Editor's note: Wen Qin, a blind pastor, is a real person. He is a pastor in a small church in a rural area of Northern Jiangsu. Though he is blind, he knows the Bible well, and on Sunday he would explain it to the faithful. When I offered to give the shepherd some money, he refused and said to me, "God's grace is enough for me, and I am thankful. Please give the money to those who need it more." Later, I bought him an audio player so he could listen to the Bible being read. This time, he gladly accepted. "This is exactly what I need to help me in my spiritual life," he told me.
It is a village church, small and shabby. Most believers are elderly, pastored by Wen Qin, who is in his 50s. His wife died, and he lives with his daughter. Wen was born blind. The subsistence allowance Wen Qin receives is about 200 yuan per month. He owns more than 1 mu of land, which is cultivated by his sister Wen Lan. That’s all the income he can receive.
Wen Qin eats only fried cabbage and fried pancakes. He often wears patched clothes. With such simple living conditions, he never expects to live an extravagant life, because his heart is filled with another kind of concern, that is, the ministry of the church and the inner life growth of the believers.
The mother-in-law of Yu Zhen has an irascible temper and an insolent disposition. Yu Zhen often complains and cries in church. When everyone blames her mother-in-law, Wen Qin would say to her, "Forgive you mother-in-law and pray for her."
Yu feels he is not kind enough and can not understand her feelings. However, Wen is still waiting in prayer, waiting for her, who is like his daughter in his eyes. He wants her to become stronger, and the strength in his eyes is the forgiveness and love that he has always emphasized.
He keeps praying -- "May God grant Yu Zhen a forgiving heart."
Aunt Xiu Hua's son was addicted to online games. Aunt Xiu was in despair and often cried.
Wen said to her: "Don't be sad. Believe that the child has a good heart. Please raise your hands and pray. God will mind a suffering mother's tears. Please believe that after prayer, there will be a miracle, maybe tomorrow."
Faced with the ugliness and darkness of society, he was in great distress. He also cried out for justice and denounced evil.
But in the lectern, he also read words from the wall of the Children's Home founded by Mother Teresa. “People are unreasonable, illogical, self-centered; Love them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are honest and frank，people may cheat you; be honest and frank anyway. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway. Give the world the best you have; And it may never be enough; Give the world the best you have anyway.”
Wen Qin receives the message from the Lord from the sacred high place. Coming down from the place, he brings comfort, counsel, and instruction to those who are sad, angry, and in despair.
He is also a watchman, pitying the poor and the weak, whipping the wicked, and guarding the children. He is a wise man whose eyes are dim, but whose mind could see everything. I wonder, does he still long to see the roses bloom? I know, he has a rose in his heart. That rose can send fragrance in the morning the same as a real rose and can stick to crystal dew. However, the earthly roses, when they wither, will be abandoned and trampled underfoot. That rose in Wen Qin’s heart, even if withered, someone also will hold it in the palm of the hand, in the warmth of one’s body until it disappears.
When Wen En, his daughter, graduated from junior high school, he borrowed money to let her study nursing. He thinks the daughter's choice is a call from God. His daughter is gentle, and she always treats each patient with a soft voice. She is always meticulous.
"I wish I had more patience, especially with patients who are cranky, who smell bad, and whose diseases might be contagious." It was something the daughter asked her father to pray to God for her.
Faith is passed down from father to daughter.
"The fate of being blind is not what I’m sorry for. God must have a reason for this." This is what Wen Qin said to his daughter, as well as to his believers.
At one point, he also had a lot of blame and resentment within him, pointing his fingers at everyone else. Today, he is willing to reflect quietly. Listening can awaken the voices within others. Praise can make him find the good in others and help him to appreciate them. Pity infuses his eyes with the same tenderness as the Virgin. To the so-called wicked, he knew that the sun shines on the evil and the good.
Some people say: "Wen Qin is poor." But I will have to say, "Wen Qin is rich, for he is the giver of abundance in the spiritual lives of the believers. Remember, the richness of the blind Wen Qin is not material or monetary, but spiritual."
Some people say: "Wen Qin is blind." But I will have to say: "Wen Qin’s soul is pure and bright. Though his eyes are dim, his spiritual eyes are transparent, and he is like an unceasing light shining in this extravagant and feverish world. It is a light that illuminates and inspires the dead and the weak but puts the guilty and the envious to shame."
- Translated by Nicholas Cao
