In a village in the north of Anhui Province, there is a couple. Both of them are illiterate, but they are industrious and simple. They live on a few acres of farmland to support their family. This couple had no faith at first, for the place was poor in culture and faith, with no church or temple. Later, the gospel reached this area, and because of the woman’s illness, which was incurable at the time, she also believed in Jesus.
After believing in Jesus, she miraculously recovered from her illness. This sister was one of the first few people in that village to believe in Jesus. She would attend the meeting at set times, such as on Sunday, in a simple church in the next village.
Due to her faith in Jesus, she had not only been physically healthy but has been able to work and earn money to support her family. In terms of faith, God also influenced her family through this sister. She lives a happy life with her husband. Their children are sensible and obedient and have been sharing the housework with their parents since childhood. Moreover, under her influence, most of her four children also became believers; especially the two daughters, not only do they have faith in God, but also led their in-laws to believe in God.
Although the children of this sister are sensible and obedient now, it was not accomplished overnight. They also experienced a tortuous process. Their eldest son, also the third child of theirs in the family, was a very rebellious and bad boy. The reason for his disobedience may be his parents’ neglect of discipline. Because he was the first boy in the family, he was bound to be excessively spoiled. Or maybe because as a boy, coupled with the influence of bad local culture, he did a lot of bad things.
I was about the same age as him and lived in the same village with him, so I was almost his neighbor. Therefore, I clearly know about his bad deeds. While in the third grade of elementary school, he stole things from the school, which was known by everyone in the school. During a summer vacation, due to his naughtiness, he and his friend once went to harvest grass to feed cattle; he accidentally cut off his friend’s finger when using the knife to cut the grass.
It was not intentional, but it caused pain to others, and it also made his parents very sad. Since then, he was labeled as a bad boy. And that’s not the end of his bad deeds. Later, we heard that he visited a shop in our village several times to steal money from the drawer when the owner was not paying attention. He was finally caught by the owner. Under his parents’ plea, the shopkeeper let it go. Not to even mention the jujube trees and melon patches of our village. As long as they were stolen, it must have had something to do with him.
For this reason, our parents warned us from time to time to stay away from him, because he was a bad child who dared to do anything wrong and lacked discipline. If things went on like this, someone else would discipline him, and prison would be his final destination.
Later, as we grew up, there was no contact between him and me. But at festivals, I would inquire about him. I only heard that when he was about to graduate from junior high school, he often went to church with his mother and sister. Later, he went out to work; then I heard that he had gone to school again, but it was a different kind of school from the usual ones. Since we are believers, we know that he studied in a seminary, which shows that he not only believed in God but also chose a different way from other people.
In this way, after another seven or eight years, or nearly ten years of time, when I saw him again, this once bad boy had actually completely changed. Not only did he not turn out to be the man who was predicted to go from bad to worse and end up in jail, but he also did not even turn out to be unkind. He became a pastor, he got married, he has a son and a daughter, and he is now a respected man.
The change of this village fellow made me totally realize that God is really very wonderful. Where the Gospel is spread, things will be changed. Moreover, this kind of change is not only the change of the human soul but also the change of the whole human life, which can bring a new change to a person or even a region. In short, when one comes to Jesus, miracles happen, and there is no label or obstacle that cannot be torn off by Him.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
在皖北一个村庄里面，有一对夫妻，双方都是文盲，大字不识一个，但勤劳、简朴，他们靠着数亩薄田维持家庭生计。夫妻俩在开始之初，没有什么信仰，因为那个地方文化贫瘠、信仰也很贫瘠，既没有教堂，也没有庙宇。后来，福音传到了那个地方，也因为女方生了一场在当时无法治疗的病，而信了耶稣。
信了耶稣之后，她的病竟然奇迹般的好了。就这位姊妹成为了那个村庄中少有的、也是最先一批信耶稣的人，每逢主日等固定的聚会时间里，她都会到隔壁村庄的一间简朴的教堂中去聚会。
她自从信了耶稣之后，不仅身体得以健康，可以从事劳作生产，赚钱养家。在信仰上，上帝也通过这位姊妹影响了一家人。他们夫妻和睦，儿女懂事听话，在很小的时候就能够为父母分担家务。而且，在她的影响之下，她的四个孩子也多数都信了主；尤其是两个女儿，不仅先后信主，也带动了婆家人信主。
虽然这位姊妹的孩子都懂事听话，但也并不都是一筹而就的事情，乃是经历了一个曲折的过程。他们的长子，家中排行老三开始一个非常悖逆的坏孩子。他悖逆的原因，或许是父母疏于管教，因为毕竟是家中的第一个男孩，肯定会给予过当的宠溺；也或者是因为本身就是一个男孩，再加上受到当地不良风气的影响，致使干了不少坏事。
由于年龄相仿，共同生活在一个村庄，差不多彼此为邻，所以笔者对这个年轻小伙伴的败坏事迹也是比较清楚的。清晰记得，这位小伙伴在读三年级的时候，就偷过学校的东西，闹得整个班级甚至整个学校都知道。暑假的时候，很调皮，带着小伙伴割草喂牛，竟然在用使用闸刀闸草的时候，割掉了小伙伴的一根手指。
