The story of a septegenarian elder living in Inner Mongolia may provide you a direction if you are troubled about how to serve God or blaming yourself for having no gift.
Elder Xu became interested in Christianity because he was attracted by the good words and deeds of his Catholic colleague. He came to church in the 1980s when only a few older women gathered in the church.
He wanted to do something for God but regarded himself as ungifted. One day he heard a word, "Will you do lowly and tiny things other people fail to see?" He happily replied with a yes.
Then he started his service; repairing Bibles. Seeing some Bibles broken in the church, he wanted to mend them. Xu said that he repaired about twenty or thirty Bibles in the churches of all the local towns, free of charge.
He showed how to attach a new cover to the Bible: stick a new cover on the old Bible with glue and put the Bible between two pieces of wood; clamp the wood with his homemade equipment; take down the wood after five or six hours. He also made repair devices with leftover material like iron plates and screws and gave some to the needy.
With people's standard of living improving, he stated that there was still a need for Bible restoration in poor rural churches though the number decreased.
Two years ago, he found a new position — a driver to transport believers.
His auto rickshaw cost him over 9,000 yuan and was pasted inside with red couplets that read "Holy to the Lord" and "Thank God and Praise the Lord". The three-wheeled vehicle is used to carry believers to rural churches as well as carrying members who cannot walk on their own to visit one another.
Xu added that he intended to purchase a shoe repair machine in his early years, but he couldn't afford it. He bought nail clippers for young Christians, encouraging them to give elderly Christians a manicure.
His church has more than 200 members and most of them are middle-aged and elderly. There are many people like Xu, ministering to other people voluntarily and quietly.
- Translated by Karen Luo
