Truck Driver Leads Dozens to Christ in Taiwan
While growing churches, he also finds a new wife.
Lu Shen-Xiong works full-time as a truck driver, but he is recognized as one of the most effective church leaders in Taiwan.
Shen-Xiong was baptized at the age of 41, and a pastor quickly asked him to assist with a struggling congregation in the mountainous village of De-Wen in southern Taiwan. The church once had many members, but only four people — two families — still attended.
Shen-Xiong accepted the challenge.
“I volunteered to help the Adventist pastor because I wanted to learn how to teach the Bible,” he said in an interview.
Shen-Xiong — while working as a truck driver — carefully prepared a three-year plan for the church. First, he would reach out to former church members. Then, he would reintroduce Sabbath School because the church only offered the sermon. After that, he would offer community Bible studies to baptize new members.
Everything worked well at first. In the first year, 12 former members returned to church, bringing the membership to 16. Sabbath School was restarted the second year as planned.
But during the third year, Shen-Xiong’s wife left him and their two sons for another man. Their 12-year-old son was in school on weekdays, but the other boy was only 18 months old. Shen-Xiong had to take the baby along with him as he drove the truck.
“I kept one hand on the steering wheel, and with the other I feed him with a milk bottle,” Shen-Xiong said.
Seeking a New Wife
He prayed earnestly for a new wife.
“I prayed to God, ‘My son is still small. I need to marry again, so please find a woman for me,’” he said.
While Shen-Xiong struggled at home, God blessed the church. In 3 ½ years, the church reclaimed 17 former members and baptized 22 others, bringing total membership to 43.
The growing church was assigned its own pastor, and Shen-Xiong was asked to assist with another struggling church — this time a house-church in the southern city of Jeo Chi Tong with only four members, all from the same family.
Again, Shen-Xiong prepared a plan. No former church members lived in the area, so he resolved to invite everyone he met to the church. Worship services were held on Friday night, and Shen-Xiong rescheduled them to Sabbath morning.
In the first year, four families joined the church. Three more families joined the second year. Shen-Xiong taught the new church members how to pray, return tithe, teach Sabbath School, and preach sermons. One of them knew how to play the piano, so he asked her to learn hymns for church. In four years, the church membership grew to 40 people from 15 families.
“Shen-Xiong is an incredible leader,” said James Wu, director of the Ministerial, Sabbath School, and personal ministries departments of the Taiwan Conference. “He does ministry work better than many pastors.”
Married at Last!
During the fourth year at this church, God answered Shen-Xiong’s prayer for a new wife.
One day, Shen-Xiong took some food to a relative, who owns a bar, and saw a woman drinking alone in the bar. He approached the woman and said, “I’m doing gospel work, so when I ask something, you have to tell me the truth. Don’t lie to me.”
The woman looked at him silently.
“Will you come to church on Sabbath?” he asked.
“OK,” the woman said.
But she didn’t come. Shen-Xiong got her phone number and called her for six months to remind about her promise. Finally, she showed up at church. A month later, she stopped drinking, and then she was baptized. A month after her baptism, Shen-Xiong asked her to marry him.
“My second wife is God’s gift to me,” said Shen-Xiong, now an energetic 60-year-old grandfather.
Two years ago, the church was assigned its own pastor. Shen-Xiong and his wife, O Yiu-Zhen, continue to worship there, with 52 other members, and every evening they visit the homes of members who missed church services the previous Sabbath.
“If every pastor did that, the Adventist Church would grow quickly,” Shen-Xiong said.
He said God has blessed him greatly and recited Genesis 22:18, which says, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice” (NKJV).
“My conclusion is when we obey God, He will bless us even when we have big problems,” he said.