Love when the plague spreads

"WE CARE" caring and caring action

Interview/Liao Meihui

▲The "WE CARE" logo designed by Hong Kong colleagues.

Chinese Christians unite to fight the epidemic

On March 1, 2020, the first death case of the COVID-19 infection in the United States was reported in a nursing home in Seattle. The COVID-19 epidemic has become more and more severe, haunting mankind like a nightmare. As of early July as of the publication of this article, the number of people infected by the epidemic worldwide has exceeded 10 million, with more than 530,000 deaths. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo described at a press conference that the spread of the epidemic in New York was like a "stalling bullet train" with no signs of slowing down.

Pastor Lu Zunen, who lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, established the "WE CARE Project" (hereinafter referred to as "WE CARE") in the WeChat group. Soon thereafter, Christians from all over the country responded, and 16 volunteer teams were established across the United States. More than 80 volunteers worked day and night, racing against time, and served diligently for 52 days. They successfully raised 400,000 medical masks and supported more than 35 companies in the United States. Medical institutions.

Lu Zunen recalled that the situation was urgent. Not long after he returned to the East Coast from Seattle, the epidemic situation was snowballing day by day, and there was a shortage of masks in hospitals across the United States. It happened that in February, several Christian friends in Chicago sent masks from the United States to help Wuhan. They reminded him that it was time to "counter-donate," so he asked Chinese Christians to help find a suitable channel for ordering masks. Through WeChat groups and the connections established on weekdays, we connect volunteers from all over the United States who may or may not know each other, and "WE CARE" officially presses the launch button.

The global fundraising was launched on March 18 and is divided into three phases, with a total fundraising target of approximately US$300,000. The first phase successfully raised US$110,000 and purchased 200,000 CE-certified and FDA-registered disposable medical masks. Donations have been completed to medical institutions in Greater New York, Seattle, San Jose, Michigan, Philadelphia, and Maryland. The second phase of fundraising reached US$130,000 and 200,000 ASTM surgical masks were purchased. It has completed supporting medical institutions in New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Philadelphia, Seattle, San Jose, Boston, Florida and North Carolina.

Lu Zunen explained that by mid-June, the first and second phases of fundraising had reached the target of 100%. The masks sent are mainly targeted at hospitals, and the quantity is in the order of 10,000, which is a large quantity of whole boxes. As the epidemic slows down, the third phase of the "Care for Medical Care Action" is launched. He invites Chinese American Christians to take practical actions to care for the community and the medical staff around them, and give them personal greetings. You are welcome to apply for free medical masks from "WE CARE" .

▲Emergency paramedic Jiang Daoen (right in the picture) who drives an ambulance thanks "WE CARE" for donating 10,000 masks, which were distributed to more than 800 colleagues in the hospital.

In the third phase, in addition to continuing to purchase and donate masks, we will also continue to raise funds, with a target of approximately US$50,000. One hundred thousand ASTM medical surgical masks have been purchased, 30,000 of which will support nursing homes and 70,000 masks to support 1,400 medical staff.

Huang Mingfa, founder of Bethel Renewal Center, one of the "WE CARE" assisting organizations, said that the center is a non-profit charity organization that complies with the US IRS and can issue donation receipts. When Lu Zunen contacted him, he said that he must order masks immediately without further delay, but the funds had not yet been collected, so he asked BRC to advance the deposit. At that time, he asked Lu Zunen, if there was insufficient fundraising, where would the money come from? Lu Zunen replied: "Then sell the house!"

In order to quickly raise funds, in addition to checks, credit cards, cash, Apple Pay, Zelle, PayPal, WeChat payment... any imaginable payment method, "WE CARE" accepts even Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, Hong Kong dollars, and RMB Collect them all. Participating churches and more than 600 donors came from 21 states in the United States, as well as donations from China, Canada and Australia.

The Daokou Church in Wuhan, Hubei, China is at the center of the epidemic. I heard that Chinese Christians in the United States are united in fighting the epidemic and supporting American medical staff. They also actively responded and participated, hoping to witness to the American society that China and the United States can be friendly and loving each other in Christ.

