Deacon Dai Yaping, chairman of Jiangyin Municipal TSPM, began to follow Christ with her husband's family after getting married. She was baptized in 1998 and entered the church under the guidance of her mother-in-law.
She helped a wheelchair couple, Brother Dou Guizheng and Sister Dong Piao. Twenty years ago, Brother Dou Guizheng was disabled, but his wife took his son and abandoned him. He, originally from Jiangsu, wandered more than half of China in search of his son. Twenty years later, he and Sister Dong Piao who is from Fujian formed a new family. The son completed his studies and formed a family, and now he has both a son and a daughter. After forming a family, they settled in Fuzhou. They came back to Jiangsu this time to celebrate their three-year-old granddaughter's birthday and to meet their four-month-old grandson.
In addition to serving in the church, Deacon Dai Yaping also runs a medium-sized business. She often goes to visit Dou's family, and this birthday party was organized by her.
Previously, she sponsored Dou's son to go to school, helped donate an electric wheelchair for the family, and arranged work for him. Brother Dou and his wife left for Fuzhou on the second day of the birthday party. The church donated 2,000 yuan to them, and Deacon Dai personally donated 1,000 yuan.
Rev. Xiong Juanfen of Jiangyin International Church said, "She (Deacon Dai Yaping) is simply a philanthropist." During the epidemic, when the preacher's salary could not be paid, she used her own money to pay the preacher's salary. She pays great attention to cultivating young preachers for the church.
Deacon Dai Yaping also carries out charity service work in the church, delivering cold drinks and other cooling things to firefighters, traffic police, and other staff working outdoors in hot weather. This summer, Jiangyin International Church offered items worth about 5,400 yuan to staff in four locations. In addition, this year, the church spent more than 84,000 yuan on condolences to the elderly and destitute households, supporting the fight against the epidemic, and donating supplies to the community and sub-district offices.
On the recent Tencent 99 Charity Day, China's largest online fundraising day, Deacon Dai Yaping actively donated to some charity projects that raised funds.
As a church leader and an entrepreneur, she says everything she does is to glorify God. Regarding serving, she said: "Serving the Lord does not depend on man's ingenuity, plans, strategies, methods, or man's wealth and status. The most important thing in serving the Lord is to prepare yourself to become the vessel useful for the Lord!"
- Translated by Livingstones Shi
