Chinese villages are fundamentally transformed by the mysterious power of the gospel

… People light a lamp and place it under the basket, but they put it on a stand and give light to everyone in the house. (Matthew 5:15).

Twenty-five years ago, my hometown was widely known as the evil “burglar of thieves.” Do you know who it turned out like that? Perhaps poverty has driven people to crime, or perhaps over time the secular atmosphere has eroded their sense of morality. But even though it happened, our little Hamlet was the subject of supplementary light corn to everyone around us.

The villagers themselves thought that such a reputation had not been said. Even illiterate was happy to laugh at those prissy observers. “Let me talk! We’ll walk our own path.”

They played by different rules. I remember an old lady on the west side of town catching her stolen at a market. The local government locked her in for a day, but as soon as she went outside she became like a victory soldier returning from the battle, making her neighbor proud with her tales of exploitation.

Only a handful of families (some say up to 10 people) are reversed from rampant crime and theft. For a while, my neighbor, San, was deeply disturbed by what happened in our village. But in the end, even she was unable to resist the money and she joined the crime masses.

The vendors and sellers of Feng, Yutai, PEI and Shan counties all suffered with the well-practised hands of our village burglars. As for legal consequences, it was like a small game that the villagers had to play over and over again. They’ll be caught and released. Free and capture. I’ll be caught and release it again. Authorities had no teeth.

I left in 1993 to study in another small city, and after graduating I traveled extensively. I rarely went back home and even if I had the opportunity to visit people, I never caught up with what happened in the so-called “burglars of thieves.”

Most villagers began to believe and obey Jesus Christ.

Almost ten years later, I received news from my hometown that shocked me. In the spring of 2002, I was talking to my mother over the phone as she shared about some of the stunning changes in the village. It was now a “burglar of thieves.” No one was stolen. Theft and crime had disappeared. There was one simple reason. One after the other, most villagers began to believe in and follow Jesus Christ.

I was fooled. Who was this Jesus Christ? How did he change my village? What forces can turn such a community of evil and stubborn people into a city of law-abiding and respectful citizens?

When I returned home that year for Chinese New Year, I brought these questions to me. My mother and I visited the local church in the village. When we arrived, all eight rooms were packed with people and their faces were shining in happiness and peace. Everything about the place stood out from the boring devastation and pain of the outside world. These Christians prayed, worshiped, made music and preached with real joy. I knew this was a place where people’s minds were liberated.

Soon I heard that an older woman had returned from the market. When the church sisters heard it, they took turns visiting and serving her. The Christian community helped her and her family through those difficult times.

Moreover, their love and service for one another quietly sowed the seeds of their faith in those around them. If someone was sick, he or she always had a visitor. Those who were able to help everything in their power whenever their families were in need. Those who were unable to help materially pray seriously on behalf of their families, and everyone will face a crisis together.

The new commandment I give to you that you love each other: Just as I love you, you love each other too. (John 13:34)

People can forge acts of service, but they cannot forge a transformation of the mind.

People can forge acts of service, but they cannot forge a transformation of the mind. When people change inside, it’s a real power. I saw its power at work, even though I still didn’t know where it ultimately came from.

As I saw, I saw that power also worked in my own family. My aunt told me, “People can’t change other people. It’s almost impossible. But the changes I saw in your mother’s life changed me. When I saw her life testimony, I had to learn more about her faith.

My mother used to be a quick guy. The most trivial things could pull her apart, and she would argue with my father fiercely. Once a harmonious home could not spend the day without conflict or anger. But something changed for my mother after she began to pursue her. A year later, she was respectful, friendly, generous, humble, and host of other adjectives that I never thought I would describe my mother. She was wonderful to be around.

It wasn’t just my mom. After my sinful sister Liu came to know the Lord, she began to speak differently. She was kind, kind and elegant. Her words were blessings and blessings for those around her.

And then there was the horrifying Miss Chan, the infamous defensive vegetable vendor. No one in the vegetable market will cause her. However, after she came to faith, people marveled at her transformation. Everyone in the surrounding area spoke about how honest she had done business, how kindly she carried herself, and how generously she treated her customers.

I left a village corrupted by crime and returned to a village transformed by Christ.

These and more testimony presented themselves as incontroversial evidence. I left a village corrupted by crime and returned to a village transformed by Christ.

The power of God is like inhaling the wind, quietly and secretly, slipping into the deepest realm of a man’s soul. It cleanses the wounds in his heart and peels off the old ideas that have covered his heart. In front of Christ, traditional feudal ideas, cultural Chinese light empt for women, and other hubs are crushed, and God replaces them with new values ​​for people and new ways of looking at the world.

Now these three things are faith, hope, love, and the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13). That faith has rebuilt the broken sense of good and evil in our community. That love has taken in our selfish society of discord, leading us to a new song of harmony. The miserable vendors are now generous, the difficult mothers are calm, and the vulgar women are now graceful. That’s what Jesus did for my village.

Originally published by Chinasource. It was reissued with permission.

It is often written, translated or edited by members of the Chinasource staff from original material published in Chinese.