At 8:00 a.m. on June 16, a memorial service was held at the street intersection of South Road, Quwo County, Shanxi Province.
More than 100 pastors, co-workers and representatives of believers of the Christian Church in Quwo County gathered to bid farewell to the female believer Liu Chang’e who was born on April 17, 1926 in Shizidao Village, Xiangyuan County, Shanxi Province and was called to heaven at 9:35 a.m. on June 9, 2022, at the age of 97.
In 1948, Liu and her husband came to Quwo for the first time traveling over land and water. In 1955, they brought their daughter to Quwo again where she did odd jobs and learned tailoring at the same time. In 1960, she moved to Beixizhuang Village, Houma City, where she was a day laborer in the farmland and worked as a seamstress for villagers at night or on rainy days.
Liu laid a solid foundation of faith by following her parents and turning to Jesus at the age of 17. In the 1980s, she traveled around with several pastors to make sure the church own its proper venue in the county. She preached the gospel and helped establish churches in the townships governed by Quwo County and neighboring towns such as Houma, Jiangxian, Linfen, and other places. She also often visited Christian brothers and sisters who were sick or in need.
Liu kept reading the Bible and praying to build a beautiful relationship with God. She kept serving every day, receiving believers and helping them solve difficult problems in faith and daily life. Although not being supported by her family, she built a prayer altar at home and established a study group for God's word together. Every day starting from 5:00 in the morning, the group studied three times in the morning, noon and evening, even during the holidays. Over the years, the spiritual life of many Christians has been edified.
When serving with Liu, we witnessed that she woke up at 4:00 every morning to fellowship with the Lord. She continued bringing God's will to teach us for decades.
When someone confided their difficulties to her, she would surely pray earnestly before God, concentrating on seeking God's will, and trying her best to lead the seeker onto the path of peace.
A believer in Houmaqiao Village was chained by the devil for a long time with no cure before he believed in God. After taking him home, Liu prayed day and night in the name of the Lord and tried her best to look after him, which helped him recover and return to his family. A female from Xiyang Village in Quwo was possessed by the devil, which left her family nowhere to go, but to the church for help. She prayed all night and finally led her to convert to Christ, which gave a beautiful testimony before God. Another woman from Beiguan Village in Quwo suffered from mental illness and urinary incontinence for several years. Unfortunately, her family was indifferent to her situation. Even though she often peed on the sofa in Liu’s house, Liu warmly took her in, searching for a way to heal her. Liu looked after her for several years till she died.
Liu often led church members to visit those who were sick or in need. To engage in the visitation ministry, she learned to ride a bicycle at the age of 63. Then, she often tirelessly rode her bike for dozens of kilometers to visit others.
Once on a visit to a female paraplegic believer with financial difficulties in Yicheng County, Liu donated the money that she had saved by living a simple life. She said to the fellows, “You can earn more money after spending it, but you can’t make up for it after something has happened.”
At the age of 60, Liu was seriously ill and diagnosed with advanced uterine cancer. However, she was miraculously healed by God, after which she resolved to dedicate the rest of her life to Him. Through her, God established churches successively in Xiguo Village in Tumen Town, Linfen City, and Xiyang Village in Quwo County. She often walked several kilometers alone for pastoring and evangelism.
In 2004, 78-year-old Liu dedicated her home to having a Bible study in order to prevent believers from falling into the mistake of "following their own evil desires and believing in absurd words". One chapter a day, Quwo South Fellowship has systematically studied the Bible seven times so far.
Liu had rescued four unrelated children in her life. Turning 73, when she was supposed to be enjoying her old age, she rescued a disabled baby who was abandoned by her relatives. The child suffered from cleft lip and cleft palate, for which he needed an hour and a half to drink up a jug of milk, and often vomited during it. As a result, Liu many times got up at two or three o’clock in the morning. The next year, she took the 9-month-old child to the Fourth Military Medical University Hospital in Xi'an where the repair surgery was successfully performed. When the child grew up, she sent him to Linfen to participate in massage training, which enabled him to master a professional skill.
(The author of this article is a special contributor to The Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Shuya Wang
