Editor's note: Time flows without stopping in the world. In our limited time, some people are busy eating, drinking and marrying, some marvels at life and death and some pursue comfortable lives. There are still some who sacrifice themselves to Chinese churches, following the call from God. This series will introduce twelve preachers in Midwest China and their lives.
Ms. Guo, who graduated from a theological seminary with a bachelor’s degree in 2002, entered into Nanjing Union Theological Seminary to study under one of their undergraduate courses. Then Guo joined in a Bible program held by a university where Ms. Lin studies too. They were ordained curates at the same time. Guo's husband, Mr. Yang, who supports her ministry, is also an outsider in this town.
Although an ordained curate, Guo faces two problems while serving God. One is that she is excluded by the local churches because she is not a native. The churches in the town are divided into several parishes. Guo is only allowed to serve in a church in a parish for one year and is transferred to another parish the second year. After moving from one parish to another for many times, she has to stop her long-term projects.
Another problem she faces is financial difficulty. The local churches don't pay preachers fixed salaries except travel expenses when they go out to preach sermons. Sometimes the expenses even are incapable to cover meals and sometimes they get nothing.
In the past the local churches paid preachers regularly for years because an old pastor considered it important to train preachers. Unfortunately, after his death, the church went back to the ways of treating preachers before.
Even though they are Christians, her parents-in-law don't support her work for her service because it doesn't bring any practical assistance to the family and she can't look after her son when she is busy working. Her husband picks their son up and from school instead of her (In China, it seems it is the women's job to take care of children). So she is called names such as "deadbeat," "not caring the family," etc. Her husband is poisoned by working too many hours in electroplating. Moreover, they borrowed over ten thousand yuan to buy a second-hand apartment years ago. Actually it costs them less than 1500 yuan a month, which turns to be a mountain of burden, both physically and mentally.
Guo tried to escape the ministry twice however the experience makes her serve God more firmly. When she chose to leave and applied for a job, the disease she had when she was a child struck her again and she was full of pimples, which tortured her much. Then when she returned to serve God, she was healed even without scars left. She thinks it is a reminder that God gave her in case she runs away.
Later, after knowing her situation, a Chinese fellowship whose vision is to supply preachers with living expenses donates 1000 yuan to her in support of her ministry, which encourages her a lot.
Yet facing difficulties in life and ministry, she plans to explore a new road. She is managing a program in which she teaches the Bible and what she has learned in the seminaries and ministry to voluntary preachers to train them to become mature preachers. Currently, there are more than 30 in the program. They spend a whole day learning and studying in a church every Monday. To hold the program for long time, the students cover all the costs needed and give donations to the church which provides the room for them such as paying the electricity charges of the church in one year.
Therefore, some churches approve the program. So even though Guo moves to different parishes every year, the program moves there with her for years. Unfortunately, the program only opens one-year courses.
For the program, the head of local churches neither supports nor opposes and lets it go as long as it is "within the boundary" while Guo expects a lot. In her eyes, it's so urgent to train grass-root preachers that she is willing to spend many hours and efforts in face of misunderstanding and abuse from her parents-in-law and the exclusion and ignorance of the church head.
