Church in China caring for the needy

Authorities threatened to shut down a house church-run care center for the homeless, disabled, orphaned and elderly on March 19 in the southern province of Guangdong, claiming the center was housed in a building that was not legally registered.

The Huizhou Loving Care Center, a branch of the original Christian care center in Shenzhen, Guangdong, expressed their concern that the local government is pressuring the group’s landlord in order to shut down the service.

Staff said police came to the center on March 19, ordering the group to move out of the area. “We would like to keep the farm in Huizhou. The government said they wouldn’t let us live there, and they said they would demolish the house. Then, they said there isn’t a real estate certificate on the house, and it should be torn down,” Huang, the director of the Shenzhen branch, said.

Huang said Christians come from various places in China to help provide care for people from socially vulnerable groups, who are also from various places in China. Some of the individuals at the care center were sent there by their families and some came of their own will, he said. At the care center, people attend gatherings and study sessions.

The care center in Shenzhen was established in February 2011 by Christians who sought to aid those who were homeless and those with temporary disabilities. Since that time, the ministry has grown to care for those with long-term disabilities, both physical and mental, the elderly and orphans. The Loving Care Center has started a branch in another part of Shenzhen as well.

Source: http://www.chinaaid.org/2014/03/guangdong-government-threatens-to-shut.html