From Hearing of God to Seeing Him

Qin Ru Wang—Fuqing, China

FAITH OF MY FATHERS

In the name of Jesus, I testify on how I established my faith in God. I am very thankful that I can grow up in a True Jesus Church household. My family came to believe in the true church through my grandparents.

My grandfather used to be a pastor of the Methodist church in China, but believed in the True Jesus Church after he heard about the teachings of the true church and was healed from a long-standing illness in 1926. Later on, my grandparents had to suffer much persecution and hardship for believing in the true gospel, but they still held on to their faith.

I was baptized as a baby, and when I was one week old, I was afflicted with an incurable disease, also known as the Black Death in the West. It was a terrible disease, and sometimes an entire village would be wiped out by this plague. My parents would do anything to see me treated. However, the doctor could not do anything, and he told my parents that nothing could be done and that they should return home.

My parents then remembered that they had forgotten to rely on God and that they needed to ask God for mercy. They then took me to a nearby chapel where there was an old church worker. They put me by the bed of this worker, and the three of them prayed all night. In the morning, I was healed.

DOES GOD TRULY EXIST?

In 1956, the church in mainland China ceased having services and could not do any church work. Growing up under a communist government with an atheistic education, I was both ignorant and weak in my faith. When my parents asked me to pray, I would pray, and when I faced difficulties, I would pray too. Yet I questioned God’s existence in my heart.

During the Cultural Revolution in China, my entire family went through great tribulation. My father used to be a well-known dentist in Fuqing, and I used to work for the government, but we were not allowed to continue with our jobs. The entire family was taken to a hillside to be farmers. Our life was very harsh then, and a doubt surfaced in my heart: in my prayers, I asked God, “God, if you truly exist, why does my family have to go through so much suffering?”

WATER THAT TURNED INTO MEDICINE

Life as a farmer was difficult and so when my wife fell ill, we did not have money to send her for treatment, and she had to stay at home for two days. One day when I returned from the hillside, my mother told my father that she wanted to take some water for my wife and pray before letting her drink it, so that God would heal her. My father agreed, and so my mother took a cup, filled it half-full and went to my room. My parents and I then stood in front of the bed and began to pray. After the prayer, my father gave the cup to me and told me to pass it to my wife. When I received the cup, I smelled a strong medicinal aroma. My parents left, and I passed the cup to my wife. I asked my wife how she felt when she drank the water. She asked why the water had such a distinct taste of medicine, although we did not have any medicine in our house. My wife was later healed. This miracle allowed me to experience God personally for the very first time in my life.

A DEMON CAST OUT

Another unforgettable miracle happened when a brother came to my house and knocked on the door one night. I asked the brother what he needed and he asked for my father to pray with him at his house. So my father and I took a flashlight and followed this brother. When we reached his house, we saw his wife dancing and singing. I was afraid because I thought that she must be mentally ill. I wondered if prayer would help such a person and that it might be better for her to be sent to a mental hospital.

My father asked her family how she became like this, and they told him that she had a quarrel with her husband that night and had left a foothold for Satan. Next, my father instructed them to kneel down and pray. During the prayer, I was also on my knees. However, I did not dare to close my eyes completely, because I was afraid that this mental patient would attack us. I wanted to watch what she would do.

After the prayer, my father stood up and walked to the sister, raised his hand and said, “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I bind Satan!” Immediately, the sister calmed down, opened her eyes and stared at us, asking, “What are you doing in my house in the middle of the night?” Her entire family laughed after that. My father encouraged them to preserve harmony in the house instead of fighting, so as not to leave a foothold for Satan.

God exists!

Afterwards, we went home. The incident touched me deeply. This demon-possessed person could be freed from Satan through prayer, which is not possible with man, but only with God’s power. The event showed me that, when we went to this brother’s house to pray, the Lord Jesus was also there praying with us. He was the One who made this miracle happen. That night, I was so moved that I could not fall asleep.

The following morning, I fasted and prayed for a day and told God, “I have now seen Your presence. A person who is demon-possessed proves that there is such a place as hell, and the fact that Satan was cast out through prayer proves the existence of God and heaven. I do not want to go to hell, but I want to enter heaven. May the Lord have mercy on me so that I would never leave you through out my entire life.”

After the Cultural Revolution subsided, my siblings were all baptized in Christ, and the grace of God came upon my household again. My parents resumed their original work. Even though I was given the opportunity to return to my former job, I was afraid to do so because I felt that I was a weak person and I would lose my faith and my spiritual life after returning to the world. When the 1970s came and the Cultural Revolution was coming to an end, the church gradually resumed services and, through God’s guidance, began to grow and prosper.

FINDING LOVE WITHIN THE CHURCH

Since the Mao government persecuted my entire family during the Cultural Revolution, many of our relatives and friends were afraid to communicate with us. Similar to the lepers in the Old Testament, people shunned us because having a close connection to us would affect the future of their family. Thus, many of them refused to interact with us apart from my sister and brother-in-law.

Although this was sad, the brothers and sisters in church continued to visit us, encourage my father, and pray for us. Through this, I found true love in the church. The love that is found in this world is conditional—only the love of God is unconditional. I was deeply moved that I had found such a wonderful church, the house of God. Why should I return to the world? The world was unstable and turbulent, but I had found a place of refuge in the true church, such that my soul received rest. Through God’s choosing, and encouragement from my elders, I began to involve myself in church work, which allowed me to experience more miracles and blessings that strengthened my faith.

