New York Gideon Training Center recently concluded their trip to Min Nan region of the southern part of Fujian Province in China, where they held intensive trainings for the local house church believers which lasted for five days. Gideon Training Center Executive Director Rev. Frank Huang shared with The Gospel Herald his unforgettable experience of service then.
“What differences are there between the house churches there and the church that you minister in United States?” Huang said that many people have asked him this same question. After thinking for some time, he answered, “Alive.”
Throughout the three visits made to the Fujian house churches, Huang said that he strongly felt the wave of spiritual revival; the believers there not only longs for the word of God, but they respond by applying the word in their lives, which makes the church to be filled with lively vitality.
The Gideon Training Center executive director chose to have the training during the Chinese New Years, because many students and workers who were usually away during the year would return home and the local believers have the tradition to celebrate the new years in church. Therefore, more people can be trained during this holiday period.
Furthermore, Huang said that his memory of the gathering scene was still very vivid. An hour before the service began, the church was already filled with so much people that the speaker didn’t even have a place to sit. This was the first time that he stood all throughout the service.
He said that the brothers and sisters in China are a group of longing Christians; their attitude and passion for spiritual growth deeply touched every one of the Gideon staffs.
While the believers there not only long for the word but they also want to apply the word in their lives, so in every church there are large group of Christians who wished to be trained so they can serve the Lord.
After conducting 11 rounds of intensive trainings throughout the five day gathering, which included evangelism meetings, retreats, staff-trainings, and prayer meetings, the staffs were extremely exhausted physically and vocally, but they all had this heart of gratitude and was filled with grace.
The Gideon staffs who participated in this trip sacrificed a lot. They gave up the opportunity to gather with their family members during the Chinese New Years period and went abroad to engage in difficult service; however, when they thought about how God is doing great works through their footsteps in leading large group of people to Christ, in training the believers they felt very gratified.
[Editor's note: reporter Luke Leung translated this article.]
