Story of a Prodigal Son: From Villain to Good Youth

A picture shows a man repairing a car.
A picture shows a man repairing a car. (photo: pixabay.com)
By Ruo WangJuly 6th, 2022

Many believers who want to move house will go to a male Christian surnamed Wang, a truck driver, for he is very friendly with strong business ability. As a result, he becomes the first choice for many people when they are looking for someone to move their goods.

But many people would not have thought that this amiable believer was once a prodigal son wandering in the streets. However, after he met Christ in his loss, his life changed.

Born in a remote mountain village, he was very young when his parents divorced. Without receiving much education at school, his father always beat him with a stick. As Wang at that time was skinny, he was bullied on campus.  He became violent due to the pain he suffered at home and school, with his values constantly distorted.

Soon he fooled around with the hooligans in the village, becoming a well-known villain. After he dropped out of junior high school, he came to work in the city, but he was dismissed within a few days due to quarreling with his workmates. So he played with gangsters in the city, eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling all day long. In order to satisfy the need for play, Wang followed the road of crime. He followed his associates in and out of remote places at night, looking for single girls or couples. Over a period of more than a month, they committed a number of robberies, rapes, violent injuries, and other crimes.

Their behavior was soon discovered by the police, who sentenced Wang and his associates to prison. Since Wang was just an adult without participating in serious violent crimes, he was given a light sentence, coming out after spending more than a year behind bars. However, after knowing about this,  his father disowned Wang openly in the village.

One of Wang’s distant relatives introduced him to work in a factory. But Wang's bad habits were hard to change, often quarreling and even fighting with his workmates. However, he soon discovered that these workers were different, as even if there was a serious conflict, they were still willing to associate with him, which made him feel respect and love he had never felt before.

Once a workmate invited him to church, and he followed as he thought that he had nothing to do on Sunday. Arriving at the church, he found believers with smiles on their faces, and the staff members in the reception group received him very warmly. On that day, the pastor happened to be talking about the prodigal son's return. With his heart deeply stung by the sermon, he felt that he was a prodigal son who had done many bad things. Before the end of the service, he couldn't help crying when hearing the song titled "Jesus Loves Sinners", regretting all kinds of sins committed in the first half of his life, which brought pain to many people, especially the girl victims whose weeping faces were always in his mind. 

For several nights in a row, Wang couldn't sleep all night, with a very hot power surging in his heart. So he asked about it his Christian workmates who said that it might be the Holy Spirit that urged him to believe in the Lord as soon as possible. After listening to the workmates, Wang felt peaceful. He prayed before them to accept the gospel of Christ.

From then on, Wang insisted on going to church every week and attending various Bible study classes. Although it was difficult for him to understand the Bible because of his low level of education, in order to understand the truth, he bought some dictionaries especially to study and improve his cultural level. Gradually, he understood the truth, being baptized to the Lord a year later.

Since he was baptized, Wang has been reading the Bible and praying every day. When his bad temper gradually disappeared, he became pleasant when communicating with others, often giving help to his workmates when he could. Moreover, Wang also discovered his gift for singing, so he joined the youth choir to practice singing, later becoming a core co-worker.

After working and living stably, Wang returned to his hometown with his fiancee he met in the choir. He immediately admitted his mistake and apologized to his old father, thanking him for more than ten years of parenting, with forgiveness of his father's violent education. When his father saw his son’s sincerity and the change in his life, he couldn't help crying. His father soon came to live with him in the city, accepting the gospel and participating in church activities.

Wang later learned driving skills to be a truck driver. Through his hard work, his life gradually became rich. He has become an elite in the industry, as his honesty, hardworking, and friendly working attitude have won praise from his boss and customers.

- Translated by Stephen Huang

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