Born in Xiangshan County, Zhejiang Province, Mr. Huang Detang (1886-1981) was a faithful servant of God, preaching the gospel barefoot and fasting every morning. Here are the stories about the death of his wife and son in his life.
His wife passed away when he forgot the Lord’s grace, far away from Him.
His life became enjoyable and corrupt when he was busy making money every day after he employed clerks, apprentices, long-term workers, and maids to be a boss.
God disciplined him, as his wife suddenly died and the business was sluggish due to years of famine and grain harvest failure in the rural areas.
When his wife was forty-seven years old, she said she felt cold, so he went to ask someone to slaughter a pig for the Spring Festival. Going all the way back, he thought about a past dream in which he had only 28 years of spousal relationship with his wife. He could not eat food or even sleep at night, so he woke up in the middle of the night and wrote to his eldest son in Nanjing, asking him to quickly return home.
On the third day of the first lunar month, his wife said that she was going to die that night. He asked her at what time. She said she would leave with a sedan chair carrying her when the cock crowed. Sure enough, she died at that time.
That night, a nephew also dreamed of a blue sedan chair carrying her. He asked in his dream, "Auntie, where are you going with such bright clothes today?" She replied, "Going to Heaven." When he woke up, it was time for the rooster to crow.
Huang regretted that it was because he forgot God’s grace and his promise that his wife was called back to the heavenly home when his son Fang Han was only 7 years old, and Fangzheng 13.
Then his youngest son died after he prayed for three sick persons.
He made the same prayers when he was invited to pray for an only son of an elder, a believer, and the wife of a deacon: "Lord, choose one of my four sons to die for him/her.” Eventually, all these dying people lived.
After some time, his youngest son, Fang Han, aged 23, suddenly died. Feeling very sad, he prayed to God, "Lord! Why did you take away Fang’s life? He was such a smart, filial, and God-fearing person whom I brought up since his childhood, as my wife passed away when I was middle-aged."
The Lord answered, "This is what you just asked for. He died for three people you have prayed for. He was the most suitable, as he did not have a family. You would have been sadder if I had chosen a different son." At that time, he had nothing to say, as God was more thoughtful than him.
(The article is compiled by a 93-year-old elder in True God Church in Xiao Town, Fenghua, Zhejiang, adjusted according to the original text.)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
