Every evening of December 22, 24 and 25 at the Hangzhou Chengbei Church a sermon was preached on the theme of "Love Beyond Time".
The church held an overnight prayer meeting for preparations on the night of December 13th.
The pastor spoke specifically about schools, hospitals and leprosy clinics, all founded by missionaries and all a significant witness to God's love.
Usually at the end of a sermon, the pastor gives an altar call, inviting those who are willing to accept Jesus as their Savior to stand up or raise their hands. The ushers then give a Bible to each of them and note down their names and phone numbers for follow up. A total of 111 persons on the three evenings made decisions to accept Jesus--28 on December 22nd, 58 on December 24th, and 30 on December 25th.
On the evening of the 25th, I worked there as an usher near the stairs on the right on the third floor. A lady beside me stood up and intended to leave before Rev. Huang Jianpeng finished his preaching. I hurried to her and asked if she believed in God. She said she did not. I asked her if she would like to accept Jesus as her Savior after hearing the preaching. She smiled and didn't know how to reply. "Jesus loves you! You were blessed that you heard the gospel tonight. Here's a Bible for you. You are very welcome to come to the church on the coming Sunday." The lady happily accepted the Bible and wrote down her name. She promised that she would come back.
Then I noticed a young man sitting near the stairs. I went close to him, bent down and asked if he believed in God. He smiled shyly and shook his head. I asked if he would like to accept Jesus as his Savior. He said that he could not say yes without sincerely meaning it. "Quite right!" I replied immediately, "I've made a decision a very long time ago and I still feel shy in saying that I did." I gave him a Bible. He looked up and asked surprisedly, "For me?" I said "Yes! Jesus loves you. And I love you too." The young man took my pen and wrote down his name and phone number on a paper.
After that, I was inspired. We should sometimes take the initiative, rather than wait. Taking the initiative can make someone who is hesitating make up his/her mind. My mother told me that when she heard the sermon in a church, a Bible was given to her by someone who worked there and it moved her to make a decision.
-Translated by Lin Changfeng
