Editor’s note: Pastor Sun, who ministers in Shaanxi Province, has led over 70 members of his family to salvation after his own conversion. During his legendary faith journey, he has cured many patients with the gift of healing and received guests with love.
Pastor Sun, 60, combines the insight of a pastor with the smarts of a Southerner. He is sociable, cheerful, and has a mild temper. He was formerly a preacher before being called to the healing ministry, and his home serves the sick all year. Mr. Sun is responsible for the healing, while his wife, Mrs. Tan, manages the cooking, reception, cleaning, and other services.
A reception family requires not only physical strength, effort, time, and money but also tolerance, which is the most challenging. Pastor Sun shared that in the beginning, there was an elderly Christian man who was not very cautious about hygiene and was not very polite. His treatment took a year, but he came to dine for three years!
Sun remarked with a tolerant smile, "Welcoming people who no one else can accept is true reception!" He said that he was helpless at first, but he would think about Jesus, who received all kinds of people.
This family's decade-long reception experience has brought them more joy than worry. Patients who got healed responded with love, and some even took faith in the Lord as a result of their recovery; these exemplify the joy of reception.
After they recovered, patients wrote several pieces of calligraphy that hung on the wall of Pastor Sun's house. One of them reads, "We love because he first loved us." Sun noted, "Some have wondered how we stay motivated to be hosts all year round. Because we have a good example in front of us: Jesus."
It is not easy to be a receptionist for a long time, but Mr. Sun often said, "Thank God for matching me with a good wife!"
Sun's house is always clean and bright, even though people come and go every day. In her fifties, Mrs. Tan is warm and kind while doing housework in an orderly and quick manner. People seeking medical treatment can enjoy a warm environment and great meals from her service. Mrs. Tan said, "It is a blessing to receive people! Look at me at such an old age, and I have not been sick for years. It is the greatest blessing that I can serve in good health."
Regarding God’s blessings, Mrs. Tan testified that, for example, they bought this house for a good deal, and when they didn’t have the money to decorate it, a Christian woman took the initiative to donate. There was no income during the pandemic, but there was still reception at home. Another Christian woman whom they hadn't spoken with in ten years offered to buy a year's supply of meat and greens for their family. Another person regularly donates 4,000 yuan to them for their reception ministry.
Of course, God’s blessings come with lessons. In the early years, after two rich bosses were healed, they would like to dedicate a house in gratitude. Pastor Sun, unmoved and rejected, admitted that he did need a house, but he must petition God for it!
(To be continued...)
(The article was originally published by the Gospel Times and the author is a Christian in Shaanxi.)
- Translated by Poppy Chan
