Zhao used to be one of the top executives of a company. His wife, Mrs. Liu, suffered from more than 20 diseases and had to take various medications all day, which required visiting the hospital frequently. Because the illness and treatment went on for so long, both the husband and wife were emotionally stressed and often fought. Later on, she developed high blood pressure, insomnia, and cervical spine problems.
One of the couple's neighbors, who was a Christian, invited her to a meeting. That was how she attended church for the first time. She sang hymns along with the others, listened to the sermon, studied the Bible, and was later baptized. After attending church for about six months, Sister Liu's temper became much better, and her husband noticed the change.
The pastor suggested she bring her husband to church as well. "My husband drives me here every time I come; he usually drops me off at the church gate, and as soon as I get down, he drives away immediately. Then after the meeting is over and I have to leave, he comes over to the church gate at the time we agreed before, picks me up, and takes me home."
The pastor suggested that she could come to church one day and say that she was experiencing discomfort in her legs and ask her husband to help her. So, one day, he walked with her inside from the church gate.
He asked the pastor what "Emmanuel" meant. The pastor began slowly with the Prophet Isaiah's prophecy, saying that "Emmanuel" means "God is with us", coming into the world to save us through His only begotten Son.
When he returned, he could not sleep well for three days and nights because he was thinking about what the pastor had said to him. These were things he had never heard before. On the fourth day, he came to the church for the second time and said, "Pastor, I want to talk to you about the faith."
And so, Old Zhao began his journey of faith taking one step at a time. He eventually became a pastor and is now involved in a church ministry. It can be said that "Emmanuel" has changed old Zhao's life completely.
- Translated by Nonye Nancy
