Prison Fellowship

Remember Those in Prison

  • DONATE
    • One-Time
    • Monthly
    • Angel Tree
    • Other Ways to Give
  • GET INVOLVED
    • Volunteer
    • Subscribe
    • Angel Tree Christmas
    • Pray With Us
    • Justice Action Center
    • Share on Social
  • STORIES
    • Stories
    • Blog
    • Videos
    • The Restoration Series [Videos]
  • WHAT WE DO
    • Why Help Prisoners?
    • What We Do
    • In-Prison
      • Prison Fellowship Academy
      • In-Prison Programs
      • Hope Events
      • Inside Journal
      • Women’s Ministry
      • Create: New Beginnings
    • Preparing Prisoners for Reentry
    • Angel Tree
      • Register your church or group for Angel Tree
      • Angel Tree Overall
      • Angel Tree Christmas
      • Angel Tree Camping
      • Angel Tree Sports Clinic
    • Justice Reform
      • Second Chance Month
      • Sign the Justice Declaration
      • Get a Copy of Outrageous Justice
    • Warden Exchange
  • RESOURCES
    • Subscribe to Our Email
    • Support for Friends and Family of Prisoners
      • Coping with Incarceration
      • Resources for Prisoners
      • Resources for Children of Prisoners
      • Supporting Successful Prisoner Reentry
    • Resources for Churches and Volunteers
      • In-Prison Ministry
      • Reentry Ministry
      • Family Ministry
      • Justice Reform
      • Mentoring Ministry
    • Resources for Angel Tree® Church Coordinators
    • Resources for Chaplains
    • Resources for D.O.C.
    • Justice Reform Resources
    • For Media Outlets
  • ABOUT US
    • Leadership
    • Chuck Colson
    • Our Beliefs
    • Financials
      • 2020 Annual Report
    • Employment
    • Contact Us
    • In The News

Christians in China Help with America’s PPE Shortage

June 24, 2020 by Grayson Pope

As the PPE shortage crisis has been mounting in the U.S., Christians in China have been praying for God to show them how to help.

incarcerated men wearing face masks and practicing social distancing

America’s personal protective equipment (PPE) shortage is endangering those who are at a high risk of contracting the coronavirus, like prisoners. It's nearly impossible to follow social distancing guidelines in correctional facilities.

Corrections agencies in the U.S. have reported 48,743 positive COVID-19 cases and 512 deaths among men and women in prison.

As the PPE shortage crisis has been mounting in the U.S., Christians in China have been praying for God to show them how to help.

MEETING PPE NEEDS IN CHINA

In January, Pastor Charlotte Chen-Tsai traveled from the U.S. back to her residence in Shanghai, China, where the coronavirus pandemic had already started. Pastor Charlotte began praying for her community and looking for ways to help. "I have connections with many churches, including local churches and house churches, and some coworkers in those churches," she says. "so I started to share about my heart's burden toward the people who are living in the pandemic."

Together, Pastor Charlotte and other Christians began purchasing and receiving donations of PPE. They then delivered them with a greater Christian donation network to people in Wuhan city and Hubei province. They distributed face masks, face shields, and protective clothing to hospitals, testing labs, orphanages, and various churches. Eventually these churches started handing out supplies across the country in what they call a "Gospel package"—a parcel containing face masks, a Gospel tract,  sometimes vitamin-C supplements, and sanitizing wipes.

These efforts continued through March and into the beginning of April. That's when Pastor Charlotte heard COVID-19 was spreading rapidly in the U.S.

'Lord, you were so kind, and you listen to our prayers.'

'CAN WE DO THAT FOR THE U.S.?'

She read an article in mid-April about the dire situation faced by nursing home residents and caregivers in the U.S. "My heart was really saddened and afraid that a whole generation might be wiped out by the pandemic," she recalls. She got on WeChat, a popular messaging app in China, and spoke with some of her friends in the U.S., where Pastor Charlotte spent more than 20 years living in various cities and helping plant churches.

From the WeChat messages, she realized "that a lot of nursing homes, especially in the poor neighborhoods, were very much lacking of care, lacking of protection against this COVID-19. So I started to pray. I said, 'What we did in the past two, three months in China, can we do that for the U.S.?'"

At the same time she was praying about this, Pastor Charlotte and her husband helped establish a virtual Bible study group for two nearby neighborhoods. "And that day one of the women in the group invited me and my husband to have lunch with her family and several other sisters. I had an opportunity to share about my concern over the U.S. needs in nursing homes. And one of them said, 'Oh, my husband owns a company producing PPE that has been sold in the U.S. for more than 10 years.'"

