As night descended and all was quiet, the stillness was abruptly interrupted by a ringing phone. The church pastor received an urgent call for assistance: a believer, recently discharged from the provincial hospital with advanced liver cancer, was desperate to seize what might be his final opportunity to be baptized before losing mental clarity.
Within ten minutes, three pastors and a co-worker quickly prepared and made their way to the believer's home. Upon arrival, they found the believer lying weakly in bed. Despite his condition, he made an effort to open his eyes, his gaze filled with deep gratitude. "It’s so late. Thank you for going through the trouble," he said.
After a brief conversation, the pastor led him in a prayer of repentance and baptized him in the name of the Holy Trinity.
After the baptism, the pastor spoke with the patient’s family and learned that just a month ago, the brother had still been working diligently at a construction site, unaware that illness would strike so suddenly. The family also shared that the believer's daughter, once strong in her faith, had strayed and turned to idolatry. The pastor comforted, "Pray for your daughter, that she may return to God’s embrace and avoid His discipline."
(Originally published by the Gospel Times, the article has been edited under permission and the author is a minister at a church in Shandong Province. )
- Edited by Karen Luo and translated by Poppy Chan
