05-03-2021 Newsletter 牧師家書

Dear Friends at 5C:

The horrific scenes of burning dead bodies in Indian crematoriums spread all over social media. Now India becomes the new epic center of the COVID-19 outbreak, with the infection rate reaching new records every day. Not long ago India just declared a victory over the virus, but the reality teaches us a good lesson: this pandemic is not over yet. For the US, as the vaccination steadily goes up, the infection continues to move lower. However, experts warn that our country may never reach herd immunity since there are as high as 30% of people refusing to take vaccines in some parts of the country. For this reason, we may not be able to see the “zero” in infection and death rate of COVID-19 anytime soon. Therefore, we encourage our members to be vigilant by still keeping public health practices in place. Please make an appointment to receive vaccines if you haven’t done so. I believe that receiving COVID-19 vaccines not only protects yourself and your loved ones but also is doing good for society.

The deacon board held the monthly meeting on Sunday, to fine-tune the church reopening plan on June 13. Praise the Lord for all our deacons who work diligently to move church ministry forward in this adverse condition. It is a great joy to work with them and witness this harmony among team members. On Sunday, May 9, on behalf of the deacon board, Raymond Wu and Bianca Lin will communicate this plan with our church members. Please make yourself available this Sunday to join our worship at 11:00am, so you will be well informed of what we plan to do, and they are also willing to answer your questions. Currently, the Student Union is still under renovation without a fixed date to complete. Please keep this in your prayers. Hopefully, this remodeling project is finished on time. Otherwise, we have to adjust our reopening plan accordingly.

Ministry Update:

  1. Anderson Lin will lead church prayer meeting (in Chinese) at 7:30pm this Thursday 5/6
  2. Raymond Wu will lead English prayer meeting at 7:30pm this Thursday 5/6
  3. Pastor Chen’s virtual office hours is scheduled from 10:00am-12:00pm Friday 5/7
  4. Chinese Sunday school will have Mother’s Day sharing (Anderson) and English Sunday school (Bianca)
  5. The deacon board will communicate church reopening plan on Sunday, May 9
  6. Our church decides to reopen in-person service on Sunday June 13
  7. Our church prepares to launch a disciple-training program in the summer

Prayer Requests:

  1. Pray for the Coronavirus outbreak in India and around the world
  2. Pray for physical and spiritual well-being of our church members
  3. Pray for the church reopening on Sunday, June 13
  4. Pray for small group ministry in our church
  5. Pray for the launch of disciple training program in the summer
  6. Pray for Lydia Anderson’s resurgent brain tumor
  7. Pray for Annie’s sister and Anderson’s brother for Parkinson’s disease

Look forward to seeing you virtually on Sunday.
Blessings!
Jinchang

 

親愛的中岸教會朋友們:

在社交媒體上,隨處可見印度火葬場燃燒屍體的恐怖場面。目前印度疫情失控,成為新冠病毒最新爆發中心,感染率每天都破世界記錄。其實,就在不久前,印度剛剛宣布戰勝該病毒,但現實為我們提供了一個很好的教訓:疫情尚未結束。對於美國來說,隨著疫苗接種量的穩步上升,感染率持續下降。但是,專家也警告,由於某些地區有高達 30%的人拒絕接種新冠疫苗,因此美國可能永遠不會實現群體免疫。所以,近期內我們或無法看到新冠病毒的感染和死亡率歸“零” 的狀態。因此,鼓勵大家繼續保持警惕,堅持公共衛生的好習慣。如果您尚未接種疫苗,請盡快預約。接種新冠疫苗不僅可以保護自己和親人,而且是對社會作出貢獻。

執事會在上週日舉行了每月例會,以進一步醞釀 6 月 13 日的教會重返計劃。感謝主,所有的執事們在這種不利條件下,依然勤奮地推動教會事工。與他們一起工作並見證團隊成員之間的和諧是一件令人愉快的事。本週日,胡其健弟兄和張西齡姊妹將代表執事會將這一計劃與大家進行溝通。請於週日上午 11:00 參加教會的敬拜,以便您對我們後續的計劃有充分的了解,屆時他們也將回答您的問題。目前,學生中心仍在裝修中,具體完工時期尚未確定。請祈禱該工程順利完工。希望裝修能按時完成,否則,我們將不得不相應地調整重返教堂的計劃。

事工更新:
1. 林恩深弟兄將帶領本週四 5 月 6 日晚間 7 點半的中文禱告會
2. 胡其健弟兄將帶領本週四 5 月 6 日晚間 7 點半的英文禱告會
3. 陳牧師本週辦公時間為週五上午 10 點至 12 點
4. 本週中文主日學將有母親節分享,由林恩深弟兄帶領,英文主日學由張西齡姐妹帶領
5. 執事會將於 5 月 9 日週日與會眾夠溝通重返教堂的事項
6. 教會計畫於 6 月 13 日重返教堂
7. 教會計劃於夏天開展門徒訓練計劃,歡迎所有教會成員參加

禱告事項
1. 為印度及世界各地的新冠肺炎的爆發
2. 為我們教會所有成員的身體及屬靈健康
3. 為 6 月 13 日的重返教堂
4. 為教會各個小組事工
5. 為教會開展的門徒訓練計劃禱告
6. 為馮慶芳姐妹復發性腦瘤及後續的治療祈禱
7. 為裴師母姐姐和林恩深弟兄的哥哥祈禱,他們正在遭受帕金森氏綜合症的困擾

期待週日線上見
主僕 陳金昌

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