A pastor in southern China said that although there are all kinds of temptations and difficulties during his faith journey with God, the grace and call from God have made him determined to serve Him.
Pan Huaqiang (pseudonym), a pastor who has been deeply involved in the field of missionary work for many years, used to be a businessman when he was young. He planted churches in various places. Over 60 years old this year, he has worked full-time in missionary work for six years.
Recently, he told the Christian Times, an online Christian newspaper in China, about his experience of God’s grace. The following is a summary of his personal testimony:
I'm a Hakka from Guangdong. When I was a child, my mother took me to see a witch for my sickness. She could find many things lost by neighbors or hidden in different places. As a boy, I experienced some spiritual things.
When I grew up, I practiced Qigong and later Buddhism. I did this mainly to seek supernatural power beyond my cognition and to understand what this had to do with my life.
Before I believed in Jesus, I was in business. Once I went to play tennis with 17 people and finally had dinner with the remaining four people. The one sitting opposite me is a boss from Hong Kong. He asked, "Why don't you pray before you eat?" This made me eager to know about Jesus. So I argued with them about faith, and they said, "The eternal way you are looking for is the Lord Jesus, who created heaven and earth."
In the week after I left them, I thought that if the god they were pursuing was false, I must find out where the falsehood was. I called one of them and made an appointment to meet him at his home when his wife was also at home. At that time, there was another brother who told me about Jesus. It was November 24th, 1997, and I made up my mind to pray and believe in the Lord Jesus. I searched for more than 20 years and finally found it that day. This brother told me, “I know you came here to find true faith, so God led me here to meet you.”
His wife gave me a Bible and a stack of spiritual books. I read all the books in a week and then took a month to finish reading the Bible. Later, I led my family to Christ.
I became a believer in 1997 and was baptized in 1998. In 1999, my preacher told me that the greatest thing was to be a preacher. I accepted it and went home to pray. "Lord, if you are willing, please accept me, and I am willing to sacrifice myself to you."
Later, I set up a company, worked hard, and lived a comfortable life. But after a few years, the business went bankrupt, and God disciplined me. I started a business again, failed again, and faced bankruptcy again. Later, I got severe depression. Then I sold my business, all my cars, houses, and the company. My family went to a city in Jiangxi to accompany me for an illness. After that, I was mentally stimulated again in business and became sick again. I found an expert from Peking University who told me that I must take the medicine for nine to eleven months. He said that my illness didn't come suddenly; I should take care of my body for a long time.
But in the third month, God called me again. Jesus did not cure me at once but healed me bit by bit. Otherwise, I would be in business again. It was in that year that I dedicated myself to Him.
Once, I prayed for two hours, and I clearly heard a sentence in my ear, "But if anyone has a love for God, God has knowledge of him." I started crying. The Lord said to me, "I know that you love me." This set me free. Then, in 2005, I completely dedicated myself to the Lord and began to lead prayer meetings and Bible study meetings. There were more than 2,000 people at the meetings.
- Translated by Oliver Zuo