The family's company regularly manufactures and ships face masks to the U.S. from China. "And so the lady went back, talked to her husband, and her husband said, 'Oh, let's donate 100,000 masks to this activity.' ... So they made the donation, and we can get the masks directly from their warehouse in Los Angeles without going through the difficulties of shipping them from China to the U.S.," says Pastor Charlotte. "So I say, 'Wow! Lord, you were so kind, and you listen to our prayers.'"

prisoners wear face masks during covid-19
'We want people to know that the love of Christ is the same in the U.S., across the world and in China, and we're in the same family.'

MAKING CONNECTIONS

Pastor Charlotte had secured the face masks. Now she had to figure out where to send them. Through WeChat and Line (another digital communication app), she made contacts with classmates from elementary school, high school, and university, as well as brothers and sisters she knows in Chinese churches across the U.S.

Also through WeChat, she was introduced to the North America Mainland Chinese Mission (NAMCM), an organization that provides regional and national fellowship and training to Chinese Christians in the U.S. and China. People affiliated with the NAMCM, along with Pastor Charlotte and her personal connections from schools and churches, together made a list of over 250 facilities, and NAMCM coworkers helped call each of the locations to confirm their needs.

Pastor Charlotte says, "They ask the questions: 'Do they have the confirmed the cases of COVID-19? How many of them? How many residents? How many caregivers are there in that location? Are they in a financially stable area or a poorer area?' Because we wanted to put the masks in use in the most-needed places."

Then one of her friends told her about Prison Fellowship®. She was familiar with Prison Fellowship from her time in the U.S. After Googling the organization, she decided it was a good fit to receive some of the donations. "We decided to make a donation of 10,000 masks," she says.

'WE'RE IN THE SAME FAMILY'

Pastor Charlotte says, "We want people to know that the love of Christ is the same in the U.S., across the world and in China, and we're in the same family. ... Hopefully we'll be able to share some love, some Gospel messages, and also help—to some extent—other people in need."

MOVING FORWARD

Prison Fellowship has received those 10,000 masks, along with 500 face shields, and is helping to distribute them to correctional facilities in need. Pastor Charlotte and her team have also agreed to donate 6,000 more masks.

Amid ongoing concerns about COVID-19, we're asking you to extend compassion to prisoners and their families. Please give generously now to reach through prison bars with the bright hope of the Gospel.

Give Now

DID YOU ENJOY THIS ARTICLE?

Make sure you don' t miss out on any of our helpful articles and incredible transformation stories! Sign up to receive our weekly newsletter, and you' ll get great content delivered directly to your inbox.

Your privacy is safe with us. We will never sell, trade, or share your personal information.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, Prison & Prisoners, Prison Fellowship News & Updates Tagged With: China, COVID-19, In-Prison

SELECT A TOPIC

  • Advocacy & Reentry
  • Angel Tree
  • Angel Tree® Stories
  • Families of Prisoners
  • Feature Stories
  • From the CEO
  • In-Prison Stories
  • Inside Journal
  • Press Releases
  • Prison & Prisoners
  • Prison Fellowship Academy
  • Prison Fellowship International
  • Prison Fellowship News & Updates
  • Reentry
  • Second Chance Stories
  • Stories
  • Uncategorized
  • Warden Exchange

MOST POPULAR

Response to the January 6 Events at the U.S. Capitol

January 11, 2021

The Power of a Partnership

January 6, 2021

‘I Have Hope for the Future’: One Woman’s Letter from a Nebraska Prison

January 5, 2021

LATEST VIDEOS

WATCH ALL VIDEOS

RESOURCES & INFORMATION

  • For Families & Friends of Prisoners
  • For Churches & Angel Tree Volunteers
  • For Media Outlets
  • For Wardens & Prison Officials

PF®

NEW ON OUR BLOG

  • Update on Prison Fellowship and COVID-19
  • Turning Bad Things to Good: Answering the Question “Is God Still in Control?”
  • A ‘Career Criminal’ Get’s a Harsh Wake-Up Call
  • Statement Regarding the Distribution of the COVID-19 Vaccine

FIND US ONLINE

FACEBOOK
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM
YOUTUBE
LINKEDIN

RECEIVE UPDATES

Sign up to receive news, stories, and information based on your needs and interests.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

PFM®

  • CONTACT US
  • EMPLOYMENT
  • PRIVACY
  • FINANCIALS
© 2021 PRISON FELLOWSHIP®

Angel Tree®, Angel Tree Camping®, and Warden Exchange® are programs of Prison Fellowship®.