On the evening of June 29, a small group activity took place at a female believer's home.
In the eastern part of Yaodu District, Linfen City, southern Shanxi, pastors and staff workers from district CC&TSPMs, as well as pastoral areas and urban meeting points, gathered together, filling the originally spacious living room to capacity.
At 8 pm, Rev. Huang Hailin made a prayer, followed by several sisters in Christ sharing their testimonies. Particularly moving was the experience of a Christian woman whose child had just finished the college entrance exam and went through the process of checking scores and filling out the application. Another sister in Christ shared her growth experiences from participating in a book club and serving in the ministry.
Next, a female believer shared the topic, outline, and main content of last Sunday's sermon. Combining this with her own experiences and insights, she provided spiritual enlightenment that deepened others’ understanding of the sermon.
Following this, the group studied the course related to the Holy Spirit from the new edition of the Shorter Catechism (or Yao Dao Wen Da), revised by CC&TSPM. They discussed some topics, such as “Why is the body of a Christian the temple of the Holy Spirit?” “What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit of God?” “What are the manifestations of being filled with the Holy Spirit? ” and "How should we understand the revelation of the Holy Spirit?”
Deacon Ma Sanping, the group leader, then introduced the rough situation of the group, which was established in 2014. After Ma bought a house in the community where believers lived, he began forming the cell group. Later, Pastors Huang Hailin and Geng Fuqin, a married couple, also moved in and served together in unity. Now, each event attracts over twenty participants, sometimes more than thirty, with the majority being around forty years old.
Previously, believers left directly after the sermon from the pastor sent by Yaodu District Church. Now, considering the large number of young people, the group encourages them to fully utilize their gifts and participate in serving. This has cultivated a batch of young core members.
Here, before worship service, the host family prepares rice soup and meals in advance. After the meal, they immediately start praise and worship. Sometimes, they even hold love feasts. Besides the Friday activities, the group organizes outings and barbecues during holidays for further communication and bonding. If a member moves to another place, the group organizes visits, praying for each other in times of difficulty.
In the future, they plan to establish new groups and continue training more workers for God. The group conducts democratic elections and implements a rotational leadership system, with each term lasting three years. They also plan to engage in paired assistance activities with weaker churches.
(The article was originally published by the Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
