Taking on the Lord’s Great Commission, a female Christian named Xu Ruyun fell ill from exhaustion, as she bore witness to God in season and out of season.
Xu was about to serve at the church the other day, but when she woke up in the middle of the night, she suddenly felt dizzy and found that her voice was too hoarse to speak.
That night, she first asked another female believer to take over the holy work that she was about to host. When she arrived at the hospital, the doctor suggested that she be hospitalized immediately because she had high blood pressure and diabetes. During her stay in the hospital, Xu looked at the busy medical staff and the patients in the ward who were moaning in pain. She secretly begged the Lord, "O Lord! Since You have sent me among these people, please let me bear fruit for you and prepare their hearts to receive the gospel."
However, for many days, when Xu preached the gospel to the medical staff, doctors, and nurses always hurried away, shook their heads, or left with a polite smile. Xu was not reconciled to it, so she turned to her fellow patients. The old woman said angrily, "My daughter-in-law, Xiaowei, is also a Christian, for whom I would never believe in Christ."
It turned out that Xiaowei was not filial to her mother-in-law and often said to her husband how bad his mother was, sowing discord between her husband and her mother-in-law. She was selfish and bossy, which made her mother-in-law hate her beliefs. When Xu heard what the old woman said, she remained silent and started reading the Bible. Unexpectedly, a cleaning lady asked kindly, "Are you reading the Bible?"
Xu was very happy to meet members of God’s family when she was hospitalized. Following her to the cubicle where she rested, Xu held her hands and prayed to the Lord. While they were praying, another female Christian who swept the floor came to join them. Hearing the prayers downstairs, another female believer upstairs also ran down to “reunite” in this small sanitation worker's break room.
Xu asked them about their beliefs. One could sing hymns, another could not read, and the third had never read the scriptures. Xu explained the Bible she brought along to them for a long time and made an appointment to meet there every day during their hospital stay.
Xu gradually recovered from her illness, and her small fellowship at the hospital kept growing. First, there were a few Christian cleaners; later, some patients joined in, with busy nurses coming to listen to them. Xu emphasized that as Christians, they had a great commission from the Lord and should spread the gospel of the Lord, not just love each other. Not satisfied with their salvations, believers should lead more people to Jesus to be saved.
Xu said with tears that she originally thought that her service would be delayed due to illness and that she could not see the Lord answer her prayer of preaching the gospel. But later she understood she was also working for the Lord by distributing spiritual food according to the season as she nurtured believers in the hospital.
(The article is originally published by the Gospel Times and the author is a believer in Henan Province.)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
