——从秋雨圣约教会事件想到的

  作者：Yi Hong  

      摘要：成为基督徒以后，一则曾经遥远的教会新闻开始有了不同的重量。从北加州华语圣徒的相聚与扶持，到对成都秋雨圣约教会处境的关注，作者重新思考信仰自由的意义：那些看似平常的读经、祷告与聚会，其实并非理所当然，而是值得珍惜的日常。

前段时间，我读到一则关于成都秋雨圣约教会的报道。报道提到，2026年1月，教会负责人李英强在德阳的住处被警方带走，多名教会成员也被拘留或传唤。

如果是在从前，这样的新闻对我来说其实很遥远。

那时候我还不是基督徒。偶尔看到关于教会或基督徒的新闻，我可能只是把它当作一件发生在别人身上的社会事件。看过以后，也就过去了。

可是成为基督徒以后，再看到这样的消息，我发现自己的感受已经不一样了。

不久前，我参加了北加州华语圣徒的成全训练。几天的学习围绕着“建造神的居所”这个主题展开。作为一个初信的基督徒，很多真理我还在慢慢学习，并不能说自己已经有很深的认识。但有一点却让我有了比以前更实际的体会：信仰并不只是一个人心里相信什么，它会一点一点进入我们的生活。

在训练中，我看到许多来自不同地方、从事不同工作的人，因为共同的信仰坐在一起学习、交流，在生活中也彼此关心、彼此扶持。

这让我开始明白，一个人可以在心里相信神，但信仰的生活，却常常是在人与人的连接中变得具体。一起读经、祷告、聚会，这些以前在我看来很普通的事情，慢慢有了不一样的意义。

也正是在有了这些经历以后，当我再次想到秋雨圣约教会的报道时，我想到的不再只是新闻里的几个名字。

那些被报道的人，其实也是一个个普通人。他们有自己的家庭和生活，也和许多基督徒一样，会读圣经、祷告、聚会，在信仰中彼此扶持。

我并不认识他们，也没有经历过他们所经历的一切，所以我不能替他们讲述他们的感受。但这则新闻让我开始认真思考一个过去对我而言有些抽象的问题：能够自由地拥有自己的信仰，并按照自己的信仰生活，对一个普通人来说究竟意味着什么？

以前，我可能会觉得，信仰自由就是“一个人可以选择相信什么”。

现在我才慢慢体会，它也存在于许多非常平常的事情里——能够安心地读圣经、祷告，能够和有共同信仰的人正常相聚，也能够在生活中表达自己所相信的。

当这一切都可以自由进行的时候，我们很容易觉得理所当然。

但当我看到一些基督徒因为自己的聚会和信仰面对压力时，我才开始意识到：这些看似普通的日常，其实值得珍惜。

北加州的那几天，让我更多看见信仰中人与人之间的建造与扶持；而这则关于秋雨圣约教会的报道，则让我从另一个方向重新思索自己的信仰。

成为基督徒的时间并不长，我对许多问题仍然在学习。

但至少现在，当我再看到这样的新闻，我不会像从前一样只是看过，然后翻到下一页。

因为那些曾经离我很远的词——信仰、祷告、聚会、教会——如今已经一点一点进入了我的生活。

我也开始懂得，能够自由地相信，并在平凡的生活中活出自己所相信的，并不是一件理所当然的小事，而是一份值得珍惜的自由。

资料说明

本文涉及秋雨圣约教会的事件资料，参考 Human Rights Watch（人权观察）于2026年1月6日发布的《中国：再次逮捕地下基督教会成员》。该报道记载，中国当局拘捕了成都秋雨圣约教会六名成员，并提及教会负责人李英强在德阳住处被警方带走。其余内容为作者个人信仰经历与感想。

作者简介

Yi Hong，现居美国的华人基督徒。成为基督徒时间不长，目前仍在信仰中学习和成长，愿意记录自己在信仰生活中的经历与思考。

 编辑：Gloria Wang       校对：熊辩        翻译：沈美花

When Faith Is No Longer Just a Distant Word

Reflections on the Early Rain Covenant Church Incident

Author: Yi Hong

Abstract: After becoming a Christian, a church news report that once felt distant began to carry a different weight. Moving from the gatherings and mutual support of Chinese-speaking saints in Northern California to a growing concern for the situation of Chengdu’s Early Rain Covenant Church, the author re-examines the meaning of religious freedom: those seemingly ordinary acts of reading the Bible, praying, and gathering together are not something to be taken for granted, but a daily life to be cherished.

