Why I Lead 5 Churches in China

A 54-year-old woman shares her astounding path to Christ.

By Bo, as told to Andrew McChesney, adventistmission.org

I first entered a Seventh-day Adventist church when I was 39. My mother, a former Sunday keeper who had become an Adventist, had hurt her foot, and I didn’t want her to go to church alone.

The church members were very old and very welcoming, especially when they saw a “young adult” like me! But I wasn’t particularly impressed, so I told my mother, “What time do you finish? I’ll come back to pick you up.”

On another Sabbath, however, I was shocked to see a physician in the church. I had seen him before because he worked at a hospital near my home. It shocked me that a physician could be a believer. I had been taught that religion is an emotional crutch for the weak.

“Why does the doctor believe in God?” I asked my mother.

“He not only believes in God, but he also is a church leader,” my mother said.

The fourth time that I brought my mother to church, I felt impressed to sit down and see what church was all about. I still remember the sermon. The preacher spoke about 1 Corinthians 13, the great love chapter.

After that Sabbath, I attended church regularly for a year, and my heart began to change. When the pastor asked if I wanted to be baptized, I readily agreed.

Trade School Fees

Then something happened that caused me to quit my 17-year job as a worker at a thread-making factory and devote myself to full-time gospel work.

My son wanted to go to a trade school to become a lathe worker, but the tuition for the three-year course cost 10,000 yuan, money that we didn’t have.

My mother suggested that we pray about it. We prayed, but I didn’t expect any kind of miracle.

When my sister heard about the tuition costs, she contacted a friend who worked at the trade school and asked whether my son could apply for a scholarship. The friend, who worked at the school as an accountant, said the only available scholarship was for low-income families. We didn’t qualify for that.

The friend said, “Why don’t you ask the young man to apply to the school first? Then we’ll see what we can do.”

After my son was formally accepted into the school, my mother and four sisters pooled their money with mine to cover the tuition. We all went to school together to pay, and we were greeted by the accountant. She asked my son right then and there to write a letter requesting a scholarship, and she took the letter to the principal’s office.

When the principal looked at the letter, he asked, “How much should I help this student?”

“You have the power to do whatever you like,” the accountant replied.

The principal wrote “500” on the letter.

Mysterious “500”

When the accountant returned with the signed letter, I was so excited. I didn’t know what the “500” meant, but even a 500-yuan discount would be a big help.

We took the letter to the cashier’s office.

“Would you like to pay for one year or all three years?” the cashier asked.

“All three years,” I said.

The cashier did some calculations and announced, “Your grand total is 2,700 yuan.”
We were in shock! We didn’t know what happened or how she came up with that figure. Even today, we don’t know what happened.

We weren’t expecting a miracle. Even the accountant declared that it was a miracle.

“I had never expected the principal to look up at me and ask how much subsidy to offer the student,” she told us afterward. “This has never happened before. I was in shock when I heard those words. I know for sure that this is a miracle.”

My faith in God had been shallow. After this experience, I realized that God has compassion and mercy. He does care for us. It was then that I made the decision to serve God with all my heart. I have few talents, but I decided that I could help clean the church or visit a few people.

Today, I am 54 years old and oversee five churches. I feel very unworthy to be called a gospel worker. But I believe that God is leading, and He will help me to do the gospel work.

Part of the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering in third quarter 2018 will help open a holistic inner-city church plant in China.

Adventist Mission is not identifying Bo by her real name or disclosing her location to protect her work. Bo is a woman’s name meaning “precious” in Chinese.