Seven years ago, I preached the Gospel to one of my friends, Sister W, who showed up several times in the church and then never appeared again. She had run a law firm for more than a decade, together with her husband and son, and the business went on fairly well. Then, the family continued to invest in the financial market, shopping malls, and real estate projects of our town. As all their business thrived, they lived a busy life. However, two years ago, after we hadn't seen each other for five years, Sister W suddenly came back to the church and asked to be baptized as soon as possible.
In the baptism ceremony, she shared what she had witnessed and was moved to tears.
In fact, in the investment business of the past five years, she had been defrauded of her money by a female friend, which resulted in her incurring financial problems. Consequently, she had to borrow money from the banks, her family and friends, totaling tens of millions of yuan. In addition, she was also diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Due to the family's heavy debt and his mother's disease, her son who was in his 30s felt it was impossible for him to get married. Under enormous pressure, sister W suffered from autism while her son developed minor depression. For two years, she shut herself in, tried to commit suicide while being worried that her son would follow the same path. Also conflicts between her and her husband happened constantly and she had frequent bouts of insomnia. In order to taken on more law cases, her husband had to work feverishly.
The end of a person's road is when God makes a way. The sister who seldom visited the church began to pray to God, insisted on joining a Bible study class and group gathering for three years, prayed to God painstakingly and piously confessed her sins. Members of the same group were full of sympathy for her and her family's suffering but felt at a loss to help. However, we earnestly and continuously paid close attention to and prayed for them, and witnessed God's work in her life and family.
1. Sister W's faith took root in and changed Her Life
W participated in Bible study classes regularly and acted piously followed God's words, thus quickly laying the foundation for the words. We also witnessed her changes: from an impatient and aggressive person to,now being much gentler to her husband and families, often taking care of and doing housework for them.
2. God cured Sister W and her Son's diseases.
The whole family was terrified by the diagnosis of her thyroid cancer. Nevertheless, she rebuilt her confidence step by step, completely put aside the frustrating reality and entrusted herself to God. Although there were bumps in the road, she started to confront setbacks in her career, positively adjusted her mindset and started to exercise. All of us were thrilled to witness her recovery in these two years. Meanwhile, her autism started to lessen, and she began to open her heart and pray to God, being willing to show her vulnerability to other people.
Her son has dedicated himself to work hard and his minor depression has gradually dissipated..
3. God has quietly saved the family.
In such a plight, the family has been enveloped by God's love which has bonded them, even all their relatives, in a more harmonious way. As a considerate young man, their son has worked hard to share his parents' burdens. Their families also raised money to fund their son's wedding.
Sister W spent a lot of time praying for her husband and families. Seeing her husband taking pains to shoulder the liabilities of the family, she helped in the work while meticulously taking care of his daily life. She also piously prayed that the burdens of the family could all be entrusted to God and that God would help to guide the way. Although her husband and families are not Christian, we saw God's power taking effect on her husband for the first time at the end of last year. He admitted his limitation of being a lawyer who worked in multiple industries, undertook multiple projects and managed huge real estate investments, especially realizing that real estate development requires higher ability of resource coordination. With that understanding, he started to change, from taking the projects as his own and thus being afraid of cooperation to supporting their development by selling off a part of the stock rights. We have witnessed a ray of God's light, which shone through the darkness and entered their home, quietly saving the family.
- Translated by Li Runping