When I was 17, I was cured of a serious illness by the grace of God. As I was recovering, I had a ten-day intensive training. After that, I pocketed 500 yuan of traveling fees given by my church and went to the Manchurian region to do church planting and preach with brothers and sisters from Xincai, Henan.
In order to save money, several of our co-workers bought a box of bagged instant noodles and a few bottles of water and then got on the coach to Beijing. When we arrived at Beijing Railway Station, we nearly spent half of the fee. Then, we took a train to Xinmin City, Liaoning Province, where we had little money left.
At that time, we were very young, simple, and keen. Due to the lack of study materials, we always fought for books, copied them, or took notes. With the lack of training opportunities, the best way to learn was to listen to the Christian radio programs of Hong Kong Radio Liangyou and Radio Yiyou. Therefore, the greatest wish at that time was to have a multi-band radio of Desheng brand. However, such a radio cost 50 yuan, which was far beyond our finance. Later, Aunt Wang, who lived in Tieling, bought one for each of us three co-workers. We felt so spoiled that we couldn’t put it down for a moment. We listened to it when we went to bed and learned much biblical truth.
Because it was church planting, there were no ready-made churches in many places. Even if there were some new believers, their lives were immature. The co-workers often fasted and prayed in order not to burden others, and many sisters had stomach problems. Sometimes in the countryside, in order not to burden our host families, we would often help them with farming work. Besides, our sisters would help people make fire, cook, feed pigs and chickens.
The summer in the northeast is very short, and the winter comes quickly. The biting cold wind cuts your face like a dagger. No matter how thick you wear cotton-padded clothes or trousers, you can feel the warmth even when you stand in the sun. In the freezing winter, icicles hang along the eaves of every house. I have seen ice more than two meters thick. Tractors, which are full of stones, pass through the lake unscathed.
Every household in the northeast has a fireplace bed (pronounced ‘kang’ in local dialect, translator’s notes). There is an unwritten rule in the local area, that is, the elderly and distinguished guests at home will arrange to sleep on the kang, that is, on the side close to the burning stove, because it is very warm there. However, no matter where you sleep, the kang will get cold after dawn, because the fire goes out and the heat slowly dissipates.
For a while, I was sent to a city in Jilin, where several women lived in half-believing families, and we didn’t dare to eat enough for fear of being judged. The non-Christian husband of a host aunt came back, and we took the initiative to greet him, but he turned a deaf ear to us only grunting through his nose causing us to be uneasy and anxious.
At that time, our greatest hope was to eat full without worrying about being judged, but to materialize this wish our teachers (ordained or more experienced preachers) who sent us should come to see us, because the local church would respect us while respecting our teachers. However, more often than not, we who were forgotten had to face many difficulties ourselves. Clothes couldn’t be bought, and some aunts gave us the rest of their children’s clothes. One winter, several aunts bought cloth to make trousers for us because our summer trousers couldn’t accommodate inner cotton layers.
When we went out for a tour, we usually went back to Xinmin, Liaoning to rest. One winter, I was the only one who went to Daqing Township in Tieling and stayed at the home of an aunt named Jiao Xiujie. The aunt had a son who was a little younger than me. The aunt’s uncle didn’t believe in the Lord, but he was very kind to me. They also let me sleep on the kang. But I couldn’t bear the high temperature, I often got terribly dehydrated and got up in the morning with a sore throat and a nosebleed. Aunt Jiao would buy lotus roots and boil them for me to drink, which was especially effective, and right afterward my nose stopped bleeding. Later, her family was still in the back room, and specially built me a kang with wooden boards that didn’t need a fireplace. Although it was a little cold to sleep, at least I wouldn’t get too dry by the heat.
As the weather is cold, changing clothes often didn’t dry in the sun. Aunt Jiao often secretly bought some autumn clothes and long pants for me but lied that a sister gave them to me. When I asked who they were, she refused to say. Aunt Jiao always regarded me as my mother’s pride and also his son’s model.
Due to poverty, what rural families ate most was porridge cooked from peeled corn kernels. I call it water ‘rice’ (not exactly rice, translator’s notes) because they used to pour a ladle of cold water after the porridge is cooked. What we ate the most was this kind of water ‘rice’, which is called corn dregs by them.
