Located in the northeastern part of the Jinzhong Basin, Taigu County in Jinzhong City in Shanxi Province has a long history and profound cultural heritage, being famous for its Courtyards of Shanxi Merchants.
The local church also has a long history. According to the Gazetteer of Taigu County written in the 20th year of the Republic of China (1931): “In the 32nd year of the Guangxu reign (1906), the American church appointed H. H. Kung, a graduate of Oberlin College with a bachelor's degree and [of Yale University with a master's degree,] as a principal. The funds were raised by the American church over and over again, which was sufficient. Now the total number of senior and junior students is more than 300, making it the largest in the province.”
In Jiabao Village, in the northwest of the county, a five-story building with a peaked roof attracts people’s attention. It has blue windows and doors, with a red cross on its steeple. At the top, there are engraved, large red characters reading “Grace Church” and "Immanuel.”
Initially, more than 400 believers attended the worship, but later the church was overcrowded because of its limited space. So the church decided to have another one. To build the church, the congregation bought 10 acres of land in 2000 and spent five years completing all the necessary procedures. The construction began in 2005, even though they were still in debt. It faced many difficulties in building the church. For example, they had just gathered over 50,000 yuan to buy steel when the price of steel dropped. The same happened with purchasing cement and gravel, which saved a considerable amount of money. Elder Qi Yanfu, who is in charge of Grace Church in his seventies, with his own construction team, earned money by working on external projects to build the church.
The process witnessed the dedication of the believers as if they were one person, which moved Elder Qi. To save money, they built the church themselves with their own money and labor, as well as 24-hour uninterrupted prayer. For example, a person sold his house for money. Some people devoted their salaries, while others donated their small pension money. Completed in August 2011, the whole project took six years. With an area of 2,700 square meters, it can accommodate 1,200 people. The church has become a multi-functional modern church with offices, training, fellowship, lodging and catering.
The construction cost 5.2 million yuan in total. The church held a dedication celebration on October 22, 2015, with more than 1,000 pastors, elders, co-workers, and believers from 24 other churches across the province attending.
- Translated by Olinda Wang
