Experiencing God’s protection in his lifetime, an elder in China’s northeastern coastal Zhejiang Province is still serving the Lord in his nineties.
The Gospel Times, an online Chinese Christian newspaper, interviewed Elder Yuan Xiangzhong at the age of 94 in the Church of the True God in Fenghua District, Ningbo.
Just like Moses’ three forty years, Yuan’s life can be divided into three thirty years. During the first thirty years, he grew up in the church and worked outsides as an apprentice. In the second one, he entered the sewing machine factory far away from his home, serving in the church as a volunteer. In the third thirty years, he served full-time in the church, realizing his dream. After the age of 90, he shifted from serving at the pulpit to share "on the cloud".
The first thirty years: blessed by God and experiencing many miracles
Born in 1929, Elder Yuan is the third generation of Christians in his family. Yuan Caijiao, Elder Yuan's grandfather, was the first Christian in the family. His father, Yuan Haishan, who inherited the faith of his grandfather, became a pastor at the Church of the True God in Quankou, Ningbo.
Elder Yuan experienced many blessings from God during those days of scarcity and social unrest - escaping typhoid fever twice, getting rice during a famine, and surviving attacks by Japanese soldiers and bandits.
Yuan came back from the dead after suffering from typhoid fever. When Elder Yuan was nine years old, he suffered twice from typhoid fever, an incurable disease at the time. After recovering the first time, a high fever followed the second time. The damage was even worse this time, as he lost his hair, his eyesight, his hearing, and his voice. He became unconscious and just as deadly. But the family and believers in the church didn't give up and continued to pray for him, then he miraculously came back to life.
"That's dying and living. Why do I have to die and live? Because Jesus wants me to be a witness for him." Looking back on that experience as a child today, Elder Yuan said gratefully.
God provided food in the midst of famine. When Elder Yuan was young, the local people often did not have enough to eat. At that time in Xiao Town, people often ate mixed grains, potatoes, and gourds which were shredded and made into pulp to eat.
With Yuan's brother-in-law farming on the other side of the river, his family members went to fetch 15 kilograms of rice, which was confiscated and given to an orphanage, where the children screamed with hunger, as they could not smuggle grain.
Just after Yuan’s father led the whole family in hungry praying, someone knocked on the door, saying, "Mr. Yuan, Mr. Yuan — hurry up, hurry up! Take a bar and a rope to pick up grain in the quay.”The rice was sent there by a church co-worker who ran a rice mill 17.5 kilometers away. This deacon was originally chosen to run the church in Xiao Town, but he was too busy to do so, so he recommended Yuan Haishan. For Yuan's family, he prepared 75 kilograms of rice and hid it under the shipboard.
As the boat sailed to the mouth of the river, there were Japanese soldiers to inspect it. Since the board of the boat had not been opened, they discovered the boat was empty inside with a flashlight.
In this way, the rice was delivered smoothly. At this time, Elder Yuan's family found out that the Holy Spirit had moved the staff worker to prepare rice three days before they prayed.
The church survived the looting by Japanese soldiers and bandits. On April 23, 1940, the Japanese invaded Xiao Town when Elder Yuan's father was in charge of the chapel. One day, Japanese soldiers broke into the church, threw all the church furniture out, and set it on fire. At this time, the church staff took out a letter written by the American Baptist Church, and the leader of the soldiers asked them to evacuate the church after he read the letter and wrote the four words "protect the family house". The Japanese soldiers who came later did not destroy the church when they saw these words.
As well as Japanese soldiers trying to destroy the church, bandits also attacked the church. They went around looting and setting fires, with the old street catching fire at once. Pastor Yuan Haisan pleaded with the bandits who broke into the church, "Have mercy on me; we don't have any money here." After searching the upper floor, the bandits found nothing valuable and went out of the church.
Before they left, they wanted to burn the church. As there was a bundle of untied wood next to the church, the bandits loosened the wood and lit the fire. However, no matter what they tried, the fire did not burn. Pastor Yuan Hai quenched the fire with water after they left. Meanwhile, the neighbor's house, less than 20 meters away from the church, was already on fire. The two new rooms were burned down in less than 20 minutes.
The second thirty years: refinement in the factory
In 1956, Elder Yuan joined the Xi'an Sewing Machine Factory in response to the call to "support the Great Northwest". While working in the factory, Elder Yuan also participated in the ministry of the Xi'an church as a volunteer. Given the gift of music by God, he formed a hymn choir before the church resumed meetings, he moved the entire choir into the church when the Xi'an Central Chapel (now South New Street Church) reopened.
In the early days of church restoration, there was a shortage of pastors, so Elder Yuan wanted to retire early and serve full-time in the church, but a disaster unexpectedly struck his family at this time.
In 1982, Elder Yuan's wife, who was only 50 years old, was diagnosed with lung cancer, and the family was plunged into sorrow. His wife was worried about her five children, with the youngest one still in elementary school. A dream turned around Elder Yuan's wife from sadness to joy, and she knew how to entrust Jesus. As she realized that people were limited on earth and she had a better place to go. Whenever colleagues, relatives, and friends visited her and comforted her, she welcomed them with a smile, which amazed them.
The third thirty years: fulfilling a dream of ministry
Elder Yuan had a childhood dream of preaching the gospel through movies. In 1982, he retired from the factory and ran his own store, which gave him much more flexible time.
