Editor's note: Not long ago, the Gospel Times published a feature REPORT for Thanksgiving, in which Pastor Li Xian of Xiangxi, Hunan Province Sheng, who is in his 80s, was invited to tell two stories about his personal experience in the 1990s when communication was not well developed, and to testify of God's grace and preserving power. The following is told from Pastor Li's first-person perspective.
Five of my ribs were broken by a gangster, but God used this situation to cure my heart disease.
In 1994, I had five ribs broken by a gangster in Yangshan, Guangdong. I vomited blood for a day and had blood in my stool for two days. The doctor suggested I have an operation immediately, but because my relatives were not around to sign the papers, it could not be done. By the time my relatives in Longshan arrived and signed for the operation, a miracle happened and the blood in my cavity disappeared, so the doctor recommended conservative therapy. I was then hospitalized twice, first in Foshan, Guangdong and then in Longshan. I was discharged after 49 days and gradually recovered. Also, my schooling was not delayed.
There is an even more amazing testimony. I had a heart attack in 1981 from which I suffered much over the course of 13 long years. And when I was healed of my broken ribs in 1994, I had no idea that my heart would also be healed. Thank God I have never had a heart attack since I was beaten that year..
I have also experienced God's protection and mercy in many car accidents.
I was converted in 1988 and baptized in 1989. In 1990 I had to organize many long-distance trips hauling freight as a part of my work. I experienced three rollover accidents, all of which I came away safe and unscathed. The Holy Spirit spoke to me many times on the day of the first rollover.
At that time, I was in Wuhan transporting two large truckloads of machinery and equipment back to Longshan. When I got up early in the morning to wash my face, I heard a voice beside my ear saying to me, "Li Xian Sheng you need to pray!" The first time I just heard a voice and did not see anyone.
Soon after, the voice rang in my ears a second time, "Li Xian Sheng, you need to pray!" So I asked in reply, "Who are you? You are asking me to pray, I am so busy today, how can I have time to pray?" Captain Chen of the Laifeng convoy, who was preparing to load the goods with me, said, "Who is calling you?"
After we had loaded the two truckloads of machinery, I found myself with a lot of mud on my feet. As I was washing my feet, the same voice that had spoken to me that morning said to me a third time: "Li Xian Sheng, you need to pray!" I said, "Who are you? If you want me to pray, let's pray together!"
Captain Chen said, "What's wrong with you today? What do you mean by prayer?"
I said, "I don't know who called me, but let's pray right away." And so I started praying, "God! Today we have two truckloads of goods to transport back to Longshan from Wuhan. Please keep us safe. Amen."
I got into driver Peng's truck from the Laifeng team and drove ahead, followed by Captain Chen.
Unfortunately, the truck I was in crashed into two trees on the roadside and overturned and immediately went into the river.
I climbed up the bank and waved to several passing drivers, hailing them to stop, but none of them did. I finally called another driver from the Laifeng fleet and asked him to find Captain Chen and send him a message, asking him to come back and help.
Captain Chen saw that we were not following and waited by the side of the road. When he heard that my truck had overturned, he hurriedly turned around and came back to the spot where it had happened. In the early hours of the next morning, we called for a crane to lift out the truck that had overturned in the river.
Peng suffered a deep cut on his foot when the steering wheel jammed against his chest after the truck overturned. There was a lot of blood coming out and he was dying. I immediately asked for help to send him to the hospital.
My heart was filled with gratitude to think that I was able to survive the rollover. If it had not been for the urging and reminder of the Holy Spirit that day, and if I had not quickly prayed, I could have lost my life.
Later, the Laifeng team also offered to pay full compensation to Longshan Tobacco Factory for the damage to the machinery caused by the overturned truck.
- Translated by Nonye Nancy
