It has been said that the greatest miracle in this world is the true repentance of a sinful man whose heart could be so stubborn to resist God’s reign over his life to death since the greatest challenge is for a sinful man to change his heart back toward God with his free will. Only in the love and call of God can a man find out his true image and his innermost desires.
Recently, the Christian Times, an online Chinese Christian newspaper, interviewed Pastor D. and learned about his testimony of faith. He used to be a street punk collecting protection money, but now he is doing pastoral work in a city in southern China.
Here is an excerpt of his testimony about how he turned his heart back to God and became a pastor in the first person.
My parents have become Christians, but I didn't see any good behavior from my mother in faith at home, who was always busy with her work. Seeing that I did not honor her with my studies, she often beat and scolded me. Therefore, I did not want to accept the Christian faith.
Since the age of 12, I left school and entered the underworld in society, constantly running into fighting and killing, collecting protection money, and seldom going home.
After coming to the town to study, I became an active member of a small gang in my 8th grade. Since the 9th grade, we have been fighting with high school students until one day I read a report about a policeman who survived a stab. The news made me wonder, “If he died, how would it affect his family?” At that time, I began to question whether I should go home. Meanwhile, I heard the hymn "Where are you, lost sheep?" sung in my ears and began to cry. My unexpected tears gave me a great shock because we had been trained by our fighting life not to shed tears when others stabbed, punched, and kicked us even to the point of bleeding. But when I uncontrollably started singing the song, tears came to my eyes. Later on, more than 20 of us young people went to KTV singing songs and after the party came to the end, I felt very lonely inside. Once on the way home, the praise song "The Soul is Most Precious" I sang in a taxi made me cry again.
Upon coming home, I asked my mom about my unexpected tears and she said that was God’s answer to her five-year prayers for me. Actually, my mom had great faith in God. After I had stayed in the underworld in society for ten years and experienced these heart-touching moments, I was determined to live a different life.
I didn't have a proper job until I was 24 and then I found a good job with a high salary up to 8,000 RMB a month though, in 2000, the average wage was about 500 RMB. And at the age of 28, I went to a seminary to study. Once we went to visit a 90-year-old sister, a missionary. She said to me, "I saw you, you are going to be a disciple." When I heard that, I felt puzzled and asked, "How could I be qualified to become a disciple?” I asked her to give me a solid proof and she said, "When you go home, pray to God earnestly, God will give you the proof.”
When I went back in the evening, I was deeply touched by and filled with the Holy Spirit in prayer and I cried desperately to God, "God, if you send me, I will go, please send me."
At that time when the senior pastor only got a salary of 200 RMB per month in the church, the old missionary said to me, “I will give you 5,000 RMB to help you complete your theology study.” However, I actually spent nearly 10,000 RMB till I finished my study, and most of the money was spent by me on buying textbooks in theology and devotional books. Afterward, I went back to the seminary for further study of theology for another four years and spent more money, mostly on buying devotional books as well. Though I had such a good salary and job at that time, the word of the old missionary truly changed the rest of my life, making me give up on the job. In spite of the old missionary’s strong desire for her two sons to inherit her ministry, they were unwilling to lay their job down and refused to serve God.
After I came back from the seminary, the old missionary went to her heavenly home when she was 96 years old.
Pastor D. has planted many churches in various places and has also given some churches he planted to his former seminary classmates to lead. He would often help missionaries and their families with financial difficulties. He said, "My strongest desire is to plant more churches so that more people may have the opportunity to come to church, put their faith in Christ and attain salvation and become family members in the big family of God."
- Translated by Alvin Zhou
有人说，这个世界上最大的奇迹是一个人发自内心的悔改。这世界上唯有人的心是最难改变的，它可以刚硬到宁死不屈，因为拥有自由意志的人常常随己意扮演自己的神。但唯有神的爱和感召可以让一个人倾听到自己内心深处的声音，回归到属于他本来的自画像。
近来，基督时报采访了D牧者，了解到他悔改信主的经历。他曾经是街头收保护费的小混混，现在在华南的一个城市里做牧会工作，他是如何成为牧师的呢？
以下是他的悔改信主的一个摘要：
我的爸爸妈妈都是基督徒，但我在家里看不到妈妈的信仰行为，她总是忙于工作，常常对我又打又骂，觉得我不争气，因此我也不愿意接受基督的信仰。
12岁开始，我就在混社会，打打杀杀，收保护费，常常不回家。
我从乡村到城镇出来念书。我初二就有一个小混混团体，到了初三我们就已经跟高年级的人打架了。直到有一天，我看到一个新闻报道，一个派出所的民警被人捅了一刀，他没有死。这事情让我开始思考，如果他死了，他的家人怎么办？那个时候我开始问自己，要不要回家。这个时候，耳边响起了一首赞美诗《迷失的羊你在哪里》的诗歌，然后我的眼泪就流了出来，这个对我是非常意外的经历。因为那个时候，我们被人用刀捅、拳打脚踢到出血都不流眼泪，但是当我情不自禁地唱这个歌时，就留下眼泪。再后来，我们20多个年轻人出去唱KTV，等散场后，就觉得内心非常孤独。 有一次打车回家的路上，我唱了一首诗歌《灵魂最宝贵》，突然间，我又流眼泪了。
之后，我回家我就问妈妈，为什么会这样？ 妈妈说：“我为你祷告了五年。”其实我的妈妈信耶稣信得很好。我混了十年的社会，在经历这些让我心灵受感动的事情后，我就决心从那里退出来了。
