Editor's note: Chun Man and Xin Man are sisters, born two years apart, who were both diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy I (SMA-I) at 3. The doctor predicted that they won't live past 8. However, they have beaten the disease repeatedly with the care of their single mother and now they serve in the Joyful Candlelight Fellowship of Beijing Chongwenmen Church.
Below is their testimony, shared by members of the fellowship:
1. Administrators who only work and sleep
Formed by church volunteers, seriously ill believers, and their families, the special fellowship was founded to care for and visit sick believers. The two sisters lead the members in Bible-reading and praying every morning in its WeChat group, providing support and encouragement to physically or mentally disadvantaged Christians. In addition, they also share medical information and church activities with the members.
Members in the fellowship are always feeling accompanied. As the administrators of the group, they are online almost all the time they are awake.
2. Collectors of prayer request
The main work of the Fellowship volunteers is to care for and visit patients. Apart from visits, the members pray for sick believers. Vigilant about other Christians, the sisters collect prayer information from them.
3. Propagandists good at writing and sound
The fellowship started its official WeChat account on November 20, 2015, and the two sisters are responsible for its operation. In light of its readers who are from special groups - most of them are patients and their families -- they release a group of photos daily to meet spiritual needs.
They also write books. They have published four books: a motivational book named Life Starts from Tomorrow, a romance novel titled If I Can Stand up and Kiss You, Redeeming Love, which is notes based on their hotline service, and Never Give Up, a documentary describing the life of Beijing drifters. They are currently writing their fifth book.
A Counseling Hotline established and named after them has developed from a single phone care service into a multi-channel care service via WeChat, QQ, email, and online broadcasting station.
Their life
The disease attacked them when they were one year old and was confirmed as spinal muscular atrophy I when they were 3.
Because they couldn't look after themselves, their mother cared for every aspect of their life. Doctors predicted that they would not live past eight, then twelve, then thirty... However, they have overcome the disease over and over again with the fine care of their mother, a single mother who has created the miracle of life with love!
What keeps life going
The sisters share that they joined the fellowship because the big family is filled with love and warmth rather than suffer from myasthenia. The fellowship has accepted them because of God's love, not their sickness.
Remarks: The Joyful Candlelight Fellowship was originally a fellowship of people who have recovered from cancer. They help patients walk through painful treatment on the basis of their personal experiences with the illness and faith journeys. Later, some healthy Christians joined it. It aims to serve those patients who have severe diseases.
In the past decade more than 70 volunteers have engaged in the patient care and visitation ministry. It has assisted over one hundred cancer patients, including over thirty terminal patients. It is estimated that eighty percent of patients who receive long-term visitation convert to Christianity.
-Translated by Karen Luo
