The Evergreen Fellowship of a church in Shanxi held a thanksgiving service for a venerable male believer, celebrating his ninetieth birthday.
Nearly a hundred old people from the Seniors' Fellowship marked Shangguang Yan’s birthday last Friday in the basement of the Yaodu District Church in Linfen City, Shanxi Province.
Dressed in red flowers, Yan and his wife, Yang Meiguang, sat in the front row, surrounded by their children and relatives.
His ancestral home is Nanshangguan Village, Quwo County (now Houma City), Shanxi Province, while he lives currently in Linfen City. Recorded in "Quwo County Chronicles", he practiced medicine all his life, relieving many patients from pain. Having been an expert in gastroenterology for decades with exquisite medical skills, he still kept on treating patients until last year after retiring from the People's Hospital of Linfen City.
His grandfather, Shangguan Guoshun, appointed as a deacon and elder, was one of the earliest Christians in the county. Known for his devotion to the Lord, he pulled a cart of grain to the church every year after the summer and autumn harvests. His grandmother was martyred for the Lord.
His father-in-law was a pastor before the liberation (from Japanese occupation), rushing around to preach the gospel. Influenced by their father, his wife and her siblings were all willing to work for the Lord too. With a nursing career in the municipal hospital, his wife also worked as a cashier in the church for many years and was ordained as a deacon. After retirement, she devoted herself to serving God, including giving sermons, teaching hymns, and visiting various gathering places. Meanwhile, she donated money and materials to help the disabled, the weak, and the poor. Moreover, for several decades, the couple insisted on dedicating one-tenth of their proceeds to God.
With the inheritance of faith, they have established a Christian family, in which 29 people believe in the Lord. Every year on the first day of the first lunar month, they use the opportunity of family reunion to hold a thanksgiving service, testifying about the grace of God. As family worship is held every Saturday, the family often reads the Bible, prays and studies the word of God together. With three experts and lawyers in the family, all the grandchildren are successful in their careers.
In a speech, on behalf of the disabled fellowship, Elder Zhang Xiaohua expressed his gratitude to the two elderly people for their dedication to God and assistance to the disabled and the poor for many years. After that, a piece of calligraphy writing with the words "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. (Psalms 34:8)", was presented as a birthday gift.
Shangguan also reviewed his own experience and the examples of his elders, sharing testimonies of the whole family in serving God. Later, his eldest daughter spoke on behalf of younger generations, thanking God for His grace and for the love of other church members.
(The article is originally published by the Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
