Back in January, we visited a remote town at the far southern end of our province. Although this town is isolated from other big cities and major highways by hundreds of miles of mountains, we were surprised to find a relatively large number of churches there.
The churches we found were not the typical ‘underground’ churches that we hear about, but ‘registered’ churches that are permitted to exist by the local government. In some parts of China, the registered churches are known to be very corrupt and unbiblical in their teachings and ways of doing things, but in our province we have typically been impressed by these so-called ‘registered’ churches.
The picture to the right was taken from just in front of the most prominent church in that town. The church literally sits on a mountanside overlooking the town. When we walked up the hill to try to talk to someone there about the state of Christianity in that region, we found one guy who told us that nearly every village in the whole county (dozens of villages) had a church of some kind, including a township that belongs almost exclusively to a Tibetan Buddhist minority people group that has long been considered unreached! We were very excited to find out that the Gospel was being preached to this minority group and that a couple dozen believers already existed among them. One of the reasons for our trip was to investigate and check out the situation of this group of Tibetans.
Well, I have said all this to now share with you that this region was the hardest hit region of our province by the recent earthquake. The epicenter of the quake was only a 150 or so miles to the southwest of this town. As many as 300 have died as a result and thousands of homes destroyed.
We want to do something to help the Christians in this region:
Galatians 6:10 “As we have therefore, opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”
If you wish to join with us in raising up an offering for the local church in that region, please click here for information on how to donate online or by check. Just make sure and earmark any donations for “Bro Eugene-Earthquake Offering”.
Most of all, please keep these people in your prayers. Pray for all the Christians who have been affected by this tragedy, and most of all, that the Gospel would continue to be proclaimed to every person in every village!
