Editor's note: This is part six of the Christian testimony series: the stories of a dedicated church elder who is wholehearted to his ministry.
Today we will talk about a dedicated church elder.
The elder was a teacher in an educational institution before his full-time ministry. That was not a low-paying position where there was not much risk, but as he had walked with God for a long time, he became more and more pious to the Lord. When the leaders of the local CC&TSPM asked him to be in charge of a church, he resigned from his secure job at the school, dedicating himself to serving the church full-time despite the strong opposition of his family.
That was a church that had been in dispute for a long time. When he came to that church, he was faced with chaotic situations such as a lack of funds, divisions within the church, and complaints. Some people would disrupt and obstruct the preaching part. To deal with these situations, he prayed incessantly and obtained the support of local authorities on one hand. On the other hand, he reorganized the church's internal organization, weeded out troublemakers, united the majority of the congregation, and made the church start to be more right on the track little by little.
Due to lack of funds, the church was old and in poor condition, even the pews in the main hall were barely usable. He asked for help from other sister churches, either by loan or by sponsorship, and paid back some of the overdue expenses of his church that had accumulated over the years. In addition, he redecorated the church's interior and exterior by means of "installment payments”, and upgraded the sound and projection equipment of the church.
In the early days of his ministry in the church, he as the head of the church did voluntary work without being paid. When the church lacked teachers for pastoral care, he invited students from seminaries and pastors from other churches to preach sermons there. When he went to visit sick believers and some families with financial difficulties, he would give money out of his own pocket. In the first years, the church often purchased some office supplies, such as printing ink, printing paper, Christmas decorations, etc., and he would pay for them by himself.
Sometimes in the evening, he came back home, exhausted, but still had to answer the phone and WeChat messages. Although he had some chronic diseases, he chose to get through those difficulties on his own and didn't have time to go to the hospital. He usually didn't go to bed until after 11 p.m. He also needed to get up early in the morning and lead his congregation to read scriptures and pray online. When believers passed away, he would get up at five or six o 'clock in the morning, lead the funeral service team to attend the funerals of the deceased and comfort their family members.
But even so, he still had to guard against attacks, judgments, and disturbances from individuals left by the people who were originally in charge.
He also went to the seminary for systematic study. After more than three years of hard work and even "fighting", his church now has a new look inside and out, and the whole church is united. It has developed from dozens of people in the early stage to hundreds of people now. Even under the restrictions of pandemic prevention, there are still more than 200 people at each service.
(The author of this article is a special contributor to the Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Stephen Huang
