On the morning of August 23, eight university students and 14 students from theological schools received grants in the conference room of the office of the Xiangshui County Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM).
According to Xiangshui Church, this was the fourth round of finacial aid activities held by the church in Xiangshui for single-parent students and seminary students. During the fund distribution ceremony, the university students and the theological students all expressed themselves freely.
Huang Fang is a 45-year-old theology student who has an only son in her family and is married. She shared her experience of serving God, how her family changed from disapproval to being supportive. So she continues to serve God to this day, and now is even studying theology. This bumpy road is a great testimony, all because of her perseverance. She also shared her regret for giving up studying theology just to make money.
Xue is a 22-year-old university junior. She shared her thoughts and feelings while participating in the charity event of the Red Cross Society in Xiangshui County during the summer vacation. She said after meeting many poor students aided by the grants, she felt that she should be grateful. Meanwhile, she sighed at the excessive suffering in this world and said she would continue to do charity work.
Zhang Yi, after graduating from university, took on theology and will begin her 1st year studying at the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary. Although she has teaching qualifications, she resolutely gave up her opportunity of obtaining a decent and highly-paid job in society and instead chose to study theology. She said that she was born into a Christian family. Although she was influenced by a devout mother since childhood and heard that there is God, it was only from the day that she and her mother were involved in a car accident that she truly started experiencing the Lord. She said that starting to studying theology in her youth was her mother's wish, but studying theology in adulthood wa s her own wish.
At the end of the charity event, the pastor of the county, Xu Fei, concluded the meeting. He explained the challenges faced by the church to the theological students and introduced the work of the county CCC and TSPM. In addition, he urged students at the school to achieve the best of themselves by learning, while cultivating the ability to give back to society, so as to make society better for us all.
- Translated by Jake
