TYLER, Texas — A near three-year journey is finally coming to its conclusion for members of the Mayflower Church in East Texas.
The congregation of over 60 members previously fled China due to religious persecution earlier this year.
China Aid and Freedom Seekers International has helped them non-stop and have now found them a new permanent home in Midland.
"About three years ago I would sit outside on a swing outside my house and there was a pit fire, and I would facetime pastor Pan and his elders, and I said ‘one day you will come here’. And so December 26th they are coming to my home, and we’re gonna be by that pit fire, and all of us will celebrate together that it actually came," Freedom Seekers International CEO Deana Brown said.
While the promise has been fulfilled, the journey to get to East Texas was very intimidating.
"When Stacy and I went to Thailand, within a couple of hours, the Thai immigration collected all the Mayflower and us and out us in jail. I wasn’t afraid, neither was Stacy, for ourselves. We could call on the American embassy and they would get us out. But we decided just to remain there to see what would happen to them," Brown said.
Now, the congregation is set to make their final stop to their new home in Midland.
Before the move, they received gifts from everyone that helped them in Tyler, including seven brand new cars.
Not one aspect of the Mayflower Church members' journey has been easy but it's the perseverance and resistance that served as inspiration for people in East Texas to help them out.
That same dedication has led the Mayflower Church away from religious persecution and toward the opportunity to practice their Christian faith without any bounds.
"When I met them at the JFK airport, literally I saw them on the ground, just literally crying, and they asked me, they said ‘this means we’re free?’ and I said ‘you’re in the land of the free’," China Aid CEO Chad Bullard said.
Soon enough, the congregation will live the rest of their lives in freedom starting from East Texas all the way to the west.