Pastor Quan (pseudonym) is a native of Northeast China. Despite being almost 50 years old, he still looks handsome, with a pair of attractive double eyelids.
His demeanor during his sermons was completely different, as opposed to his usual quiet nature, which somewhat surprised me. Whenever he mounted the pulpit, he transformed into an entirely different person. Some believers said they saw the power of the Holy Spirit in him.
He shared that he has a very shy personality. Initially, women typically took charge of leading scripture readings, preaching, or leading worship in the church. He was too shy to lift his head, and some people even thought he was sick.
Pastor Quan became a Christian through his father's influence. His father, a teacher, raised his two children strictly. Pastor Quan did not like studying much as a child, but after becoming a believer, he enjoyed exploring the Scriptures. The 16-year-old man embraced Christianity with his father and some other relatives while he was in the ninth grade. His cousin's wife told him that Jesus would return in 2000 and advised him to quickly believe in the Lord. After calculation, there were still eight years left until Jesus' return, three years of high school and four years of college. After college, there would be no time left.
So, Pastor Quan completely abandoned the path of education. Since his academic performance was poor, teachers just let him do whatever he wanted in class. Instead, he started reading the "Bible preparation course" during classes. He read the Bible from morning until school started and continued until the afternoon, sometimes until 1 a.m. He even memorized large portions of the Scripture. This experience laid the foundation for him to embark on the path of ministry.
Pastor Quan mentioned that he felt a strong yearning for the same gift whenever he read about the apostles being filled with the Holy Spirit. He then prayed, "Lord, I also desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit."
Pastor Quan was baptized at the age of 17, during the winter. At that time, the water got frozen, and the church set up a pool inside a room for baptism. He recalls, "I am naturally timid, but when I emerged from the water after baptism, I was filled with the Holy Spirit. Despite the cold, I started jumping in the water."
After this, "During the communion, the Holy Spirit grabbed me again. I felt the intense love of the Lord and began to repent of my sins. The first time I cried for an hour until my eyes were swollen."
"Another weeping session followed, probably for an hour or two. My eyes got swollen shut, and I could not open them. Finally, I managed to open it a little." Pastor Quan described what it felt like to be under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Pastor Quan emphasized that he did not just cry whenever he wanted. The Lord's love deeply moved him, igniting a fire within him. He had a strong burden for souls and was willing to pray for the lost.
After his baptism at 17, Pastor Quan joined the ministry. He was the youngest in the ministry team at the time, and nobody in the team received a salary. They were in a rural area and often had to travel between villages and towns to minister. Sometimes, it took a day's bicycle ride to reach the mountainous regions of other cities. At times, they would visit multiple places in a row, and going out meant being away for 20 days or even a month before returning home.
Pastor Quan testified that if it were not for the work of the Holy Spirit, people would not have genuine love for lost souls.
For a while, Pastor Quan would wake up at 3 a.m. and pray fervently for souls and the church from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. He saw how the Lord added more and more souls to the church. He often knelt to pray at night, crying until his eyes got swollen. He cried every day and got swollen eyes, and each time the swelling subsided, his eyelids formed a crease. Thus, over ten years, Pastor Quan, who originally had single eyelids, cried his way into having double eyelids.
Over the past ten years, Pastor Quan has evolved into a prominent figure in the church, transforming from a young teenager into a responsible pastor. In the decades of ministry that followed, his commitment to the Lord never wavers.
- Translated by Nonye Nancy
