Listener Responses from China

Topic of the Month - Heart Cry from Church: Pastoral Hardship

The brother in-charge often sighs

My church has a congregation of 500-600, of whom 400-500 are sisters. Among the brothers, not many of them are spiritually gifted. There is no discipleship training. Every year, there are more than 30 people baptized who join the church. But at the same time, there are ten or more who leave the church. They begin to love the world or they are not allowed to take communion because of sin. Most of the members are spiritually weak or newly baptized. Seeing the situation of the church, the brother in-charge often sighs. However, restricted by his knowledge and ability and his poor spiritual life, he is not competent as a pastor. He sees the spiritual thirst and the delicate spiritual lives of the congregation. But his ability is not equal to his ambition. And there is no training of young men to carry on the ministry.

There are not many who really love the Lord and are who are mature in spirit among the 200 young brothers and sisters. As a result, I cannot believe that there are so many young members in our church. When I heard the courses of Voice of Friendship Seminary, I found it suited the needs of our church well. Moreover, we can get free lecture notes. I introduced the program to more than ten brothers and sisters including the above-mentioned brother in-charge.

(#F0017 Zhengjiang)

I feel anxious and inadequate

I am a fourth-generation Christian. The seed of the Gospel took root in my heart when I was a child. Every evening when I listen to the Voice of Friendship Seminary courses, I am nurtured. It is very precious to me. However, I feel ashamed when I face the Lord's flock. Whenever I stand on the altar, I can see pairs and pairs of eyes thirsting for grass and water. I feel anxious and inadequate.

Preachers like us can only get spiritual food from every issue of "Tian Fung Magazine" and "Jiao Cai Magazine" and from the yearly county training classes which last for 7 days. Besides that, we cannot get much nurturing. In fact, we are still more hungry and thirsty deep in our hearts than other brothers and sisters. We often tape your programs and then transcribe them on a notebook for revision. Our church is in my home. My father is the person in charge and the preacher. But he is not very literate. He received his first Bible from you through the mail. At present, our church has more than 300 members and 3 preachers. Since other churches in the district have no preacher, ours must take turns helping them. Their spiritual lives are very weak.

(#9468 Anhui)

Their spiritual lives are starving for nurturing

I often listen to your broadcast. But because of the irregular working hours in this country, I often cannot listen to Voice of Friendship Seminary or take notes. Therefore, I am anxious to receive a copy of the course notes so that I can correctly understand the truth of the Bible and accurately handle the word of truth. There are 14 believers in our village. In addition to going to church, we have family cell group meetings at home. Ever since I was converted, I have been responsible for to lead worship and to read the Bible. During the off-season, we always discuss where we should go to preach the Gospel. Occasionally, we go to visit the brothers and sisters whom we led to Christ.

There are lots of villages the Gospel has not reached. For some villages where the Gospel has just reached, there are only one or two believers. Some of them are grandmas over 70 years old. They believe that God exists and want to follow Jesus. But since there is no church in the town, they must go to churches in the city tens of kilometers away. That is impossible. If we do not go to visit these grandmas often, they may stumble. Their spiritual lives are starving for nurturing. Since most of the believers in rural areas are illiterate, they can't understand what the Bible says. They can only learn through listening. However when they go to church, they cannot understand the sermon. As a result, the quality of their spiritual lives is poor and they are easily deceived by heresies.

Frankly speaking, we believers in rural areas are poor. We cannot get any help or edification from the Bible or spiritual books at all. Many believers face persecution from their families because of their faith. Some sisters are beaten up by their husbands. In addition, they encounter many difficulties in life, which they don't know how to handle. Some of them fail because they encounter so many adversities even though they are converted.

(#13869 Guangdong)

This causes great difficulties in pastoring

We live in a rural area. Our church was built not long ago. We have 5 meeting points with more than 100 members. Most of the members are old grandmas and the desolate ones. Few of them are young or middle-aged sisters and few are brothers. But none of them are enthusiastic. The life of a farmer is busy. They cannot even go to Sunday service regularly. Their spiritual lives are young and delicate. This causes great difficulties in pastoring. If people are available in the daytime, we gather in daytime; if not, we meet in the evening. Please teach us what to do. depend on any help and guidance you can offer.

(#M0386 Zhengjiang)

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