Not far from the Daqing Township, there is a mining bureau named Diaobingshan. When we gathered there, we often had dinner at the home of Aunt Wang, a retired worker who bought us a radio before. Sometimes, we also went to the home of a Christian couple who sold meat for dinner. What I remember the most is the sweet potato cooked by the husband. The happy feeling was simply like celebrating Chinese New Year. More than twenty years have passed, and I still remember it vividly.
In winter in northeast China, the days are very short, but the nights are very long. At the break of dawn, people often woke up from freezing, and then they couldn’t sleep. Locals were used to having breakfast at 10 o’clock, and they started cooking dinner at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, two meals a day.
In those days at Aunt Jiao’s house in Daqing Township, every day after dinner, we would go to the uncle’s house of a host family, sit on the kang and study the Bible. It was almost every day for most of the winter. Sometimes, during the day, we would ride a long bike to a village and call a few people to gather with them. Sometimes, we brought more people to the gathering than there were believers in their village.
I lived in Aunt Jiao’s house the most, and she didn’t want me to live in someone else’s house. She treated me like a mother, and gave me much love and warmth, making it home for me while I was far away from my hometown and mother. It was like my own home. During that hard time, I experienced and grew up a great deal. Thanks for the life there, for the previous sufferings, and for everyone who once cared for us!
- Translated by Charlie Li
那年我17岁，因病被神拣选，大病初愈的我，经过十几天的集中培训，揣着教会差派给的500块钱路费，就随着河南新蔡的几位大哥大姐去东北开荒传道。
为了省钱，我们几位同工买了一箱袋装方便面和几瓶水就坐上了开往北京的大巴，到达北京站，车费就花去了近半，然后转火车到辽宁沈阳的新民市，身上的钱已经所剩无几。
那时候的我们很小，也很单纯和渴慕。因为缺少属灵资源，我们总是相互争抢一本属灵书籍，抄写，做笔记。由于缺少培训的机会，最好的学习就是听香港的益友、良友电台广播了，所以，那时最大的愿望就是能够买一台德生牌的多波段收音机。可是这样的一台收音机要50块钱，对我们来说那是不敢奢望的。后来是一位住在铁岭的王阿姨，给我们三位同工各买了一台，我们简直受宠若惊，捧在手里爱不释手，晚上睡觉也放在耳边听，学到了不少的圣经真理。
由于是开荒布道，许多地方并没有现成的教会，即使有一些初信的信徒，生命也不成熟，同工们为了不给人增加负担，经常禁食祷告，有不少姐妹都得了胃病。有时到了农村，为了不累着接待家庭，我们也会随他们一起去插秧苗、掰苞米、割水稻，姐妹们除此之外还会帮人烧火、做饭，喂猪、喂鸡。
东北的夏天很短，冬天说来就来了。刺骨的寒风像刀子一样往脸上割，穿再厚的棉衣、棉裤都能够刮得透心凉，即使站在太阳下，也感觉不到一丝的暖意。在滴水成冰的严冬里，家家户户的屋檐下都倒挂着冰条。我曾见过两米多厚的冰，拖拉机载满石头，从湖面上经过都毫发无伤。
东北的每家每户都有火炕。当地有一个不成文的规矩，就是家中的老人和尊贵的客人都会安排睡在炕头，也就是接近烧火灶台的一边，因为那里特别热。不过无论睡在哪一头，等天亮以后炕都是会变凉的，因为火熄了，热气慢慢都散去了。
有一段时间我被打发到吉林的一个城市，那里有几位阿姨都是半家信，每次吃饭都不敢吃饱，生怕遭人嫌弃。有一个接待家庭阿姨的丈夫回来了，我们主动的迎上去打招呼，他却对我们不屑一顾，只从鼻子里“哼”了一声，使我们心里充满了忐忑和不安。
那个时候我们最大的盼望就是，能够不看别人的脸色大方地吃顿饱饭，但若能够实现这个愿望，除非是差派我们的老师们能来看望我们，因为当地的教会尊重老师们的同时，也会顺便尊重我们一下。但更多的时候，我们如同被人遗忘了一般，有很多的困难都要自己去面对。衣服是买不起的，有些阿姨就把自己孩子穿剩下的衣服给我们穿。有一年的冬天还有几位阿姨一起买布做裤子给我们穿，因为我们的裤子套不上棉裤。
