Sitting in a high-rise apartment building in the urban-rural fringe of a small northwestern city, Brother Cui, now in his seventies, gazes past the buildings toward the land where crops and cows once grew. While the place has long since been transformed by urban expansion, he still vividly remembers those lively scenes when forty to fifty people crammed in a courtyard, listening to the sermons and singing hymns, whereas he, sitting on a small stool, unable to resist sleepiness, kept dozing off.
Fifty years ago, in this small city where Cui has lived all his life, practicing folk religion was very common. Every village had its own self-built shrines, such as Niangniang (or Queen of Heaven) Palaces, Earth God Temples, and Guanyin(or Goddess of Compassion) Temples. The family of Cui's wife was among these folk religion practitioners. During Chinese New Year, there were solemn and extravagant ceremonial rituals such as placing the ancestral tablets, burning paper money for the deceased, lighting incense, and kowtowing.
When Cui's wife was in her early 20s, an age when one is supposed to feel physically strong and energetic, she was, however, complaining about always feeling terribly fatigued. As a result, whenever she returned home after laboring in the fields, apart from making a small breakfast, she spent most of her time sleeping.
Huifang was an elderly woman in the village and a faithful believer in Jesus. After hearing of Cui's wife's illness, she came to visit her, with another aim in mind: spreading the gospel.
After Huifang arrived, she and several otherChristians sat beside the wife's bed and started singing the hymns together, one piece after another.
To Cui's amazement, after she accepted the gospel, she soon recovered.
Since then, Cui's wife started to persuade Cui to convert to Christianity too. But Cui, thinking that God is neither visible nor touchable, was quite skeptical. One evening around 9, Cui was lying in bed but couldn't sleep despite this being his usual bedtime. He therefore opened his eyes. To his surprise, in his house, he saw a foreigner, in his 30s, bearded, and holding a leaning stick. What surprised Cui even more was that his dog didn't bark at this stranger at all. Cui's wife then said to him, "Look, this is the Jesus you wanted to see. He is here."
After this, whenever she asked Cui if he would like to attend the sermons together, he remained silent. Cui, however, would go later, by himself and secretly. At the start, he attended the sermons often and would sing the hymns too, but he was not so serious because he couldn't quite understand the teachings. He always fell asleep at the start of the sermon and woke up when it ended. Then he would go home well rested and full of energy.
One day, Cui had a bad toothache. For three days in a row, he couldn't drink or sleep. The pain was so severe that he went to a cowshed where no one was around. He sat there by the wall made of mud till near sunset. Suddenly, a strong beam of dazzling light appeared and shone straight on him. Cui felt it was like a sudden awakening from a dream, and
magically, his toothache was gone. [After telling this to his wife,] she said to Cui: 'That was God. He cured you with his light.'
Cui came from a peasant family, never went to school, and was barely literate. Therefore, his faith in God didn't come from reading the Bible but from his lived experiences, such as miracles. It was not until 6 to 7 years later that Cui was able to understand the teachings.
"I noticed a huge change in me ever since I understood the teachings and truly believed in God - I couldn't continue the lying or the stealing, which I used to do," Cui continued: "Moreover, I also became a lot more warm-hearted - our family has been a host family for over 10 years."
Cui's relationship with his wife has also gotten better. Cui used to care for his brothers and friends a lot more than his wife. Sometimes he would even insult and beat his wife. After his conversion, his views changed - he understood his wife's sacrifices for him and the family more and treated her better.
His wife passed away last year. His children have also left him and gotten on with their own lives.
"When we give our heart to God, we are changed - we become someone who is different from the past and who is better than the masses," he concluded.
Originally from the Christian Times
- Translated by Lexi Zhu
