Masks Help Bridge Seminary and China
Jing Yuan
In the midst of a global crisis, Chinese Christians sent a timely gift from across the world to Calvin Theological Seminary.
Resonate Compassion Ministry, a house church ministry in China, sent boxes containing surgical masks to the seminary and to multiple Christian Reformed churches in the Grand Rapids, Mich., area.
Calvin Seminary received over 1,000 masks and has made them available to members of its community to help limit the spread of COVID-19.
Resonate Compassion Ministry is led by a small group of Chinese house church leaders, among them Zhi Gang (John) Chen, who coordinated and channeled the distribution of the masks here in the United States.
Chen is a scholar and author who earned his master of divinity degree from Calvin Seminary in 2015. He was called by Woodlawn CRC in Grand Rapids to serve at the Christian Leaders Institute working as a pastor, teacher, and translator. Calvin Seminary students Yixing Pan, Weizhen Chen, Xiaopeng Ren, and Yanyan Xing all helped in this effort with the masks.
“The Chinese Christian church has been for many years and in many ways upheld by [our] American brothers and sisters,” said a letter accompanying the gift, written in both English and Chinese and signed by Resonate Compassion Ministry. “Please allow us to share a small gift of love in the Lord with you in such a disturbing time.”
In late April, Pan e-mailed Jeff Sajdak, dean of students at the seminary, to share the Resonate Compassion Ministry letter and say he had received the boxes of masks.
Then, with the help of some other students, he arranged to have the boxes delivered to the seminary and the designated churches in Grand Rapids.
The following day, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order extending Michigan’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” directive and requiring that all residents wear face coverings in public.
“We're grateful for the love of our sisters and brothers in China, and for this caring gift,” Sajdak said. “The love of Christ overflows in this gift.”
“Although the virus is a huge threat to everyone,” Pan said, “By God's grace and by the fellowship [of] our Lord, we can improve our community in this hardship.”
