Posted on 02/05/2020 8:16:07 AM PST by SeekAndFind
A Chinese pastor living Wuhan — the epicenter of the deadly coronavirus outbreak — has penned a powerful letter urging the international faith community to pray as the number of confirmed cases rises above 20,000 in the country.
The Christian leader, identified as "A Wuhan Pastor" by China Source, penned a lengthy letter in which he revealed that fellow pastors from around the world have been reaching out, asking how they can support him.
“It is readily apparent that we are facing a test of our faith,” the pastor wrote. “The situation is so critical, yet [we are] trusting in the Lord’s promises, that his thoughts toward us are of peace, and not evil (Jeremiah. 29:11), and that he allows for a time of testing, not to destroy us, but to establish us.”
“Therefore, Christians are not only to suffer with the people of this city, but we have a responsibility to pray for those in this city who are fearful, and to bring to them the peace of Christ.”
The pastor emphasized that while Christ has “given us His peace,” that “peace is not to remove us from disaster and death, but rather to have peace in the midst of disaster and death, because Christ has already overcome these things.”
“[When] disaster strikes us, it is but a form of God’s love,” he contended. “Spoken for today, Wuhan’s pestilence cannot separate us from the love of Christ; this love is in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The pastor urged the international community to “pray for God’s mercy upon this city, and bring peace upon this city through our prayers and testimony.”
“I believe this is the command of God calling those of us living in Wuhan,” he said. “We are to seek peace for this city, seek peace for those who are afflicted with this illness, seek peace for the medical personnel struggling on the front lines, seek peace for every government official at every level, seek peace for all the people of Wuhan!”
The pastor concluded his letter by urging readers to “turn their eyes upon Jesus,” adding that “only through the hope of the Lord’s mercy will this city be saved.”
The pastor’s letter comes as the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus rose above 20,000 in China, prompting Chinese authorities to quarantine several major cities.
The virus originated in Wuhan, a city of 11 million in Hubei province, and can lead to respiratory illnesses, deadly in some cases. On Monday, Hong Kong reported its first death from the virus, which has killed at least 425, all but two of them in mainland China.
The United States recently recorded its 11th case of the virus. Last week, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency.
Persecution watchdog International Christian Concern notes that in this time of desperation and fear, China’s Christian community has stepped up to provide hope and refuge to those suffering.
A video shared by Father Francis Liu from the Chinese Christian Fellowship of Righteousness shows that encouraging sermons are being broadcast to their communities through speakers placed on balconies. According to ICC, a Christian rode his bike to a pharmacy where people gathered and played a sermon through a portable speaker.
Another video circulated on social media shows Christians distributing face masks and Gospel pamphlets to passersby on the streets as a sermon plays in the background.
Additionally, Christians from other provinces have offered their homes to host people fleeing from Hubei province who face housing discrimination.
Human Rights Watch notes that there have been numerous reports of hotels outside of Hubei province refusing to admit travelers with Wuhan or Hubei identification cards, of villages setting up roadblocks blocking cars with Hubei license plates from entering, and of people from Hubei being harassed on social media.
Brother Jia Xuewei and sister Shu Qiong, from the heavily persecuted Early Rain Covenant Church in Sichuan, are among a number of Christians who opened up their homes to escapees and offered to cover room and board until Hubei lifts its quarantine.
Speaking to Fox News, Doug Perez, an American who resides in Wuhan, described the situation as a "scary experience," like "something out of a sci-fi movie." He said that beyond the virus, he worries about the Chinese government's reaction.
"The government here has taken a very, very strict, very strict and very proactive response ... to this coronavirus," Perez said. "It wouldn't surprise me if there are some problems in the future, especially, you know, food shortages or civil unrest."
Join us in praying for all those affected by this crisis, especially for our brothers and sisters in and around Wuhan.
