Outdoor Church

Luke is a pastor living in China. He became a believer when he was a young man and was immediately filled with the desire to serve the Lord as a church planter. Luke worked hard to cultivate churches with steadfast believers intent on serving God through the storms of persecution. His congregations grew quickly and Luke found himself shepherding multiple flocks. He now oversees several house churches but two of them recently shut down when the police showed up unexpectedly and raided them in the middle of a service. They took everything he owned by force and the believers ran away to avoid being arrested. Luke managed to escape as well but was left with a more significant problem of no longer having a place for his congregation to gather. The young pastor was undeterred. He knew the Lord was in control and he was not disheartened by this turn of events. On the contrary, Luke and the members of his congregation knew this went hand in hand with their faith and they were excited to see what the Lord would do next. They began to meet each week in a public park outside of the city. It took longer to get to their destination, but that didn’t prevent a single person from attending. Everyone was grateful to have a place to join and worship. The police could not find them, even though they were not hiding, and Luke knew it is through their prayers and unwavering faith that they were protected in this season of his ministry. Luke now travels between three different parks to lead three church services, but he remains steadfast to his calling and joyful that so many continue to come out to hear the Word of God. The outdoor services are thriving and each Sunday more people accept Christ. The threat of the authorities shutting them down is genuine, but it is yet to stop any of these men and women from coming together for praise and worship.

In Acts 2:42 – 44, we read: They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all the believers were together and had all things in common.

Believers in China hold fast to the teachings in the Bible and to each other. They come together wherever and whenever possible devoting themselves to teaching fellowship and prayer knowing that whenever two or more come together the Lord is in their midst.