MINISTRY//Pray for the gospel's power

One of our 316NOW faculty members invites your prayers.

When Covid struck China, one of my students was a pastor who had over 1000 members. In addition, he served another church in the nearby mountains and he taught a third group in the countryside.

His ministry changed dramatically. He was no longer able to go out to the mountains. Or the countryside. He had to wash the church every day with alcohol. People were not allowed to come to the church. But he still cleaned the church with the hope they would be allowed to come back.

He started internet worship services. That was the best way to touch the people with God's Word. He was able to reach a few of the mountain people, not all of them. His own church gathered no more than two to three hundred people on the internet. It made him sad. I could feel for him.

A year after Covid started, all the malls and parks and bars and night clubs were opened but Christians could not assemble. Today, with Covid continuing to pop up in Chinese cities, Christians are still kept from gathering.

I told him, "Some have a hard time returning to church, even in America, where we are not forced by law to stay away." We agreed to pray for each other and our churches.

Your prayers for Chinese Christians and their pastors are also important. The gospel encounters many obstacles and challenges in China.  But pray with a spirit of trust and gratitude. I believe in the power of the gospel of God in Jesus. Like the apostle Paul penned, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).

15 Days of Prayer begins on February 1. Learn more here.