Brothers and sisters, peace be upon you:
During these past days the Wuhan pneumonia [virus] has been at the center of my thoughts and life. [I am] always watching the latest news, and always thinking about how our family and the church should face this.
As for family, I have gathered masks and foodstuffs and have ventured out of doors as little as possible. When venturing out in public I have worn a mask, but as for the rest, I have placed it in the Lord’s hands.
As for the church, the safety of the congregation, a faithful witness, the possibility that members could contract the illness, have all become a great area of struggle. It is readily apparent that we are facing a test of our faith.
The situation is so critical, yet [we are] trusting in the Lord’s promises, that his thoughts toward us are of peace, and not evil (Jeremiah. 29:11), and that he allows for a time of testing, not to destroy us, but to establish us. Therefore, Christians are not only to suffer with the people of this city, but we have a responsibility to pray for those in this city who are fearful, and to bring to them the peace of Christ.
First, we are to seek the peace of Christ to reign in their hearts (Hebrews 3:15). Christ has already given us his peace, but his peace is not to remove us from disaster and death, but rather to have peace in the midst of disaster and death, because Christ has already overcome these things (John 14:27, 16:33). Otherwise we have not believed in the gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15), and, with the world, would be terrified of pestilence, and lose hope in the face of death.
Why do only Christians have this peace? Because of sin, humans deserve the trials and tribulations that come upon them, Jehovah says: the wicked have no peace (Isaiah 48:22). We were all sinners, but Christ, because of faith, took our penalty and gave us his peace. Therefore Paul says, who can bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. (Romans 8:33). Christians may with the world face the same tribulations, but such tribulations are no longer punishment, but a new opportunity to grow nearer to the Almighty, to purify our souls, and an opportunity to proclaim the gospel.
In other words, when disaster strikes us, it is but a form of God’s love. And, as Paul firmly believed, “who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger or sword? . . . in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loves us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Roman. 8:35-39).
Spoken for today, Wuhan’s pestilence cannot separate us from the love of Christ; this love is in our Lord Jesus Christ. These words are so comforting for us, we have already become one body with Christ. We have a part in his sufferings, and we have a part in his glory, all of Christ’s is ours, and our all is Christ’s. Therefore, Christ is with us as we face the pestilence in this city; the pestilence cannot harm us. If we die in the pestilence, it is an opportunity to witness to Christ, and even more to enter into his glory.
Thus, my brothers and sisters, I encourage you to be strong in Christ’s love. If we more deeply experience death in this pestilence, understanding the gospel, we may more deeply experience Christ’s love, and grow ever nearer to God. Our Lord Jesus through faith experienced an incomparable suffering of death, yet God raised him from the dead, and sat him at his right hand. (Acts 2:32-36)
If in reading these truths you still have no peace, I encourage you to diligently read the above cited scripture and call on the Lord to give you insight until the peace of Christ reigns in your heart. You must know, that this is not just an observable disaster, but even more it is a spiritual struggle. You should first wage a battle for your heart, and secondarily battle for the soul of this city.
We earnestly hope that you would know that not a sparrow falls without the will of the Father (Matthew 10:29). With so many souls facing pestilence, can it be outside God’s will? All that we are experiencing, is it not like Abraham facing Sodom, and Jonah facing Nineveh?
If God, because of a righteous man withheld judgment on Sodom, or because of 120,000 who didn’t know their left hand from their right, withheld destruction, what of the city of Wuhan in which we live? We are clearly the righteous in this city, far more than a single righteous person there are thousands and thousands of us. Yet, may we like Lot be grieved over all those in this city (1 Peter 2:7), and like Abraham who earnestly prayed for Sodom (Genesis 18:23-33). You see, Jonah with difficulty proclaimed the gospel to Nineveh, and Nineveh repented and was saved. We are this city’s Abraham and Jonah. We must pray for God’s mercy upon this city, and bring peace upon this city through our prayers and testimony.
