Next to the Jiangxin Building, the waves on the Jinjiang River are rippling. It has been almost three years since the farewell in the winter of 2018.
In the fall of 2017, I moved from Beijing to live in Chengdu, while my work required me to travel between Beijing and Chengdu, delaying several transfer studies. It wasn’t until June of the following year that I transferred to EarlyRain Covenant Church. After serving for a long time, I became very familiar with the brothers and sisters, as if I had known them for many years. However, I generally avoided the pastors and elders. I was afraid that if they had any gift that could read my mind since I am a sinner, wouldn’t it be troublesome?
By September, we knew that the new church was ready. I went to the sixth floor and saw that the new church was in a mess. Elder Qin, who manages the synagogue, was busy moving around inside. I went to ask him to assign something to do, and he said, “You install the TVs”. Elder Qin is not tall, but has a good figure, fair skin, good looks, and always has a smile on his face even when he is busy. That day I worked with him until the dark night, that was our first acquaintance.
The pastor has a round face, he writes poetry and articles well, and he is very easy-going and joyful. His sermons were like the flowing water of a mountain river, sometimes trickling, sometimes surging. I first knew him from the internet and only met him when I arrived in Chengdu. For more than a year, I sat in the front row of the church because I was afraid of the noise in the back that would interfere with the sermon. I often smiled at him after the meeting, shook his hand and greet each other. Until the December 9th persecution, there was no serious talk between us. After that, I could only watch his photos and videos and listen to his sermons on the salvation of Jesus Christ to remember him. Oh! I often tell my brothers, If you love someone, you must say it early.
Alas. The ancients said, “What you encounter in life is actually a divine arrangement.” Just as Paul was taken to the city of Rome, and John was imprisoned on the island of Patmos, how could they make their own decisions? When my brother is locked up for four years and my pastor for nine years, in order to test them, and what the Lord has done will be accomplished, What can I do ? When I couldn’t sleep, I remembered that I was a coward and a coward to make a living. What hope can I have when I feel so much sorrow? But the Bible says, “Lord, what am I waiting for now? My hope is in you! Deliver me from all my transgressions, and do not put me to the shame of fools.”
God has mercy on His people, and though we are scattered to the winds, yet in Jesus Christ we become one. The high walls cannot stop the contact in the Lord, and the mountains and seas cannot separate us. May brothers and sisters in the Lord often raise their hands in prayer, saying, “Holy is the Lord! Your glory fills the whole earth! Look after their food and shelter, and protect their parents and wives and children. Wipe away our tears that we miss them. Hear my prayer, O Lord.”
This is what I want to say. Written by Ye, a brother who is in the Lord with you, in June 2021.