A while ago, I read a report concerning Chengdu’s Early Rain Covenant Church. The report mentioned that in January 2026, the church’s leader, Li Yingqiang, was taken away by police from his residence in Deyang, and several church members were also detained or summoned. 

If this had happened in the past, such news would have felt very distant to me.

Back then, I was not yet a Christian. Whenever I occasionally saw news about churches or Christians, I might have viewed it merely as a social event happening to someone else. Once I read it, it quickly faded from my mind.

However, after becoming a Christian, when I came across such news again, I realized my feelings were no longer the same.

Not long ago, I attended a perfecting training for Chinese-speaking saints in Northern California. The several-day session revolved around the theme of “Building the Dwelling Place of God.” As a new believer, I am still gradually learning many truths and cannot say that I have a profound understanding yet. But there was one point that gave me a much more practical realization than before: faith is not just about what a person believes in their heart; it gradually penetrates every part of our lives.

During the training, I saw many people from different places and diverse lines of work sitting together to learn and fellowship because of their shared faith, while also caring for and supporting one another in their daily lives.

This helped me begin to understand that while an individual can believe in God in their heart, the life of faith often becomes concrete within human connection. Reading the Bible together, praying, and holding gatherings—things that used to seem ordinary to me—slowly took on a different meaning.

It was precisely after having these experiences that, when I thought about the report on Early Rain Covenant Church again, I no longer just thought of a few names in a news article.

The people in those reports are actually ordinary individuals. They have their own families and lives, and just like many Christians, they read the Bible, pray, gather together, and support one another in their faith.

I do not know them personally, nor have I experienced what they have gone through, so I cannot speak on their behalf about how they feel. Yet, this news prompted me to earnestly consider a question that had previously seemed somewhat abstract to me: What does it actually mean for an ordinary person to be able to freely hold their faith and live according to it?

In the past, I might have thought that religious freedom simply meant “a person can choose what to believe.”

Only now have I come to realize that it also exists within many very ordinary things—being able to read the Bible and pray with peace of mind, being able to meet normally with fellow believers, and being able to express what one believes in daily life.

When all of this can occur freely, it is easy for us to take it for granted.

However, when I see some Christians facing pressure simply because of their gatherings and faith, I begin to realize: these seemingly normal routines are actually a precious blessing to be cherished.

Those days in Northern California allowed me to see more clearly the mutual building up and support among people within the faith; meanwhile, the report regarding Early Rain Covenant Church led me to reconsider my own faith from another perspective.

I have not been a Christian for very long, and I am still learning about many issues.

But at least now, when I see such news again, I will not simply read it and turn to the next page as I used to.

Because those words that once felt so far away from me—faith, prayer, gathering, church—have now step by step entered my life.

And I have come to understand that being able to believe freely, and to live out what one believes in the course of an ordinary life, is not a minor thing to be taken for granted, but a freedom worthy of deep appreciation.

Source Details:

The event information concerning Early Rain Covenant Church in this article refers to the report “China: Underground Christian Church Members Arrested Again” released by Human Rights Watch on January 6, 2026. The report records that Chinese authorities detained six members of Chengdu’s Early Rain Covenant Church and mentions that church leader Li Yingqiang was taken away by police from his residence in Deyang. The remainder of the text reflects the author’s personal faith experience and reflections. 

Author Bio:

Yi Hong, a Chinese Christian currently residing in the United States. Having become a Christian relatively recently, the author is still learning and growing in faith, and wishes to document personal experiences and thoughts within the Christian life. 

Editor: Gloria Wang      Proofreader: Xiong Bian      Translator: Shen Meihua