Christians in a region of China that Mennonite mission workers evangelized 120 years ago dedicated a worship center June 26. Nearly 400 people celebrated the opening of the Shenzhuang Christian Activity Site in Heze City, Cao County, on the western edge of the coastal province of Shandong.

“Christianity was introduced to Cao County in 1901 by American Mennonite missionary Rev. Henry Cornelius Bartel and his wife, Nellie Schmidt,” China Christian Daily reports. “In 1905, Bartel founded what later became the China Mennonite Mission Society, which carried out evangelical work in Shandong, Henan and other regions.”

During the Cultural Revolution of 1966 to 1976, churches were demolished, religious activities suspended and Christian denominations dissolved. In the reforms that followed the death of Communist Party leader Mao Zedong in 1976, churches were allowed to meet legally again, and by 1985, 22 meeting points were reestablished in Cao County, according to China Christian Daily.