The brother nicknamed “Little Lamb” died many years ago, but the brothers and sisters from his church still remember and talk about him very often.
Perhaps those who don’t know Little Lamb will imagine that he was a good looking man or someone who had a high level of education and status, or that he had special skills and talents others don’t, or that he did something prominent in his church, community, family or for someone around him. On the contrary, not only did he have and do none of the above, but rather he was a severely disabled person who didn’t go to school because of his physical condition and family poverty. So why was he so popular and well-loved in the minds of his brothers and sisters? The following is the whole account.
When Little Lamb was six or seven years old, he got polio and suffered severe disabilities that impaired his legs, arms, and unable to control his chest or head. His stiff fingers couldn’t hold things tight. His mouth was skewed and he often drooled. His tongue was so rigid he couldn’t speak. In the eyes of the world, he was a complete waste.
His mother gave him a lot of love and care. However, his father was a selfish and boorish man who regarded him as a burden and never cared about him. Even after Little Lamb had grown into an adult, his father continued to abuse Little Lamb, especially when he was in a bad mood. When Little Lamb's mother was not at home, his father would often not allow him to be in the house.
Despite the fact that Little Lamb’s IQ was normal, his long-term physical suffering, the abuse he experienced at home, and the world’s cold eyes made him desperate to end his own life. He even made several attempts but failed. Although his mother usually graciously changed clothes and shoes for him, he wasn’t able to properly take care of himself because he couldn’t move well enough. So he had always appeared dirty and people would often avoid him because they were disgusted by his appearance.
When he was about twenty-five, his aunt (his father’s sister) accepted the Lord and preached the gospel to him. Initially, he went to church to see if Jesus could heal his disabled body. He then began to go to church with his aunt. After a while, his physical condition had not improved, but he had learnt that Christians were different from the world as each person he knew was very friendly. Not only did no one discriminate against him but no one avoided him. Instead, they protected and cared about him.
Because of this he loved to go to church. He arrived on time at 7:30 a.m. every Sunday. By attending the services, he came to know the sacrificial love of the Lord Jesus and acknowledge the salvation of Jesus Christ. So he decided to accept Jesus as his personal savior and master of life. In a few months, he was baptized and became a Christian.
After Little Lamb accepted the Lord, his life slowly began to change. As his spiritual life grew, he became happier. Later, he completely was able to overcome his low self-esteem and he smiled more often. He also learnt to be neat.
After being saved, he preached the gospel to his mother. He gestured to his mother that there was a great and wonderful God who had saved himself and would save her. Every Sunday, he gestured to his mother to accompany him to church. His mother saw a real change in him and decided to go to church with him to see how things were. She often went to church and then accepted the Lord. Later, she became a faithful Christian.
Once, Lamb heard a pastor quoting from the Bible that believers should "not look to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." (Philippians 2:4). He began to wonder how he could care for others in the church, and he finally found a suitable way to serve others. During the services, whenever he saw people snoozing or chatting, he would gently approach them and tap them with his fingers to remind them not to snooze or make small talk; or when he saw people crossing their legs or putting their feet on a chair, he would gently approach them and tap their feet to indicate that they should not do that.
At the same time, he also took the initiative to work as a cleaner. Whenever he saw someone threw waste on the floor, he would come up, bend down, and reach out his fingers to pick the rubbish and put it in the trash. Physically it was not easy for him to do this. He then would use his eyes to tell the litterer to respect public order.
At first, some people were not used to seeing Little Lamb moving around during the worship service. Later, we all slowly got used to it and came to appreciate what he was doing. If we hadn’t seen him for awhile, moving around during the services, we would feel there was something missing because his wiggling figure had become a unique part of our church.
After hearing the biblical story of the poor widow’s insignificant donation, Little Lamb began to think about financial donations. He began to collect plastic bottles and cans or other scraps from the street. Because of his condition, he would take a few cans at a time to his home to wait until they accumulated to a certain amount. Then he would ask his mother to sell them for money. In turn, he would quietly put the money into the donation box of his church.
On summer days, if some believers met him in the street while he was working, they would show him love him by giving him water or snacks. He would always make gestures to indicate he was grateful but was determined to decline the offer. Later, we learnt from his mother that because his mouth was skewed he would drool when eating and drinking and he didn’t want to make his clothes dirty. He never ate in public in order to keep himself neat.
When Little Lamb was thirty-seven years old, he died of asphyxiation caused by a lychee core that became stuck in his trachea while eating. A few months later, his mother became terminally ill. During the later stages of her worsened condition, whenever her church friends visited her, she would always gratefully say that she thanked God for taking Lamb to Heaven first. Otherwise, she would not be at ease even if she was in heaven. A few months later, the mother of Brother Little Lamb also returned to heaven.