虽然这不是故意之举，但却给别人带来了伤痛，也令他的父母及极度伤心难过，自己也被贴上了坏孩子的标签。这些还没有完，往后的日子中，我们又听说他数次光顾本村的一家代销店，不是去买东西，乃是趁店主不备，偷取抽屉中的钱，最终被店主发现，在父母的求情之下，不了了之。至于，同村的枣树、瓜地，那就更不用说了，只要是被偷了，十有八九就与他有关系。
正是因为这个缘故，所以父母一辈会时不时的警告我们，要离他远远的，因为他是个坏孩子，什么坏事都敢做，缺乏管教；长此以往下去，自有别人会管教他，监狱将是他最终的归宿。
后来，随着年龄的长大，彼此之间再无来往、交集，但每逢逢年过节的时候，总会探听一番关于他的消息。只听说他在初中将要毕业的时候，就时常随同妈妈、姐姐去教堂。后来，他也有出去打工；再后来，又听说他去读书了，但所读的书与平常的学校不一样；由于我们是信主的人，所以知道他所读的是一间神学院，说明他不仅信主了，而且也选择了与常人不一样的路。
就这样，又过了七八年，接近十年的时间，当再见到之时，这位曾经的坏少年，竟然完全变了样。他不仅没有成为别人预言中的那样，会越来越坏，最终进监狱，也没有刁然一身。乃是成为了一名传道者，成了家，有了一双儿女，也成为了被人敬重的人。
这位同村人的改变，使笔者深深的感悟到，上帝真是非常奇妙，福音传到了哪里，那里就会被改变；而且，这个改变不单是人灵魂层面的改变，也是整个人生命的改变，他会使一个人甚至是一个地区得着全新的改变。总而言之，就是只要一个人就近耶稣，那么奇迹就会发生，在祂里面也没有什么撕不掉的标签，过不去的坎。
由不良少年到青年传道 ——记一位青年人的奇妙改变
In a village in the north of Anhui Province, there is a couple. Both of them are illiterate, but they are industrious and simple. They live on a few acres of farmland to support their family. This couple had no faith at first, for the place was poor in culture and faith, with no church or temple. Later, the gospel reached this area, and because of the woman’s illness, which was incurable at the time, she also believed in Jesus.
After believing in Jesus, she miraculously recovered from her illness. This sister was one of the first few people in that village to believe in Jesus. She would attend the meeting at set times, such as on Sunday, in a simple church in the next village.
Due to her faith in Jesus, she had not only been physically healthy but has been able to work and earn money to support her family. In terms of faith, God also influenced her family through this sister. She lives a happy life with her husband. Their children are sensible and obedient and have been sharing the housework with their parents since childhood. Moreover, under her influence, most of her four children also became believers; especially the two daughters, not only do they have faith in God, but also led their in-laws to believe in God.
Although the children of this sister are sensible and obedient now, it was not accomplished overnight. They also experienced a tortuous process. Their eldest son, also the third child of theirs in the family, was a very rebellious and bad boy. The reason for his disobedience may be his parents’ neglect of discipline. Because he was the first boy in the family, he was bound to be excessively spoiled. Or maybe because as a boy, coupled with the influence of bad local culture, he did a lot of bad things.
I was about the same age as him and lived in the same village with him, so I was almost his neighbor. Therefore, I clearly know about his bad deeds. While in the third grade of elementary school, he stole things from the school, which was known by everyone in the school. During a summer vacation, due to his naughtiness, he and his friend once went to harvest grass to feed cattle; he accidentally cut off his friend’s finger when using the knife to cut the grass.
It was not intentional, but it caused pain to others, and it also made his parents very sad. Since then, he was labeled as a bad boy. And that’s not the end of his bad deeds. Later, we heard that he visited a shop in our village several times to steal money from the drawer when the owner was not paying attention. He was finally caught by the owner. Under his parents’ plea, the shopkeeper let it go. Not to even mention the jujube trees and melon patches of our village. As long as they were stolen, it must have had something to do with him.
For this reason, our parents warned us from time to time to stay away from him, because he was a bad child who dared to do anything wrong and lacked discipline. If things went on like this, someone else would discipline him, and prison would be his final destination.
Later, as we grew up, there was no contact between him and me. But at festivals, I would inquire about him. I only heard that when he was about to graduate from junior high school, he often went to church with his mother and sister. Later, he went out to work; then I heard that he had gone to school again, but it was a different kind of school from the usual ones. Since we are believers, we know that he studied in a seminary, which shows that he not only believed in God but also chose a different way from other people.
In this way, after another seven or eight years, or nearly ten years of time, when I saw him again, this once bad boy had actually completely changed. Not only did he not turn out to be the man who was predicted to go from bad to worse and end up in jail, but he also did not even turn out to be unkind. He became a pastor, he got married, he has a son and a daughter, and he is now a respected man.
The change of this village fellow made me totally realize that God is really very wonderful. Where the Gospel is spread, things will be changed. Moreover, this kind of change is not only the change of the human soul but also the change of the whole human life, which can bring a new change to a person or even a region. In short, when one comes to Jesus, miracles happen, and there is no label or obstacle that cannot be torn off by Him.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
Testimony: Bad Boy Changes to Young Pastor
