Three churches in Dalian, China’s northeastern Liaoning Province, reopened again to the public on Sunday after more than a one-month lockdown due to coronavirus.
Before the first reopening in early July, all the registered churches in Dalian had been shut down for about five months.
As the second wave of local COVID-19 infections and Typhoon Bavi died down, Quanshui Church welcomed its congregation back on August 30.
On the way to the church, a church co-worker showed her joy since she and other sisters had been praying for the reopening of the church for 20 hours.
Attendees were asked to show their health and tracking codes, have their temperature measured, and leave their names and contact details. The chairs in the church, placed socially-distanced in front of altars, at the main hall and the side chapel, were all full of people.
After he greeted the congregation, Pastor Wan Shifu preached a sermon entitled “The Zacchaeus Who Seeks Salvation” , citing Luke 19. He urged the congregation to obey the command of the Lord Jesus and receive him gladly as Zacchaeus did.
Nine newcomers responded and prayed to believe in Jesus during the altar call.
Other local churches, including Fengshou Lu Church and Jinzhou Church, were also reopened.
- Translated by Karen Luo
