, surrounding villages, and the neighborhood committees, with 2,400 protective suits being donated two days later.
Since March 14, Qingyang Church in Jinjiang has implemented the "double suspension" measure in order to fully abide by the pandemic-related restrictions for religious sites. (The "double suspension” refers to “suspensions of the opening of places of worship and group religious activities”). Apart from this, the Quanzhou-based church donated 10,000 yuan to two local communities.
During the month of March, there were locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in Huangdao District and Laixi City in Shandong Province. On March 10, Qingdao Municipal CC&TSPM issued a notice on implementing the "double suspension" policy in advance. At the same time, Jiangsu Road Church in Qingdao and district CC&TSPMs organized believers to donate, amounting to 18,000 yuan in cash and 42,514 yuan in materials.
On March 21, Xinxiang Road Community in Kaifu District, Changsha City, Hunan Province carried out free nucleic acid testing all day. Rev. Huang Kegang, chairman of Changsha CC&TSPM, found that the COVID-19 workers and volunteers did not have raincoats during the testing on site, immediately arranging staff to purchase ten raincoats for them. In addition to that, staff of Changsha Municipal CC&TSPM cooked ginger soup for them, aiming to keep the frontline workers warm.
Between March 20 to 22, Yangpu District CC&TSPM of Shanghai bought 380 boxes of milk, hand sanitizer, towels, soap and other supplies, visiting volunteers in 10 neighborhood committees and streets.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Xinjian Distict, Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, on March 13, all churches in the city have suspended their gatherings. Nanchang Municipal CC&TSPM issued a notice to district CC&TSPMs in every county and district, calling on believers to donate money and materials for epidemic prevention and control. Receiving more than 100,000 yuan, Nanchang Municipal CC&TSPMdonated 50,000 yuan on March 20 to the Red Cross Society of Xinjian District to support the fight against COVID-19.
On March 22, the pastoral co-workers of Nanchang Municipal CC&TSPM took the lead in donating 16,000 yuan in the Zhidao Church to local communities on the front lines.
Next day, church leaders visited anti-epidemic workers in three streets of the Donghu District, supplying 50,000 yuan donated by the municipal CC&TSPM, Zhidao Church, Qingzhong Church, and all other Christian churches in the city.
- Translated by Stephen Huang
