(ABP) — A vibrant congregation founded by Lottie Moon, the famous missionary to China, has moved out of the crumbling temple it used as a meeting place, thanks to a church located thousands of miles away.
The partnership with Mountain Brook Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., lets congregants of Meng En Christian Church have room to stretch their legs — and invite their friends. The original Pingdu building was made to hold 150 people, but services often included more than 500 people. The building was assigned by the government after Christians resumed public worship in 1987, and hundreds crowded into nearby alleys during services at the decrepit temple.
Now, the new building for Meng En Christian Church officially seats 1,500, though nearly 2,500 people crowded into dedication services May 3. A delegation from Mountain Brook attended the services, making them meaningful for both congregations.
Catherine Allen, a Mountain Brook deacon who documented the historic Pingdu story in her book The New Lottie Moon Story, was one of the visitors. Allen and her husband, Lee, have visited Pingdu regularly since 1987. They now lead teams from Mountain Brook to visit the Chinese sister church, which sits in the interior Shandong Province.
“On each visit, we have found the Lottie Moon legacy alive and fruitful,” Catherine Allen said. “Church life today is distinctly Chinese, but the mission heritage is appreciated. The Christians and local officials have been happy to see us. It is touching to exchange hugs with elderly Christians who remember American friends from long ago, and it is inspiring to see young families and many children.”
The first project the Alabama church did with the Pingdu Christians was to provide a motorcycle for the church's pastors in 1997. In a city where space is a luxury, motorcycles provided an efficient and effective mode of transport for pastors on their daily calls. After the initial contact, a delegation from Pingdu and from the Qingdao Christian Council accepted Mountain Brook's invitation to visit the United States in 2000. From that meeting, building plans for a new Pingdu church began in earnest.
“We were enlarging our own building in Birmingham, and we felt we could help our brothers and sisters in Pingdu to enlarge their situation too,” Jim Moebes, who has pastored the congregation for 35 years, said.
With $150,000 in funding from Mountain Brook, the Chinese Christians negotiated with the Pingdu government for an optimal building site. The Chinese raised money by donating wedding jewelry and other valuables, and neighboring Christians helped. In the states, churches from California, Texas and Georgia heard about the project and directed offerings to a special fund held by Mountain Brook.
When it came to the partnership, they said, members of Mountain Brook felt like they had a duty to the mission Moon started in the late 1880s. Moon was one of the first women of any Christian group to set up a mission station inland, away from protections available in port cities. Pingdu was a four-day journey by mule from her regular station in the coastal town, which is known today as Penglai. Moon was the only foreigner in the region, and she gained acceptance by adopting the Chinese lifestyle in minute detail.
“We picked up work that Lottie Moon left,” Alvin Pelton, an associate pastor at Mountain Brook, said.
Used to spending much of its budget on missions, the Birmingham church directs most of its giving to personal development projects and to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Representatives of the CBF in China, Ron and Ina Winstead, served as Mountain Brook's liaisons with the Chinese Christian leaders, accompanying Mountain Brook groups on each visit to Pingdu. Lynn Yarbrough, an Amity Foundation teacher who represents Virginia Baptists in China, has also assisted with interpretation on Pingu trips.
Moebes said the help from CBF staff members led to even more excitement for Christians in China. The design and scope of the new building were created entirely by the Chinese congregation, he said, and it was bigger and more ambitions than their American counterparts had expected. A large historical marker erected in the small park on the church property tells about the cooperation of the government, the contribution of more than 1 million renimbi (Chinese currency) by Mountain Brook, and the help of the Qingdao Christian Council. The American contribution was a little less than one-half of the total cost.
Despite the grandeur of the new building, Pingdu congregants plan to keep their old building in the heart of the city, as it will come in handy for a central meeting place and auxiliary site for church events. Covering a rural area and city of 1.3 million people, participants in Pingu's protestant church often meet in small buildings or homes with leadership of laypersons until one of the pastors or evangelists is able to visit via motorcycle. On holidays and for special preaching services, all come together in the city.
Senior pastor for Pingdu Church, Wang Xia, is a fourth-generation believer whose ancestors were among the earliest Christians in Pingdu. She became senior pastor in 1994, and along with her pastoral associates Sun Mei and Zhang Xi Hua, Wang leads eight congregations at more than two dozen meeting points across a 30-mile radius.