With movement restrictions put in place due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, Christians in China are reading the Bible more.
Authorities have been banning collective gatherings and imposing extended holidays for schools and companies. Travel has been restricted, with some cities allowing only one or two household members to leave home to buy daily essentials. Sometimes they are only allowed out once in five days.
In a village known as Longchi in Sichuan province, there’s a church located in the Ermei Mountains. The church used to hold Bible meetings three times a week for more than 400 believers, but with church meetings suspended these believers are spending more time than ever before doing their own Bible reading.
‘I’m old and it would not be long before I make my final journey, but I haven’t even read much of the Bible!’ confessed one 80-year-old man whose family name is Meng. ‘During this time of isolation, I read the Bible without stopping for ten days and I could not stop reading about God’s forgiveness and love for me. Now I want to spend the rest of my life reading the Bible!’
One believer said: ‘While I was reading the Book of Judges, I broke down in tears as I felt a strong conviction to repent to God of my sins.’ Another said: ‘We are often too busy to spend time with God prior to this crisis. Now we are taking this time to do more self-reflection and praying to God.’
