Henan missionary Li Tiechui, who served the rural church for decades, died at the age of 50 suddenly, leaving behind his family and the church that has grown in his guidance.
In an interview with Christian Times, an online Christian newspaper in Mainland China, Li Mengzhao, the preacher's son, shared his love, thoughts and regrets regarding his father, confessing that his father's death is a trial for him.
The young seminary student, 25, is named after "Mengzhao" which means "being called." He was dedicated to God by his father when he was a young boy. His great grandfather was a pastor ordained by British missionaries in the 19th century and his grandfather pastored in churches both during the Cultural Revolution and after the Chinese economic reform in the 1980s.
His father, the known missionary Tie Chui, was said to "live in the Word" by the locals, who experienced a great revival in the 1980s and was jailed for his faith in the early 1990s. Li's greatest wish was that his son could walk on the road of servanthood like him, which had been his biggest struggle.
Before his death, Li Tiechui encouraged and requested his son to study theology and serve the church many times. Despite the misunderstandings and rejection to this wish at the very start, Mengzhao obeyed his father's will. Now, he has strengthened his devotion to the ministry after his father's death, planning to advance in theology in the second half of 2017 and put more efforts to the church. However, he is in a pickle, troubled by how to care for his mother and grandfather, who is now at age 80.
It is noteworthy that Meng Zhao's voice and situation are not surprising as many local preachers face the same situation. Through his experience, we see that the Chinese church needs to grow more and mature, especially in the investment and efforts of developing young preachers.
Christian Times: Can you share some stories between you and your father?
Li Mengzhao: It started in 2010, when I just graduated from junior high school at the age of 18. My father asked me to study theology in a call, adding that another person would go with me. I didn't give him the answer immediately. After a two-day consideration, I agreed to attend a seminary.
Unexpectedly, the person who claimed to join with me didn't go to the school. I had to study theology in a theological seminary of Henan alone. I didn't experience any struggle of studying theology in the beginning.
But I didn't want to continue after a one-year study. Not telling my father about my idea, I insisted on the study for one year until graduation. The seminary sent students out for internship. I accepted the arrangement and did a one-year internship in a church. I returned home after that.
Later, a man recommended a seminary situated in the south to my father and wanted him to ask if I wanted to study there. I didn't think of much and said yes. So I studied in that seminary for another two years. During the school year, I quarreled with my father. In a vacation when I returned home from the south, my father criticized me for my large expenditure for that semester. I argued back and said I couldn't refuse the daily invitation from my schoolmates who asked me out.
Since then, I nearly stayed in the dormitory on Sundays in the new semester because it would cost money if I went out. After that semester was over, I graduated and went back home. I started to struggle and didn't want to do ministry. My devotion to the ministry was shaken considering that my family had inadequate financial resources. I got the idea of working outside the church. I didn't tell this to my parents because I knew that they didn't support it nor did I share it with anyone.
I hung out with other peers who had jobs after graduation. Hearing how much money they made, I felt bad. I suffered during that period and my heart wavered.
In the first half of 2016, a pastor introduced me to pursue further study in Guangdong. Under great pressure, I was really reluctant to go there. But I went there. Having stayed in Guangdong for weeks, I said to my father that I wanted to return due to my poor adaptation to the environment. My father was really angry for this issue while I finished that semester. However, I didn't return to school for the new semester. Instead, I worked in a church near my home as an intern, preparing to serve in my hometown church after the internship.
But I didn't expect my father's sudden death. I couldn't believe that my father died on that same evening (of Feb. 1, 2017).
Christian Times: Your father was once jailed. Do you know these persecutions and sufferings your father experienced during his service?
Li Mengzhao: I never heard my father talk about any hardship and persecution in his ministry. It was until last year when he shared his testimony with the Christian Times in an interview that I heard about his own experience for the first time. In May 2016, he shared it in a staff training, which was the second time I heard it. I felt uncomfortable. I knew nothing about these at an early age.
Christian Times: Do you feel aggrieved for your father who started ministry since your childhood and might not devote much to the family?
Li Mengzhao: No, because he would make everything at home well arranged every time before he went out for gatherings and did what ought to be done when he returned. What's more, he usually left in the morning and was back in the evening. He was out for a week at most. So we didn't grow up without my father. Instead, we saw him almost every day. But I thought that my father was busier than migrant workers.
Christian Times: Do you blame God for your father's sudden death?
Li Mengzhao: I have no complaints; but, I don't understand.
Christian Times: What is the best thing you have learned from your father?
Li Mengzhao: It was when I returned home after the Christmas before the last. My father told me that the believers bought a cake for the birthdays of the elders living in a home for the aged. I took what he said to heart. Last year, my family grew watermelons. Recalling their visit to lonely elderly people, I proposed to bring watermelons to them. Hearing this, my father gladly gave consent to it. A few days later, we paid a visit to the elderly with watermelons. An elderly man said, "I have never tasted more delicious watermelon." They burst into tears. Watching them crying, I felt sad.
Christian Times: What is your biggest regret since your father died at such a young age?
Li Mengzhao: I had a girlfriend in 2014, who was a classmate in the seminary in Henan. We broke up for several reasons after a year. So my biggest regret is that I remained unmarried before my father's death.
Christian Times: What was the most touching thing your dad did for you?
Li Mengzhao: The year before last, I taught a devotional class to the freshmen of the seminary in Henan. When it turned cold, my father told me that he would bring a quilted coat my mother bought for me. Later, I learned that it was him who bought it. He didn't express his love directly. My whole family does the same in the same way.
Christian Times: What is your plan for the future?
Li Mengzhao: I was introduced into a seminary in Beijing; but, I need to handle some issues at home due to his sudden death. For instance, I will get in wheat during the busy farming season and farm a land. In the second half of this year, I plan to study theology again. It will take around two and half a years to finish the study. After graduation, I will find a church to serve in.
Christian Times: Your family is not well off. Can you apply for a scholarship for your theological study?
Li Mengzhao: When I enrolled in the seminary, the related material showed that it provides grants for low-income students. I wanted to contact the seminary, asking for financial aid. I intend to study theology in Beijing and take my mother with me while she looks for a job there. But she has to look after my grandfather, who is in poor health and needs care.
What about my mother and grandfather when I leave? Actually, my father was suggested to work in an urban church during his lifetime. But he stayed in the village because my grandfather needs his care. Since my father passed away, I have the same idea as he had.
Translated by Karen Luo
