In church life, we frequently notice believers who enthusiastically participate in activities and services but then suddenly stop attending.
Some churches turn a blind eye to such a situation, but some immediately smell a rat and arrange for church workers to visit and check. Some lost believers are found back, and even a life is saved from death.
There are quite some elderly people living alone in China who are very lonely in their later years, with their children rarely visiting them. When falling ill, those lonely elderly even cannot get timely treatments because there is no one around.
A Christian woman, who had lived alone for decades, got sick once and was unable to go to the hospital for treatment due to her inconvenient legs. So she spent several days in bed, barely eating. The believers in her church noted that this elderly believer had not recently attended church, so they visited her home, where they discovered the dying elderly. The church co-workers sent her to the hospital on time, and the doctor said that if it had been one day later, her life would not have been saved. After some treatment, the Christian woman was healed. Afterward, her family contacted the church staff to express their gratitude. They had previously been rather indifferent to their beliefs; however, the incident prompted them to become more involved in attending services.
Some believers refuse to attend church because of their weakness in faith. Visitation is helpful to get them back. For example, there was a Christian woman who experienced psychological issues as a result of work and romantic difficulties, making her unwilling to attend church. When her church co-workers became aware of her prolonged absence from the church, they visited her. The believer eventually returned to the church under the loving care of the church staff. She also admitted that she was really weak at the time, full of despair about life. Fortunately, co-workers from her church came to visit and comfort her in time.
In addition, there was a Christian woman who did not come to church for a while owing to struggling in church conflicts. After some church co-workers found out, they immediately went to see her and helped her solve her situation. As her heart was reopened, she returned to the church and continued to serve. She testified that if she had not received timely visits and love from the church, she would have left.
Visitation is an essential ministry in the church, and it can at times save both physical and spiritual lives. Therefore, if we observe that the believers around us have suddenly vanished from our sight, we should visit them and show our concern.
- Translated by Poppy Chan