Mathew Chiang, a second-generation Chinese who lives in central New South Wales, is an emergency medical worker who drives an ambulance. "My job is like a 'Mobile ICU' (Mobile ICU), racing against time in the ambulance." In mid-April, when the epidemic in New Jersey was at its peak, Jiang Daoen got the introduction through Huang Mingfa of BRC. The 10,000 masks donated by "WE CARE" were given to more than 800 colleagues in the hospital, and all colleagues were sincerely grateful.

▲On April 13, the first batch of 4,000 masks from "WE CARE" was delivered to the Chinatown Dialysis Center in New York. The medical staff smiled with gratitude and joy.

Overcome technical difficulties with prayer

Huang Mingfa, whose mission is cross-cultural missions, said that at this historic moment of the COVID-19 epidemic, he is honored to work with a group of young people who are willing to devote themselves to the kingdom of God and the community. Together, they can create sparks and experience God’s deeds. Testify that “no one can shut the door God opens.” "Being able to support American medical staff as soon as possible, whether they are white, African-American, Chinese, Hispanic or Jewish, they are all served by 'WE CARE'. This action of loving medical care regardless of ethnicity is so meaningful!"

Because Lu Zunen has been serving campus students for a long time, the core team of "WE CARE" is mainly young people. At the same time, God has also prepared several professionals for them to help select and check mask suppliers. The epidemic in the United States began to worsen in mid-March, and masks suddenly became an important strategic material in the world. Some media reported that the "mask love" donated by various places out of good intentions once turned into a "mask chaos", with some evil manufacturers producing substandard masks in order to make profits.

At the beginning, there were various difficulties in the process of purchasing masks for "WE CARE", especially in selecting manufacturers, exporting, importing, and logistics. However, they were overcome every time through prayer. An agent who is not a Christian said to Lu Zunen: "You Christians still pray differently. Many goods cannot be shipped, but your goods are particularly smooth."

Zuo Xuan, a co-worker of "WE CARE" who represents the hardest-hit area of Greater New York, did not dare to let her parents know about her participation in this ministry for fear of worrying them. She shouldered the heavy responsibility and had to find the contact window of the hospital in the greater New York area and ask them about the specifications they needed. I take the trouble to communicate with the hospital every day to ensure that donated materials will not be left idle and are properly placed in the hands of medical staff who really need them.

Zuo Xuan said that it was the first time for the brothers and sisters in the team to meet each other, but during the prayer, they deeply felt that every co-worker’s love for each other and the people in the community was sincere. Even though the work was heavy during those days, Lu Zunen would always remind her on the weekends that the next day was the Lord’s Day, so she should rest early and leave her completely to God’s sovereignty.

▲From the end of March to the end of May, "WE CARE" has donated more than 400,000 medical masks. Supports more than 35 medical institutions across the United States. The picture shows "WE CARE" Greater New York City co-worker Zuo Xuan (middle) delivering masks to St. Peter's Hospital in central New Jersey.

A mask and a glass of cold water

On the home page of the "WE CARE" website is written a famous saying by Hugo: "To love another person is to see the face of God." (To love another person is to see the face of God.) Xuan Rongwei of Good News Christian Church in the San Francisco Bay Area said, When I was first invited to join the team, I was a little hesitant. I asked several young people from the church, and they all said, "I can do my part for the community and send masks to hospitals. If we don't do it now, then when will we wait!" So Xuan Rongwei said We began to raise funds simultaneously from churches, friends near and far, and companies, and received an enthusiastic response. He injected a large amount of fundraising into "WE CARE". He even established a "matching fund" donation process in the company, and the company also took the initiative to put "WE CARE" information in internal news. The process and results exceeded his expectations.

