Established in 1931, an ethnic Korean church in Gonghe Subdistrict, Tiexi District, Anshan City, Liaoning Province, witnessed God's grace and promises throughout its 90 years of history.
I came to visit the church on the morning of Sunday, May 9. Following COVID-19 protocols, believers entered the church after registering separately in Chinese and Korean language registries.
On the morning of May 9, there were two Sunday sermons held simultaneously with the same title "Live a Life with a Correct Understanding of God’s Will", sharing the same verses of Luke 19:11-27. One of the sermons was preached in Korean on the fourth floor by Senior Pastor An Fengxun for Korean ethnic believers, with Korean words shown in a big screen. The other was given in Chinese on the second floor by Pastor An Enguang for Han ethnic Christians.
According to the historical materials on the history of the church provided by Pastor An Fengxun, this four-story church was rebuilt in 2013, with a floor area of 1,900 square meters (0.47acres). With a towering cross on the main hall, two screens on both sides of the gate showed "Gonghe Christian Church" in Chinese and Korean respectively. It was founded in Qiming Street by the Women's Mission from Fengtian Church, owning four rooms for gathering and two for vicarage. Establishing an administrative board in 1943, the church was handed over to the pastor of the Han church, as most believers had returned to North Korea after the surrender of Japan in 1945.
After the liberation of Anshan on February 19, 1948, most believers left Anshan due to life problems, and a small number of believers gathered at home. The church was officially restored on June 27, 1983, given the implementation of the religious freedom policy after the reform and opening up. Later, the church was identified as a dilapidated building, because many cracks appeared due to years of disrepair. In 2013, it was rebuilt again to its current state.
During the past decade, the church has relieved 16 poor students in the mountainous areas of southern China. On the eve of this year's Spring Festival, the church staff visited poor families several times, presenting 500 kilograms of rice to poverty-stricken families. Beyond that, it also awarded scholarships to a primary school.
(The original article is published by the Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
