Sister L, born in 1940, has turned 81 this year. Short and slightly hunched, she still walks steadily, and even young people struggle to keep up with her. She is rather witty and speaks quickly. Younger people often ask her, "Why are you still so energetic at your age?" She always answers with smiles, "Thank the Lord, I have His protection!"
"Thank Lord, I have His protection!" This has become her pet phrase. In fact, it is also a portrayal of her real life.
For over ten years, L goes to church every Saturday afternoon to clean the tables and chairs. She attended the village church in her hometown in her early years, and later settled in the city with her daughter, and came to the church where she is now a committed member. Since her later commitment, no matter whether it is sunny or rainy, cold or hot, she wipes the seats and tables in the church every Saturday afternoon.
In recent years, the head of the church considered her old age, worried that she would catch a cold when exposed to cold water during the winter, and advised her to let go of the holy cleaning work. However, L answered them, "People who are my age are often unable to even move, yet I can still wipe the tables and chairs. This is Lord's kindness to me. As someone who is totally illiterate, I can't do anything else in the church. But I want to show my gratitude to Lord!"
She also quietly does the cleaning work for a unit next to the church, which is next door to the church in the same community. As L insists on making it to the morning prayers in the church which ends at 7: 00, while the unit opens for the day at 8: 00, so she would clean the garbage in the front yard or corridor of the unit whenever she passes by. Sometimes, she sees the employees of this unit pass by, who always thank her. She always replies, "Thank the Lord! Don't thank me. I am from the church next door, so your cleaning is also our responsibility! I can do it because Lord is kind to give me such an opportunity."
She insisted on collecting scraps to sell for money to offer to the Lord. The rural old woman with no source of income has been widowed for many years. She has three daughters (all who have become confident Christians under her influence), and her daily expenses are entirely dependent on her daughters. All her daughters earn their living as casual laborers and have no fixed income, so their families aren’t particularly well-off. She understands the difficulties in her daughters’ lives and has always tried to be diligent and thrifty. As she always wants to express her gratitude to the Lord, she keeps collecting scraps to sell and contributes the earnings to the church. Not wanting her to do so, her daughters were willing to give her some money to contribute to the church. However, she said, "When I contribute to church with your money, it is your offering, not mine. I want my own offering!"
Later, when the church leaders and members knew about this, they advised her not to contribute. However, she always replied, "The Lord is so kind to me so that I can still enjoy going to church. How can I go there empty-handed?" When the church was built in 2018, sister L contributed two times for a total of RMB 3,000 in just a few months.
Neighbors knew that she collects scraps, and would give her their household scraps, but she would always repay them with foods like vegetables and fruits. These foods are actually gifts from her relatives and friends. She hesitates to eat them but uses them to thank her neighbors instead.
L once had a testimony of healing. In the year before last, she suddenly felt pain in her left foot and could not walk. She prayed to the Lord, "Lord! If you don't heal me, how can I worship you in church? You are the doctor of the sick, you opened the eyes of the blind, made the ears of the deaf hear, and had the lame get up and walk. Please heal me too, so that I can go to church and worship you." In a few days, she was able to go to church on foot.
On another day, she had a stiff neck while sleeping, and could not rotate it at all. She thought that hospitalization for surgery would not only cost money but also delay her morning prayers and worship. She refused to have surgery and prayed to God. A few days later, she was able to move her neck about freely.
She also testified that before she believed in the Lord, she had an egg-sized lump in her neck, but after becoming a Christian for a few months, the lump disappeared seemingly by itself. She believed that it was the Lord who had healed her. Therefore, she often tells others that the Lord Jesus is so kind to her and she has been determined to believe in Him all her life and will follow Him to the end. Moreover, she expressed that as long as she could breathe and can move, she would show her gratitude to Lord.
(This article is originally published by Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Oliver Zuo