ANGELS PERFORMED SURGERY

These testimonies are endless, but I would like to share two of them. There was a certain Mr. Lin in my village who worshipped idols. In 1991, he contracted an incurable disease, a tumor on his neck, and was sent to the best hospital in Fujian for treatment. But the doctor who performed surgery for him eventually did not dare to remove the tumor. After that, he returned home, feeling very sad. This person was only in his thirties, and his family was very poor. He reckoned that he could only wait for his death.

One day, a sister from our church visited him, and he and his wife were in tears because they felt that he had no more hope. So the sister preached to them, telling them that though there is no hope in this world, we still have hope in the Lord Jesus who is the greatest doctor; nothing is impossible with Him. She shared many testimonies of how patients with serious illnesses were healed. After listening to these testimonies, the man was greatly moved and wanted to believe in Jesus. His wife came to the church, and the church seeing that she was very earnest, sent three church workers to Mr. Lin’s house to remove all the idols and to pray and fast for him for three days.

One afternoon, a few days after they left, Mr. Lin was half-asleep on his bed, and his wife and daughter were by his bed, sewing blankets. As he was half-asleep, he saw two persons clothed in white, just like doctors, walking into his house. He suddenly woke up and told his wife what he had seen.

Since his wife had heard many testimonies of how people had been healed, she immediately thanked the Lord, saying that God had sent two angels to their home to heal her husband. She told him to kneel down, pray, and face the wall with his shirt unbuttoned, so that the angels could perform surgery. The whole family of three continued in prayer, and after Mr. Lin had prayed, he fell asleep, and the two angels appeared again. He felt that the angels were performing surgery on his neck to remove the tumor. Afterwards, they propped him up on his bed and showed him the tumor, telling him that he had been healed. When he woke up, he saw that his wife and daughter were still praying. He exclaimed, “The angels have completed the surgery!” They were so amazed because there were bloodstains on his neck and on his collar. Before that, he could not move his neck and lower his head to eat, but that night he could freely move his head.

Later, he went to Gaoshan church in Fujian Province to bear testimony. That Sabbath, I so happened to be at Gaoshan church to give a sermon. The following Sabbath, he went to another church in that area, Sanshan church, to bear this testimony, and, once again, I happened to be there too. After he had testified, I asked him what he had been wearing during the surgery. He replied that it was the same shirt he was wearing then, because it was his best shirt. I asked to look at his shirt, and he said that he had washed his shirt twice, but the bloodstain was still visible. I told him not to wash this shirt anymore, but to keep it as a testimony.

Since 1991, more than twenty years have passed, and brother Lin is still very healthy. He later offered his house as a place of worship, built another house, and allowed the church to build a chapel above his former house.

THE HOLY SPIRIT WORKS MIGHTILY

Starting from 1991, the Holy Spirit continually moved people to come to our church to study the Bible and listen to the word of God, especially students who were from Nanjing Union Theological Seminary. On March 1, 1993, more than forty people were baptized in Nanjing and subsequently, the church was established.

In May, many more truth-seekers came to our church. They were very fervent and thirsted for the Holy Spirit, but because there weren’t any preachers, evil spirits started to work among them. That same month, I went to Nanjing with another preacher, and after teaching them how to discern the spirits, the work of Satan quickly came to an end.

When we conducted the second baptism in Nanjing, we baptized three times a day—in the morning, afternoon, and at night before Holy Communion; people kept coming to ask to be baptized. Thus, the Holy Spirit worked mightily, and every night people would receive the Holy Spirit. Even those who came for the first time to listen also received the Holy Spirit. There was no chapel then, and we gathered at a sister’s house. We were afraid to pray loudly, and so every night, we told them to keep their volume down. During the second baptism, more than forty people were baptized.

A LAME WALKS

One night, after service, some theological students approached us and we talked until about 10:30 p.m. when they had to return to the seminary. I invited them to pray together before they left. As we were about to pray, an elderly sister, Sister Wang, joined us. She was sixty-eight years old. Because she had been in a car accident before, both her legs were crushed, and she had been using two crutches to walk. When she saw that we wanted to pray, she asked us to pray for her, so that she would no longer need to walk with the crutches and would be able to venture out and preach. Since she asked us, I did not want to reject her request. She was unable to kneel, so I gave her my seat.

Then I knelt down to pray with the other preacher and the theological students. I prayed to God, saying “God, Nanjing church is established by you. I did not come here on my own accord, but You have led me here. Please manifest your power so that these people would know that the True Jesus Church is the church that has the abidance of the Holy Spirit.” Then I laid hands on Sister Wang, and asked the other preacher to lay hands on her too.

After the prayer, I accompanied the students to the door, and little did I expect that this Sister Wang would walk towards us without her crutches, praising God that she did not have to use them anymore. When the theological students saw this, they were so amazed, moved, and greatly strengthened in their faith. After they graduated and returned to their respective areas, they preached the gospel and established the True Jesus Church there.

FROM HEARING TO SEEING

Since 1926, the faith has been passed on to the fifth generation in my family. Even though we face many trials and tribulations in our journey of faith, my grandfather’s testimony strengthens us greatly whenever we meet with hardships. Looking back at our sufferings during the Cultural Revolution, I can also say that these afflictions were beneficial to us. Through them, my family and I progressed from hearing about God to seeing God with our own eyes. Our faith was revived, and, eventually, all my siblings were baptized. The Lord has also allowed me to witness many miracles that enabled me to experience Him personally, revived my faith, and cleared my doubts. Thank God, may all glory be unto His name.