I believe this is the command of God calling those of us living in Wuhan. We are to seek peace for this city, seek peace for those who are afflicted with this illness, seek peace for the medical personnel struggling on the front lines, seek peace for every government official at every level, seek peace for all the people of Wuhan! And we can through online networks guide and comfort our friends and loved ones with the gospel, reminding them that our lives are not in our own hands, and to entrust their lives to God who is faithful and true.
The past few days I have received many inquiries from foreign pastors. They and the whole church are concerned for this city, even more for us; and confronting this epidemic, seek to serve the city with us.
Thus, I especially ask them to turn their eyes upon Jesus. And do not be concerned with my welfare, nor be agitated or fearful, but pray in the name of Jesus. Good hearted people are through their actions serving this city, especially the medical personnel who are risking their own lives. If they can take on such worldly responsibilities, how can we not more readily take on spiritual responsibilities!
If you do not feel a responsibility to pray, ask the Lord for a loving soul, an earnestly prayerful heart; if you are not crying, ask the Lord for tears. Because we surely know that only through the hope of the Lord’s mercy will this city be saved.
A Wuhan Pastor
January 23, 2020
This letter was passed on to us for distribution by a friend of ChinaSource. Join us in praying for all those affected by this crisis, especially for our brothers and sisters in and around Wuhan.
Editor's note: A change in title and formatting was made to this article on January 30, 2020.
If you can’t find a medical solution for the virus, try prayer.
What a unique idea.
If it works, try thanksgiving.
Xi Xinping should not have ordered his image to replace all images of Christ in the churches.
The World, the flesh, and the devil. ..Harry Belafonte movie.
This virus is ripe. ....
.
There was an error in his letter but I’ll pass it over due to his desperation. The error is this statement:
“If God, because of a righteous man withheld judgment on Sodom, or because of 120,000 who didn’t know their left hand from their right, withheld destruction, what of the city of Wuhan in which we live?”
I was NOT Sodom ( which God DID destroy ), but the city of Ninevah. But let’s overlook this slight mistake.
God bless the Pastor and Prayers up.
I re-read the letter again and I think I might have misread it.
It reads (EMPHASIS MINE ):
“If God, because of a righteous man withheld judgment on Sodom, OR because of 120,000 who didn’t know their left hand from their right”
OK, God TEMPORARILY withheld judgment from Sodom, the OR in his letter tells me that he was referring to Ninevah but did not name the city explicitly.
Try to imagine what people were thinking back in the 1400s as the black plague was taking over the world , and nobody had any idea of disease and the disease vectors and causes
The dark ages
Yes, Abraham first plead on behalf of Sodom, asking the Lord repeatedly if he would spare Sodom if he found 50, then 45, the 40 and so on all the way to “What if only ten can be found there?”. Then we read the story of the destruction of Sodom, but that destruction only came after Lot vacated the city and he was told “I will not overthrow the town you speak of. But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.”
“Chinese pastor in Wuhan issues urgent call to prayer as Coronavirus cases rise above 20,000”
Did their word processor run out of zeros?
RE: Did their word processor run out of zeros?
You don’t believe the official figures reported?
Pray and stop killing babies.
1.386 BILLION people in China and 20,000 have died. That is less than 0.00001443001% of the population. It's NOT such a gargantuan death toll after all.
The virus started in China because the Chinese government allows the filth of China to sicken people.
The Bubonic Plague started in China as well...due to their unsanitary conditions.
We visited China some years ago and I was APPALLED at the filth...and we were tourists.
It was hard for me to fathom how the middle class (if there is one) or poor class live.
I was a history minor in college and I took a history course on 14th century Europe. It was appalling.
People had NO idea what was happening and confused, angry, sick people did all the worst things that they might do.
Google
October 1347
The Black Death was a devastating global epidemic of bubonic plague that struck Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s. The plague arrived in Europe in October 1347, when 12 ships from the Black Sea docked at the Sicilian port of Messina.
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