All materials can be freely reproduced with acknowledgement. Where the growth of the church in China is concerned, no two areas offer a sharper contrast than Zhejiang province on the east coast and the central northern province of Shaanxi. The former is flourishing in terms of numbers of believers and provision for them in terms of churches, church workers, financial and official support. Contrast this to Shaanxi province, where believers are much fewer in number and providing for even this smaller number of believers is difficult at the best of times.
Churches are few, poor, and face problems from within and without.
In an effort to improve this situation, the CCC's Rural Church Work Commission initiated a training course for church workers in southern Shaanxi last year. Pastors Shi Chenghui and Gao Jianguo from Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, were invited to participate in the final two weeks of the program, and Rev. Shi reflects on this experience in the March edition of Tian Feng, the magazine of the Chinese church. The training course ran from July to September and was open to workers from the three southern Shaanxi counties of Hanzhong, Ankang and Shangluo. Around 50 church workers attended, along with 10 auditors, ages ranging from 20 to 60 years old and the average age being 43. Most of the participants had only previously completed Junior Middle School education.