那时候我们出去巡回一圈，通常会回到辽宁的新民休整。有一年的冬天只有我去到了铁岭的大青乡，住在了一位叫焦秀杰的阿姨家里。阿姨有一个儿子比我稍小一些。阿姨家的叔叔不怎么信主，但对我却很好。他们还让我睡在炕头。我却因为被烫得受不了，常常上火，早晨起来嗓子痛、流鼻血。焦阿姨就会买来藕节煮水给我喝，特别有效，一喝就不流血了。后来她家还在后屋，专门用木板给我搭了一个不用烧火的炕，虽然睡下去有些冷，但至少不会再上火。
因为天冷，换洗的衣服常常晒不干。焦阿姨常会偷偷买一些秋衣、秋裤给我，却说是有姐妹送给我的，我问是谁她却又不肯说。焦阿姨常把我当做我妈妈的骄傲，也把我当做他儿子的榜样。
那时候因为穷困，农村家庭吃的最多的就是用剥去皮的玉米粒儿煮成的水饭。之所以叫水饭，是因为他们习惯在饭煮好以后，再浇上一瓢凉水。而我们吃得最多的就是这种水饭，他们叫苞米碴子。
离大青乡不远有一个叫调兵山的矿务局。我们到这里带聚会的时候，常会到之前给我们买收音机的退休工人王阿姨家里吃饭。有时候我们也会到一位卖肉的基督徒夫妻家里吃饭，让我记忆最深的就是他家男主人做的拔丝红薯特别好吃，我们简直找到了过年的感觉，二十多年过去了，我仍然记忆犹新。
东北的冬天，白天特别短，夜晚却特别长，天刚亮，常常就会被冻醒，然后就睡不着了。当地人都习惯早饭十点吃，下午两点就开始做晚饭了，一天两顿饭。
在大青乡焦阿姨家的那些日子，每天晚饭后我们都会去到一个接待家庭的叔叔家里，分坐在炕上，查经学习。大半个冬天几乎每天如此。有时候，白天我们也会骑车跑很远的路去到一个村庄，叫来几个人跟他们一起聚会，有时候我们过去带聚会的人，比他们本村参加聚会的信徒还多。
我住在焦阿姨家里是最多的，阿姨也不愿意让我住在别人家。她对我就像妈妈一样，给了我很多的爱和温暖，使我这个远离家乡，远离母亲的孩子，如同回到了自己的家。在那段艰苦的日子里，我经历和成长了许多。感谢生活，感谢曾经的苦难，感谢每一个曾经关爱我们的人！
一牧者回忆在艰苦环境中服侍的日子
When I was 17, I was cured of a serious illness by the grace of God. As I was recovering, I had a ten-day intensive training. After that, I pocketed 500 yuan of traveling fees given by my church and went to the Manchurian region to do church planting and preach with brothers and sisters from Xincai, Henan.
In order to save money, several of our co-workers bought a box of bagged instant noodles and a few bottles of water and then got on the coach to Beijing. When we arrived at Beijing Railway Station, we nearly spent half of the fee. Then, we took a train to Xinmin City, Liaoning Province, where we had little money left.
At that time, we were very young, simple, and keen. Due to the lack of study materials, we always fought for books, copied them, or took notes. With the lack of training opportunities, the best way to learn was to listen to the Christian radio programs of Hong Kong Radio Liangyou and Radio Yiyou. Therefore, the greatest wish at that time was to have a multi-band radio of Desheng brand. However, such a radio cost 50 yuan, which was far beyond our finance. Later, Aunt Wang, who lived in Tieling, bought one for each of us three co-workers. We felt so spoiled that we couldn’t put it down for a moment. We listened to it when we went to bed and learned much biblical truth.
Because it was church planting, there were no ready-made churches in many places. Even if there were some new believers, their lives were immature. The co-workers often fasted and prayed in order not to burden others, and many sisters had stomach problems. Sometimes in the countryside, in order not to burden our host families, we would often help them with farming work. Besides, our sisters would help people make fire, cook, feed pigs and chickens.
