Covid has caused us all to reevaluate our ministries and our direction. Our outreach to the Buffalo area ethnic Chinese is no exception. As we last reported to you, we had been meeting regularly on Zoom after the pandemic hit. The meeting continued until this February when we realized that attrition was taking its toll, people had moved away or started new jobs, making it impossible for them to attend the meeting. The university was closed so there was no way rebuild our attendance through outreach. Faced with waning attendance, we decided to discontinue our Zoom meeting, pray, and wait for clear guidance from the Lord.
About two months ago, out the blue, some people from the Buffalo Chinese Christian Church contacted us. They asked if they could come to our house and meet with us. It was a good fellowship opportunity. Shortly afterwards, Pastor Sonny Lee and his wife Shufen invited us out to eat. Then Pastor Lee invited Barth to preach at the church. The following week Shufen asked Janine to help her minister to a family in crisis. Since then we’ve had several opportunities to attend church activities. The members are very open to us. Pastor Lee feels we could benefit the church and has made it clear to us that we are welcome to become part of their church.
At this time, it seems that joining the Buffalo Chinese Church makes more sense than continuing to establish a separate work on our own. Interestingly the Chinese Church is in the process of buying the Crossroads Lutheran Church building on Main Street in Snyder. This location is accessible from both UB campuses and is a better location from which to minister to the local Chinese.
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