我到24岁没有工作，后来的四年，我有了一份不错的工作。2000年时，当时大多数的基本工资大概是500左右，但我就可以每月赚到8000元。
后来，我在28岁的时候，开始读神学。有一次，我们去一个90岁的姊妹老传道家里做客，她说：“我看见你了 ，你要做门徒。” 我听了之后，觉得莫名其妙，我说，像我这样的人有什么资格做门徒呢？你给一个确据吧。她当时就讲一句话，你回去好好祷告，神会给你确据。
晚上回去 ，我祷告的时候，被圣灵感动和充满，遂即嚎啕大哭，“上帝如果你差遣我，我就要去，请你差遣我。”
当时教会里，老牧师每个月才拿200元的工资，老传道说，我给你5000元，你读到毕业。但是，我读完后，实际花了上万元，大部分的花费是买了很多神学和灵修的书。再后来，我又去念4年神学，又花了更多的钱，也是大部分用来灵修的书。我当时那么好的工资和工作，却被老传道的话改变了。老传道很希望自己的两个儿子可以接班，但是他们无法放下手上的工作，所以他们很难再事奉神。
当我们读完神学回来，老传道在她96岁的时候就回天家了。
D牧者在各地建立了不同的教会，他也曾把自己建立的教会送给他昔日的神学院的同学，也常常帮助那些在经济上有困难的传道人家庭等等。他说：“我的感动在于多多建立教会，从而让更多人有机会能来到教会，走进基督的信仰，蒙恩得救，成为神家里的一员。”
一位街头混混悔改信主成为牧师的见证
It has been said that the greatest miracle in this world is the true repentance of a sinful man whose heart could be so stubborn to resist God’s reign over his life to death since the greatest challenge is for a sinful man to change his heart back toward God with his free will. Only in the love and call of God can a man find out his true image and his innermost desires.
Recently, the Christian Times, an online Chinese Christian newspaper, interviewed Pastor D. and learned about his testimony of faith. He used to be a street punk collecting protection money, but now he is doing pastoral work in a city in southern China.
Here is an excerpt of his testimony about how he turned his heart back to God and became a pastor in the first person.
My parents have become Christians, but I didn't see any good behavior from my mother in faith at home, who was always busy with her work. Seeing that I did not honor her with my studies, she often beat and scolded me. Therefore, I did not want to accept the Christian faith.
Since the age of 12, I left school and entered the underworld in society, constantly running into fighting and killing, collecting protection money, and seldom going home.
After coming to the town to study, I became an active member of a small gang in my 8th grade. Since the 9th grade, we have been fighting with high school students until one day I read a report about a policeman who survived a stab. The news made me wonder, “If he died, how would it affect his family?” At that time, I began to question whether I should go home. Meanwhile, I heard the hymn "Where are you, lost sheep?" sung in my ears and began to cry. My unexpected tears gave me a great shock because we had been trained by our fighting life not to shed tears when others stabbed, punched, and kicked us even to the point of bleeding. But when I uncontrollably started singing the song, tears came to my eyes. Later on, more than 20 of us young people went to KTV singing songs and after the party came to the end, I felt very lonely inside. Once on the way home, the praise song "The Soul is Most Precious" I sang in a taxi made me cry again.
Upon coming home, I asked my mom about my unexpected tears and she said that was God’s answer to her five-year prayers for me. Actually, my mom had great faith in God. After I had stayed in the underworld in society for ten years and experienced these heart-touching moments, I was determined to live a different life.
I didn't have a proper job until I was 24 and then I found a good job with a high salary up to 8,000 RMB a month though, in 2000, the average wage was about 500 RMB. And at the age of 28, I went to a seminary to study. Once we went to visit a 90-year-old sister, a missionary. She said to me, "I saw you, you are going to be a disciple." When I heard that, I felt puzzled and asked, "How could I be qualified to become a disciple?” I asked her to give me a solid proof and she said, "When you go home, pray to God earnestly, God will give you the proof.”
When I went back in the evening, I was deeply touched by and filled with the Holy Spirit in prayer and I cried desperately to God, "God, if you send me, I will go, please send me."
At that time when the senior pastor only got a salary of 200 RMB per month in the church, the old missionary said to me, “I will give you 5,000 RMB to help you complete your theology study.” However, I actually spent nearly 10,000 RMB till I finished my study, and most of the money was spent by me on buying textbooks in theology and devotional books. Afterward, I went back to the seminary for further study of theology for another four years and spent more money, mostly on buying devotional books as well. Though I had such a good salary and job at that time, the word of the old missionary truly changed the rest of my life, making me give up on the job. In spite of the old missionary’s strong desire for her two sons to inherit her ministry, they were unwilling to lay their job down and refused to serve God.
After I came back from the seminary, the old missionary went to her heavenly home when she was 96 years old.
Pastor D. has planted many churches in various places and has also given some churches he planted to his former seminary classmates to lead. He would often help missionaries and their families with financial difficulties. He said, "My strongest desire is to plant more churches so that more people may have the opportunity to come to church, put their faith in Christ and attain salvation and become family members in the big family of God."
- Translated by Alvin Zhou
Story About Pastor Who Used to Be Street Punk
