Below are the two testimonies written on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the dedication of the hundred-year-old church in Shanxi Province.
At the Wuyi Road gathering site affiliated with Yaodu District Church in Linfen City, there is a 93-year-old elder named Li Haihua. In a recent worship service, she stood on stage alongside another elder in his eighties, offering gratitude and praise to mark the church’s 20th-anniversary dedication.
Having accepted the faith in her early years, Haihua came back to the church when it reopened during the era of reform and opening up, faithfully attending services. Later, she took the initiative to join the church's Sunday service group, looking after bicycles the believers rode on to the church. For thirty to forty years, along with a few senior female believers, she steadfastly served until she retired from this position after reaching her eighties.
When she initially started serving, she and her husband dedicated their home to gatherings. Together, they welcomed pastors and received believers, establishing the Wuyi Road gathering site. Additionally, they regularly visited the sick and diverse individuals in need.
Apart from daily morning devotions and prayers for the pastors and the church's ministry, she focused on nurturing young people. At the meeting point, she raised a group of servants used by God, infusing the church with vitality.
Seeing the love, mercy, and great love of God in her, her daughter-in-law voluntarily took up the responsibility of serving and receiving believers after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even today, the service continues unabated, and the gathering site continues to grow. Her grandson has also succeeded in running three companies, thereby providing jobs for over thirty people. More importantly, despite experiencing the pandemic, the elderly woman remained safe and sound.
Below is my own testimony. As a participant in pastoral ministry, the reality of growing up with disabilities has been discouraging for me. Fortunately, I was born into a family of believers. My grandfather graduated from a theological seminary and traveled to a variety of places to spread the gospel. Influenced by my family, I came to know God at a young age. Later, as I stepped into society, I never abandoned my faith. Showing special favor to me, God supported my career, and I have a warm family. I have been twice elected as a self-improvement model in the province and the most beautiful disabled person in Linfen.
In the early 1990s, some Christians in the church and I began serving. Initially, I could only stutter while sharing the word of God and rode a bicycle to many meeting points to spread the gospel.
Seeing the needs of the congregation, I turned my home into a reception point, establishing the Fuli Lane meeting point. Observing the challenges faced by disabled individuals, I organized a fellowship for them. Every time I delivered a sermon, I meticulously prepared. For over a decade, I served God by writing articles, visiting churches in varied places to collect historical information, and narrating pastors' stories after understanding their spiritual journeys via visits.
At the meeting point, two deacons were nurtured and appointed, becoming partners.
In 1999, my father was diagnosed with cancer and subsequently fell into a coma twice. Last year, he also contracted COVID-19, yet God miraculously saved him time and again. Since August of last year, we have established a home altar, and God has led us back onto the path of serving as a family.
(The article was originally published by the Gospel Times and the author is a believer in Shanxi Province.)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
