Conflicts and tensions between Christians and their non-believing family members seem to be quite common and not easily resolved.
Elder He initially opposed his wife's faith by engaging in extreme behavior, such as "burning the Bible," but eventually followed the Lord. Following is Elder He's story in his own narrative.
My wife and I were classmates at the university. After graduation, we were both assigned to Xi'an, China's northwestern Shaanxi Province, where we lived and worked for nine years. In 1995, we had the opportunity to move to my wife's hometown, Kunming, Yunnan Province. At first, my wife suffered from severe insomnia and sought varied methods for self-help, eventually encountering the gospel by chance. My wife later said, "From the night I came back from the baptism service, I never had insomnia again!"
I was an atheist, believing that religious faith was mere superstition. I saw no difference between believing in Jesus and burning incense to worship Buddha and was extremely opposed to my wife's faith. One night, after drinking a bit, I got into another argument with my wife. In a fit of rage, I took her Bible and tried to burn it with a lighter.
I remember one time when I returned home early from a business trip abroad. When I opened the door, I found the house full of people. My wife had arranged a fellowship group meeting at our home while I was away. I ignored them and went straight to my room, slamming the door shut.
During a vacation, I happened to see a CD on the coffee table. It contained a lecture by Feng Bingcheng, a Chinese-born American pastor. He was a scientist, and one of his statements struck me deeply. He said, "Do you think all this is just a coincidence? When you think everything is random and coincidental, don't you think there must be something inevitable behind it?" I felt he was right—how could there be so many coincidences allowing this world to exist and operate so regularly? Feng continued, "If you think there is an inevitability behind it, it is God's creation."
From that day on, my understanding and perspective on things began to change subtly. I always felt a high creator watching over me. Later, my mother and I made a prayer for confession together. During the prayer, I cried very hard. It seemed that all the pent-up frustration, grievances, regrets, unwillingness, and helplessness in my heart were completely released at that moment, and I loudly declared what I believed.
I became a believer seven years after my wife’s baptism. I remember when I went to church the first time, I realized that many people knew me, but I didn't know any of them. I learned that they had been praying for me for seven years, and some Christian women were even the ones who experienced my door-slamming episode.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
