On November 26, 2022, Pastor Wang Zhongxiao passed away in Shanghai's Xinhua Hospital at the age of 89. Later that year, on December 3, his fellow church coworkers held a memorial service for him, and churches and individuals who had received help from Pastor Wang all came to express their condolences.
The memorial service began with the hymn "Amazing Grace," then the choir sang Pastor Wang's three favorite hymns: "Lord, Here I Take My Cross," "It Was the Lord Who First Loved Me" and "Lord, I Love You".
The lyrics go like this:
"Lord, here I take my cross now to follow Thee, worldly gain and empty fame are but dross to me;
It was the Lord, not I, who first showed His love; it was the Lord who chose me, so I followed Him.
Whenever I think of the Lord's great love, it is so great that I have nothing to repay.
I love You, Lord, because You died for me; from this day on, my body and my mind I surrender to You; it is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me."
One of Pastor Wang's students shared that these three hymns, which Pastor Wang often sang together with other believers, were his all-time favorites, and the words of the hymns actually reflected the real life of Pastor Wang as testified by God and people.
He remembered the prayer that Pastor Wang led him to pray on his knees before God 30 years ago: "Lord, it is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. You have called me to dedicate myself to You since I was 18 years old, and for these past 40 years, You have accepted my dedication and kept Your covenant with me. Lord, may You continue to maintain the love between You and me until the day I am old and gray and pass from this life to my eternal home." The words of this prayer have also become the aspiration and goal of the lives of many believers in the Church.
At the memorial service, various churches and individuals who had received Pastor Wang's help and mentoring expressed their condolences for him:
Church A was once in a state of disarray due to doctrinal issues, and it wasn't until after speaking with Pastor Wang that the members of the church finally had a better understanding of the teaching of the Bible. Moreover, since Pastor Wang came to the church, the struggling church has been able to develop with his help.
A coworker from Church B shared: "Pastor Wang is our beloved pastor, our spiritual father on earth, and an example for us to follow. Pastor Wang did not lead us to Christ because he was well-educated or because he was eloquent, but because he showed us a life that was lived in the Lord. He was humble and sincere, and he loved God and people with all his heart and without fear. He practiced what he preached and meant what he said when it came to dealing with others. He was a true Israelite in whom there is no deception".
He went on to say that Pastor Wang was indeed very humble. Once, a publisher wanted to write a testimony of Pastor Wang based on his life story, but he refused because he wanted to give all the glory to the Lord.
Pastor Wang was also full of love and acceptance for those who were younger than him. In the early years when he came to the church, the believers often called Pastor Wang by his first name, and even though Pastor Wang, who was relatively traditional-minded, valued respect for superiors and seniority, he did not care much how he was called. Later, as the believers got to know Pastor Wang better, they all began to call him Pastor Wang out of love for him.
"Dear old Pastor Wang loved to take pictures of others to capture memories, but some of the younger believers could not understand the pastor's heart. However, after knowing that some believers did not like to be photographed, Pastor Wang restrained himself and did not ask others to be photographed so often. From all these little things, we could see the abundant love overflowing from the life of this servant of God.
A brother in Christ said that he would always remember Pastor Wang's kindness in taking his two daughters as students and letting them live in his home for half a year without charging them.
A sister in Christ who accompanied and cared for Pastor Wang in his later years shared that God led her to Pastor Wang after she became a Christian. Pastor Wang gave her training and opportunities to preach and even arranged a position for her in the church, which led her into full-time ministry and opened the door for her to study theology.
Pastor Wang Zhongxiao was born on January 2, 1933, in Pudong, Shanghai. He graduated from Shanghai High School. He received a call to dedicate himself to the Lord at the age of 18 from the Holy Spirit during a prayer meeting. He then studied at the seminary for four years and, upon graduation, began to serve the Lord with other spiritual mentors. In the following years, Pastor Wang participated in pastoral training in churches throughout China, helping to develop and support the many churches in the country and their coworkers. He rested in peace with the Lord on November 26, 2022, in Shanghai's Xinhua Hospital.
- Translated by Joyce Leung
