Editor's note: This is part five of the Christian testimony series: a story of a legendary old-generation preacher with the heart of Saint Francis. (To see part one, part two, part three & part four)
“Mr. Huang Detang was an extremely rare saint with the heart of Saint Francis. He had a habit of fasting every morning and going up the mountain to pray before dawn, which continued beyond age ninety, regardless of the wind, frost, rain, snow, no shade on the mountain, or clothes getting wet,” said Rev. Shao Shengtang from Ningbo Centennial Century Church in Zhejiang.
Mr. Huang was born in Xiaowantang Village, Xiangshan County, Ningbo, Zhejiang, in 1886 and died in 1981. He was a rare old volunteer pastor who had encountered strange grace. Many of us now may not experience this and not understand, but this is a true testimony.
Huang was not an ordained pastor or an elder in the church, but he was far more than an ordinary pastor.
He made a “dedication covenant”, which said, “In despair of my foot pain, I besought Jesus to heal my foot disease and forgive my sins. How blessed am I who was saved and became a child of God! To reward the Lord for his salvation, I decide to dedicate my body to God. Forwards, at the Lord’s disposal, whether in cold or hot, hunger or thirst, suffering or persecution, I’ll follow the Lord to the end without regret. I make this covenant, so daughter-in-law, relatives, friends, or other people can’t obstruct me.”
Healed by God, he could walk with a limp, and soon after was no longer limping. He could even walk more than 50 kilometers a day, barefoot on rocky mountain roads.
According to Pastor Sheng Zufeng, Huang had a strange habit, that was, at the end of the lunar calendar, he left his home to the mountain to pray for the Chinese New Year. Without eating and drinking, he didn’t go back down until the third day of the first lunar month, while hile others all gathered at home during the Chinese New Year Festival. Even during the Cultural Revolution, a great persecution period, he did not cease this godly habit.
(The article is originally published by the Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
编者按：这是《我们是神的见证》系列第五集：具有圣法兰西斯心志的老一代“传道人”的故事。
浙江宁波百年堂邵升堂牧师的对黄先生的评语：“无论如何，黄老是一位极为难得的圣徒，他是个具有像圣法兰西斯那样心志的人。”“他每早晨禁食，黎明前上山祈祷的习惯，九十高龄时，仍然进行。不管风霜雨雪，上山无荫蔽所，衣裤尽湿，也不在乎。”
黄德堂老先生，是浙江省宁波象山小湾塘人。生于1886年，卒于1981年，在世享年九十五岁。他是一个在主内极为罕见的老义工传道人，我们现在许多人可能不会遇到这样的奇异恩典，也可能会有些不太理解。但，这是真实的见证。
黄先生是一个在教会中没有牧师、长老这样的圣职，甚至是没有一个传道人名分的，但远超过一般传道人。
请看黄先生自己的“立契奉献”：立永远奉献契，因自己脚病，疼痛难当，绝望无路，恳求慈悲救主耶稣，开恩救我大罪人，因治我脚病。救我灵魂作神儿女，何等福分。因为我无法报答主的大恩，甘心乐意将身体灵魂奉献给神。自奉献之后，任凭主差遣，或东南西北，山湾海岛，或冷或热，或饥或渴，或苦难逼迫，永不灰心，跟主到底。无论家中儿媳、亲戚朋友、内外人等，不能拦阻，并无反悔等情。恐后无凭，立此奉献契存照。
蒙主医治，他会跛着走。不久，脚不跛了，甚至一天能行百来里路，还都是赤脚走的山间石子路。
盛足风牧师介绍说：黄老另有一个希奇的特点，就是每年到年底，他就离开本家到高山上去祷告过年，直到正月初三才下山。在山上不吃不喝，专诚祷告。到文革时，他也不停止。
（本文作者为福音时报特约撰稿人。）
http://www.gospeltimes.cn/article/index/id/58379
我们是神的见证（五）：具有圣法兰西斯心志的老一代“传道人”
Editor's note: This is part five of the Christian testimony series: a story of a legendary old-generation preacher with the heart of Saint Francis. (To see part one, part two, part three & part four)
“Mr. Huang Detang was an extremely rare saint with the heart of Saint Francis. He had a habit of fasting every morning and going up the mountain to pray before dawn, which continued beyond age ninety, regardless of the wind, frost, rain, snow, no shade on the mountain, or clothes getting wet,” said Rev. Shao Shengtang from Ningbo Centennial Century Church in Zhejiang.
Mr. Huang was born in Xiaowantang Village, Xiangshan County, Ningbo, Zhejiang, in 1886 and died in 1981. He was a rare old volunteer pastor who had encountered strange grace. Many of us now may not experience this and not understand, but this is a true testimony.
Huang was not an ordained pastor or an elder in the church, but he was far more than an ordinary pastor.
He made a “dedication covenant”, which said, “In despair of my foot pain, I besought Jesus to heal my foot disease and forgive my sins. How blessed am I who was saved and became a child of God! To reward the Lord for his salvation, I decide to dedicate my body to God. Forwards, at the Lord’s disposal, whether in cold or hot, hunger or thirst, suffering or persecution, I’ll follow the Lord to the end without regret. I make this covenant, so daughter-in-law, relatives, friends, or other people can’t obstruct me.”
Healed by God, he could walk with a limp, and soon after was no longer limping. He could even walk more than 50 kilometers a day, barefoot on rocky mountain roads.
According to Pastor Sheng Zufeng, Huang had a strange habit, that was, at the end of the lunar calendar, he left his home to the mountain to pray for the Chinese New Year. Without eating and drinking, he didn’t go back down until the third day of the first lunar month, while hile others all gathered at home during the Chinese New Year Festival. Even during the Cultural Revolution, a great persecution period, he did not cease this godly habit.
(The article is originally published by the Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
Christian Testimony Series: Old-Generation 'Preacher' With Heart of Saint Francis
