At least 116 excellent volunteer preachers from Zhoukou are currently preaching consecutively for 42 days in more than 1200 local churches in Henan. There are over 1200 churches with exceeding 500,000 believers in the city, thus the necessity to accomodate these believers without problems.
Sister Wang, 40, is one of them. She is a wife, mother and daughter with quite a story to tell. As one of the around 5000 volunteer preachers in the city, she continues to feel joy despite the hard work of preaching consecutively. .
Today marks the eighth day since she left home to participate in the 42-day preaching program organized by Zhoukou's CCC&TSPM.
She will deliver sermons in 14 different churches that holds three-day retreats each in the 42 days event and sleep in the retreat venue.
Wang tells CCD that the church will provided them with a little subsidy when they preach outside while they don't have regular salary as they are regarded as volunteer preachers throughout the event.
Some of the volunteer preachers need to work in farms to raise their children and parents at the usual days.
She said that two thirds of the preachers are male and they are under greater pressure than sisters but they encourage each other to continue their passion and mission.
She adds, "I really thank my husband and my parents who look after my children for me. It is because they provide the rear support that I can preach outside."
"Sometimes, we deliver sermons continuously for about two dozens times a day or in the span of 2 months. But it's the 42-day pattern most of the time." Says another preacher.
A local believer says, "The preachers' life is really toilsome. They are running outside all year around with little money granted by the church. The condition of each church varies, some have air conditions while others are without electric fans; there are reception rooms in some churches yet others have makeshift slab sheds. Some tend on the preachers, but others only provide a bowl of noodles."
Sister Wang smiles all the time even though life seems very difficult.
She says, "My heart is filled with joy for I can serve the Lord." A decade and eight years ago, she suffered from a mental disease that forced her to hit everyone and everything with her tongue bitten after giving birth to her child.
"It is Jesus who saved me. Look, I'm so good and healthy now. So I won't work for the world no matter how much money is offered to me. I want to serve the Lord. Making more money counts nothing. I would like to put my life in the most significant things." She says.
Currently, more than 5000 volunteer preachers who are permitted to preach only after the theological training serve the church in Zhoukou.
Rev. Ma Xin, the chairman of the city CCC&TSPM, says, "I always tell our preachers to write nurturing diaries that record their own stories regarding their journey."
Moreover, he is building an archives where the name, faith journey and preaching experience of every preacher will be recorded. It takes a lot of efforts, but it is a worthy project in his eyes.
In addition, he encourages preachers to write down their Three Questions of Life. The questions are: who brought you here? What are you doing here? What do you gain here?
The first volume of Three Questions of Life and the responses of people is published internally in Zhoukou, written by the seminarians of the Zhoukou Bible Training School.
