Today is Thanksgiving, November 23, 2023. Since August 19, 2022, three brothers from the Covenant Home Church, Li Jie, Han Xiaodong, and Wang Qiang, have been detained in the Yaodu District Detention Center on suspicion of “fraud.” As of today, it has been 1 year and 4 months. We are grateful for everyone’s prayers for the Covenant Home Church over the past year and for the feeding of the five loaves and two fish to the families of the three brothers. Over this year, help from relatives across China, from north to south, has helped the church regain joy and hope from a state of isolation and tearful mourning. As the Apostles’ Creed says, “I believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of saints.”
The Covenant Home Church is a religious activity that takes place in our own homes, primarily among friends and relatives, involving spontaneous participation in prayer, reading the Bible, and voluntary offerings. The whole world knows that Christians, following the teachings of the Bible, willingly offer one-tenth to the church, expressing gratitude to God and the most simple emotional response of Christians to God. Christians believe that offering is both the privilege and duty of the citizens of heaven, a blessed path, and remembered by God. Accusing the three brothers of “fraud” for the voluntary offerings of believers is not the truth.
The wives have received apples, oranges, kiwifruits, pomegranates, mangoes, walnuts, biscuits, vermicelli, flour, oil, sweet potatoes, rice, sausages, free-range eggs, milk powder, toys, clothes, shoes, books, and more from many people they have never met. Li Jie (1988), Xiaodong (1989), and Wang Qiang (1993), these three young brothers and their families are remembered and prayed for by relatives across the country. The Bible says, “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
Li Jie’s wife shared: Over the past year, God has taught me humility and reliance, and He has taught me to love. Love has made me brave and willing to suffer for others. I have learned to be patient because God knows my weakness and still bears with me. Only suffering can push me to a point where I have to make a choice between belief and disbelief. Persecution has prevented me from being complacent in the church, revealing whether what I have built is flimsy like straw or a solid fortress. Suffering does not save me, persecution does not sanctify me, and hardship does not make me any holier in the sight of God. Suffering is not a merit to claim rewards before God. My salvation is by grace and through faith. My holiness comes from the precious blood of Christ, not from my actions. For I have seen the Lord’s help in hardship, His strength in my weakness, His peace and joy in my distress. I thought we could not bear this persecution, but now I see that those nurtured by the Lord are personally cared for and shepherded by Him, never abandoned. Jehovah is to be praised.
Over this year, my children, the elderly, and I have all contracted COVID-19, and my eldest son also had H1N1, but we were healed under God’s care. Despite taking fever and anti-inflammatory medicines, which had no effect, and my son vomiting upon taking the medicine, unable to eat and only able to drink water and sleep, he recovered on his own in about a week. Even though Li Jie is not with us, our entire family, young and old, are healthy and joyful. The eyes of Jehovah watch over the righteous, and His ears hear their cries. I thank the Heavenly Father for allowing me to grow through persecution. I am particularly grateful to my uncle, who has not yet believed in the Lord, but has accompanied me through numerous interrogations. I hope he will soon come to know Jesus Christ as his Savior.
Han Xiaodong’s wife said: I thank everyone who has helped us. Your love, prayers, visits, and assistance have supported me through these difficult times. I cannot bear to look back on the days when Xiaodong was first taken. I miss my husband terribly. When Xiaodong was arrested, I was not by his side, unable to give a last hug, say goodbye, or speak a word. I was in agony, crying daily, lost in thoughts and regrets, forgetting everything. Not just me, but the children too spent their days lying in bed, either sleeping or crying, eating cold bread from the fridge when hungry, our life in disarray. Moreover, due to the pandemic lockdown, within a short month, my three children and I fell ill one after another. Regret and the despair of not seeing a return date haunted my heart.
I am grateful that during these hardest days, brothers and sisters did not shame my husband for being ‘imprisoned’, nor did they distance themselves from us in our misfortune. Instead, they constantly visited my home, comforted me, and prayed for me. When I couldn’t cook, they prepared meals for me, helped clean my house, took care of my children, and stayed with me during the fearful nights…
I am thankful for the concern of many brothers and sisters I do not know and for their daily intercession for us in the Kingdom. Your love and prayers have greatly comforted and strengthened our hearts. It is your prayers that have lifted us each day. “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” What are we that we should receive such immense and incomparable love from our family in the Lord?
I also thank Xiaodong’s friends and relatives for understanding that his imprisonment is for the sake of the Gospel, for suffering for righteousness. Thank you for loving and accompanying us even as we go through such trials.
This experience over the past year has turned my faith from the God of Xiaodong to my God. Thanks to God’s grace and everyone’s intercession, I have started to cherish the Bible, yearn for prayer, and my temper, state, and life have unknowingly changed: the children I used to see as troublesome have become lovely. They would join me in worship even when I’m busy, remind me to read the Bible to them before sleep, and quietly tidy up the living room when I’m occupied. Our previously chaotic and painful life has become joyful and orderly. Although I don’t know when Xiaodong will return, I am no longer sad and can live each day with joy and peace. As the Scripture says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”
Wang Qiang’s wife said: This year has been incredibly difficult, filled with countless tears, crying out to God, questioning why all this has happened. But grace is greater than suffering. I used to hear of You, but now I have seen You with my own eyes!
During this year, my son with Wang Qiang, Wang Jiayi (nicknamed: Dengdeng), was peacefully born during the prayers at the Da Gong Church. Grandparents, uncles, and aunts from all over the country have shown concern and sent greetings, eagerly anticipating the baby’s birth. Although it was a perilous time, I was not afraid because of the Lord’s love surrounding us. Dengdeng is now 10 months old, very strong, eats well, smiles at everyone, is very sweet, can call out ‘mommy’, and is starting to learn to walk. My daughter Mimi is four years old now; she can take care of her brother at home, wipe his nose, feed him, and is a great little helper to me.
During this year, I am thankful for the companionship and care of my family. It is your support that has allowed me to have no worries, comforting and encouraging me when I am troubled, providing me with the greatest support and strength. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship is no longer a problem for us. Instead, we are harmonious, understanding each other, and the family is more peaceful than even when Wang Qiang was here. All of this is God’s grace.
I am grateful for every gift sent by little angels, always bringing me many surprises, reminding me that I am not fighting alone. There are many members of the body accompanying me, praying for me and our family. It is the numerous prayers, companionships, and remembrances that have carried us through. We have truly tasted the Lord’s grace, which is not something I deserve, but God’s freely given grace!
Over this year, the brothers and sisters of our church have experienced arrests, false accusations, interrogations, being coerced to accuse their own brethren, being forced to lose their jobs, and other series of ordeals. I am thankful for the Da Gong Church and the China 5 P.M. Prayer continuously interceding for the Covenant Home Church, ensuring that this church is not alone, not a forsaken orphan in God’s eyes, but a tested and refined soldier of God. God has turned our mourning into dancing, taken off our sackcloth, and clothed us with joy.
LinFen Covenant Home Church
2023.11.23
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