The summer in the northeast is very short, and the winter comes quickly. The biting cold wind cuts your face like a dagger. No matter how thick you wear cotton-padded clothes or trousers, you can feel the warmth even when you stand in the sun. In the freezing winter, icicles hang along the eaves of every house. I have seen ice more than two meters thick. Tractors, which are full of stones, pass through the lake unscathed.
Every household in the northeast has a fireplace bed (pronounced ‘kang’ in local dialect, translator’s notes). There is an unwritten rule in the local area, that is, the elderly and distinguished guests at home will arrange to sleep on the kang, that is, on the side close to the burning stove, because it is very warm there. However, no matter where you sleep, the kang will get cold after dawn, because the fire goes out and the heat slowly dissipates.
For a while, I was sent to a city in Jilin, where several women lived in half-believing families, and we didn’t dare to eat enough for fear of being judged. The non-Christian husband of a host aunt came back, and we took the initiative to greet him, but he turned a deaf ear to us only grunting through his nose causing us to be uneasy and anxious.
At that time, our greatest hope was to eat full without worrying about being judged, but to materialize this wish our teachers (ordained or more experienced preachers) who sent us should come to see us, because the local church would respect us while respecting our teachers. However, more often than not, we who were forgotten had to face many difficulties ourselves. Clothes couldn’t be bought, and some aunts gave us the rest of their children’s clothes. One winter, several aunts bought cloth to make trousers for us because our summer trousers couldn’t accommodate inner cotton layers.
When we went out for a tour, we usually went back to Xinmin, Liaoning to rest. One winter, I was the only one who went to Daqing Township in Tieling and stayed at the home of an aunt named Jiao Xiujie. The aunt had a son who was a little younger than me. The aunt’s uncle didn’t believe in the Lord, but he was very kind to me. They also let me sleep on the kang. But I couldn’t bear the high temperature, I often got terribly dehydrated and got up in the morning with a sore throat and a nosebleed. Aunt Jiao would buy lotus roots and boil them for me to drink, which was especially effective, and right afterward my nose stopped bleeding. Later, her family was still in the back room, and specially built me a kang with wooden boards that didn’t need a fireplace. Although it was a little cold to sleep, at least I wouldn’t get too dry by the heat.
As the weather is cold, changing clothes often didn’t dry in the sun. Aunt Jiao often secretly bought some autumn clothes and long pants for me but lied that a sister gave them to me. When I asked who they were, she refused to say. Aunt Jiao always regarded me as my mother’s pride and also his son’s model.
Due to poverty, what rural families ate most was porridge cooked from peeled corn kernels. I call it water ‘rice’ (not exactly rice, translator’s notes) because they used to pour a ladle of cold water after the porridge is cooked. What we ate the most was this kind of water ‘rice’, which is called corn dregs by them.
Not far from the Daqing Township, there is a mining bureau named Diaobingshan. When we gathered there, we often had dinner at the home of Aunt Wang, a retired worker who bought us a radio before. Sometimes, we also went to the home of a Christian couple who sold meat for dinner. What I remember the most is the sweet potato cooked by the husband. The happy feeling was simply like celebrating Chinese New Year. More than twenty years have passed, and I still remember it vividly.
In winter in northeast China, the days are very short, but the nights are very long. At the break of dawn, people often woke up from freezing, and then they couldn’t sleep. Locals were used to having breakfast at 10 o’clock, and they started cooking dinner at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, two meals a day.
In those days at Aunt Jiao’s house in Daqing Township, every day after dinner, we would go to the uncle’s house of a host family, sit on the kang and study the Bible. It was almost every day for most of the winter. Sometimes, during the day, we would ride a long bike to a village and call a few people to gather with them. Sometimes, we brought more people to the gathering than there were believers in their village.
I lived in Aunt Jiao’s house the most, and she didn’t want me to live in someone else’s house. She treated me like a mother, and gave me much love and warmth, making it home for me while I was far away from my hometown and mother. It was like my own home. During that hard time, I experienced and grew up a great deal. Thanks for the life there, for the previous sufferings, and for everyone who once cared for us!
- Translated by Charlie Li
Pastor Recalls Difficult Serving Days in Northeast China