Another person, Han Peipei, who lives in Seattle, is also a member of the fundraising team. She said that the fundraising work is tedious, but when she considers that medical staff are risking their lives on the front lines, fundraising for the home front is not so hard. On Easter Eve, she encountered an unexpected violent incident, but through "WE CARE"'s co-worker prayer meetings every Saturday morning, she realized the true meaning of "all things work together for the good of those who love God." The final outcome is to gain "benefit" from the "epidemic", allowing her to experience God's faithfulness and the faith of believers, which are precious and true faith lessons.

Addison, a co-worker in the information team who has a heavy workload, said that the first two weeks after the team was established were the busiest, with answering phone calls, returning phone calls, holding online meetings, and endless replies to the WeChat group... During the busiest stage, I slept less than four hours a day, but I got through it! He said that when the first batch of masks was delivered to the kidney dialysis center in Chinatown, New York, the patient's face was filled with excitement, and all the hard work was worth it!

Many co-workers also unanimously expressed that when the hospital received the donated masks, their hearts were deeply comforted. I heard doctors say: "Thank you for the medical masks. Now we can replace them with new ones every day!" I also heard nurses say: "We have a heavy workload, thank you for thinking of us!" There was also a director of a Jewish nursing home who accepted After receiving the masks, they received a letter saying: "We are grateful beyond words. Thank you for your kindness." There were also home visiting medical staff, hospitalized patients, children, and companions who expressed that they had more thanks to the masks. A layer of protection, extra peace of mind.

Another co-founder of "WE CARE", Professor Zuoren Chen of Seattle University, encouraged everyone at the sharing session: In the epidemic, everyone is like an island, but God's love allows us to transcend space, time, and skin color. Even though the plague is spreading and people must maintain a social distance of six feet from each other, it cannot separate people from God’s love. Through small acts of kindness by sending masks, people in need in the community can feel that the greatest thing is love - this is the original intention of "WE CARE". Every mask given out is like a glass of cold water. A glass of cold water may not mean much, but when others are thirsty, that glass of cold water will be of great value!

▲"WE CARE" held a ZOOM cloud gratitude sharing meeting on June 13, with nearly 70 people participating online.

Establishing a large-scale cloud collaboration model

Although "WE CARE" is an online team, it has strong cohesion. After 52 days of fighting and through online prayers, more than a dozen core co-workers have built up revolutionary sentiments. A Texas co-worker reluctantly asked: "Is our team disbanded just like this?" Lu Zunen replied that it will be disbanded after the phased tasks are completed, and everyone will return to normal life, but the friendship between co-workers will not be dissolved, and there will definitely be more in the future. Opportunities to collaborate.

Lu Zunen emphasized that through the impact of this epidemic, the future church will inevitably transform to cloud and online development, especially for the younger generation. They grew up in the online world, and cloud and online cooperation are their strengths. This time "WE CARE" was able to achieve its goal, not only by God's grace, but also because each of them used their cloud skills to mobilize and successfully establish a large-scale cloud collaboration model in a very short period of time. "'WE CARE' is like a 'body in the cloud' united by Jesus Christ."

Lu Zunen quoted Ephesians 4:16, "In him the whole body is held together and held together, with every joint doing its job and helping each other according to the function of each part, so that the body may grow and build itself up in love." He said To appeal to Christians around the world, the church often calls itself a soldier of Christ. To raise a soldier, you have to fight a war, but you cannot fight alone. The church is the body of Christ. In the body of Christ, as long as we have the same vision and aim for the right things, even if we are not familiar with each other at the beginning, the more we cooperate, the stronger our mutual trust will be.

Although the "WE CARE" team has completed the mask donation ministry in stages, Christians' actions of love will never stop; no matter how the epidemic evolves in the future, Christians' care for the community will never change.

Note:
The third phase of fundraising for "WE CARE" is still ongoing. For questions about tax deductible receipts for donations, please email to BRC @BETHELRC.ORG. For more information about "WE CARE", please visit the website:https://sites.google.com/view/wecarefor

Liao Meihui, graduated from Chinese Evangelical Theological Seminary of North America (CESNA), and is a special writer for this magazine.