Dear brothers and sisters:
Peace in the Lord! On June 19th, Shouwang had her eleventh Sunday outdoor worship service. Brothers and sisters continue to seek and worship our God with passion and hope.
June 19th, Beijing, cloudy, with high temperature. Many believers were detained at home since Friday, and some individuals were taken away to be detained in hotels close to their home. Therefore, only a few dozen people managed to arrive at the planned location for outdoor worship on Sunday. Some believers who tried to enter the planned location and some who were nearby were taken away by police waiting there. As far as we know, fourteen believers (it does not include one believer who was taken away to a hotel by local police on Friday night), including a sister from Xinshu Church, were taken away on Sunday morning. They were then sent to ten different local police stations. Till the midnight of 19th, all of them were released. We need to point out that, some local police stations are still forcing believers living in the area under their jurisdiction to move out of the area unscrupulously, so that they will have less pressure. Police at one local police station (Dongsheng police station), even entered into believers’ home by force, and then took them to be under their control with no legal formalities. These practices are a serious violation of the state law. We hope that these law enforcement departments, representing the government, will respect national laws, rather than break the law.
Let us continue to praise our God, and give thanks to Him with hope. We still have not seen God’s work as we expected till now, and we still do not know when we will see it. However, as we carefully look back, we do see God’s mighty work among us. If God has not been sustaining Shouwang Church and each believer of Shouwang with his right hand, we really doubt whether we can stand firm in this spiritual battle till today. God is faithful, and is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving. As he brought us into this battle, he will surly lead us al the way as our great Marshal, till the day when we experience the victory with him. And this is the hope from our hearts in believing him.
It is the hope founded on God’s faithfulness that brings us peace, joy, faith and strength during this battle. We experienced weariness in this long period battle, and we could not fully comprehend why God allows us to be in such a powerless situation. However, we then experience one thing, that is, we learn to look to him and rely on him as we cannot rely on ourselves at all; as we have no hope by looking at ourselves, we have more ardent hope by relying on him. With this hope, we continue to wait in patience.
May God, who puts such hope in our hearts, also grant us patience to wait for him. Though “we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9, NIV). May God pour out the Holy Spirit on his church, so that each believer will continue to “run and not grow weary, walk and not be faint (Isaiah 40:31, NIV), till the day when the work of Christ is manifested.
May peace and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the mercy and love of Father God, and the console and guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, be with each brother and sister of Shouwang Church and all the churches who remember Shouwang Church in prayers, from this time on and forevermore! Amen.
Beijing Shouwang Church
06/20/2011
China Aid Contacts
Rachel Ritchie, English Media Director
Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.chinaaid.org