In 1986, he obtained a video of the famous movie "Jesus" from a relative or a friend. A few months later, Yuan heard a message that an American-made video recorder had been reduced to 2,500 yuan, so he hurriedly bought it with his deposit of just 2500 yuan. "Learning a church in Shaanxi Province was holding a retreat, I went to show the video at noon when they rested and ate lunch from Monday to Saturday. I also took the video recorder to display the film on Sundays when I sometimes delivered sermons.”
Elder Yuan fulfilled his childhood dream of sharing the gospel through movies.
Four years later, Elder Yuan returned to his church in his hometown of Ningbo and began full-time ministry. During that time, he promoted the reconstruction of the Church of the True God. Elder Yuan also rode his electric bicycle to serve in neighboring churches, build up bands and choirs and provide pastoral care. For these far churches, he had to transfer two times by long-distance bus.
At the age of nearly eighty, Elder Yuan began to learn how to use a computer again in 2007, scanning hymns through the computer and making PowerPoint presentations.
From 2008 to 2019, Elder Yuan has been making PPTs for 12 years, mainly focusing on the outline of his sermons and the history of the Church of the True God and his family's faith.
“Sharing on the Cloud" at 90 years old
Elder Yuan stepped down from the pulpit in 2019 to serve in a completely new way — sharing information "on the cloud".
In addition to his own devotional articles, he collected the sharing, testimonies, and teachings of pastors such as Dr. John Sung Shang Chieh (a renowned evangelist), the late pastor Huang Detang in Ningbo, and missionary Sun Daxin. On Monday through Saturday, he shared with the believers on WeChat, and on Sunday, he sent pictures of blessings.
" I stopped serving from the pulpit," said Elder Yuan, "but we meet in the air and encourage one another."
- Translated by Richard Zou
宁波奉化区泉口真神堂现年94岁的袁长老，将他的人生分为三个三十年：第一个三十年，童年在教会成长，青年外出作学徒，其中经历神许多奇妙的保守；第二个三十年，进入缝纫机厂，得到了各种磨炼；第三个三十年，全职在教会服侍，实现了做圣工的梦想；90岁以后，袁长老卸下了教会中具体岗位的服侍，转向了“云上”分享。
福音时报同工采访了袁相中长老，他讲述了他的恩典岁月。
第一个三十年：蒙神保守，经历诸多神迹
袁长老生于1929年，是家族中第三代基督徒。袁长老的爷爷袁才焦是他们家族中首位基督徒，他的父亲袁海山继承了爷爷的信仰，作了宁波泉口真神堂的传道人。
生长在那个物资匮乏、社会动乱的年代，袁长老经历了神许多奇妙的保守——两次患伤寒病死里逃生、饥荒中喜得供应、教堂在日本兵和土匪的扫荡下幸存。
患伤寒病，死里逃生。袁长老9岁时，患了两次当时的不治之症伤寒病。第一次刚见好，第二次的高烧紧随而至，这次更严重——头发烧坏了，眼睛看不见了，耳朵听不见，嗓子也发不出声音——后来，死了一天。但是家人和教会的弟兄姐妹们没有放弃，继续为他祷告，结果他奇迹般地活了过来。
“这就是死去活来。为啥要死去活来？那是耶稣要叫我为他做见证。”如今回看儿时的那段经历，袁长老感恩地说道。
饥荒中，喜得供应。袁长老年幼时，当地人常常食不果腹。那时的萧镇，人们常常吃杂粮、土豆、瓠瓜，其中瓠瓜是擦丝做成浆吃。
袁长老的小姐夫在河头那边种地，一次他们家过去拿了两斗米（30斤），挑到西坞，就被挡住了——因为不能私运粮食。好在这些粮食是被充公送给了孤儿院，那里的孩子已经饿得哇哇叫。
饥饿中，袁长老的父亲带领全家一起祷告，结果刚祷告完，就有人敲门：“袁先生，袁先生——快快快快快！拿个杠子，拿个绳子，快到那个埠头去挑粮食！”
原来，是一位在35里外开米厂的教会同工给送来的。这位执事原本是被选派到萧镇教会来管堂的，他走不开，就推荐了袁海山传道，因此，他对袁家有很多的牵挂，给预备了150斤大米，藏在船板下面。
船开到了江口，那有日本人检查，他们拿手电筒一照，发现里面都是空的，因为没有解开船板。就这样，米顺利地送到了。 此时，袁长老一家发现：在他们祷告以先，圣灵三天前就感动了那位同工，给他们家预备了大米。
教堂在日本兵、土匪的打劫中幸存。1940年4月23日，日本人打进了萧镇，当时袁长老的父亲在管礼拜堂。一天，日本兵闯进教堂，把教堂的家具都扔下去，点火烧掉。这时，教会同工拿出美国浸礼会写的一封信，领队的日本兵看了，写了“保护家屋”四个字后，就让所有人撤出了教堂。后面的日军，看到墙上贴的这四个字，就不再破坏教堂了。
除了日本兵的试图破坏，萧镇教堂还遭遇过土匪的打劫。土匪们到处抢劫、点火，老街一下子火就着了。
面对闯进教堂的土匪，袁海山传道向他们求情：“你们行行慈悲啊，我们这个礼拜堂也没有钱。”
土匪们到楼上搜了一圈，没找到什么值钱的东西，就出去了。临走前，他们想把教堂给烧了。教堂旁边有一捆没解开的木柴，土匪们把引火柴松了松，就点火。但是，无论如何火就是烧不旺。他们走后，袁海山传道就用水把火泼灭了。
与此同时，离教堂不足20米远的邻居的房子，火已经着起来了，那两间新房不到20分钟就被烧毁了。
第二个三十年：工厂中的磨炼与雕琢
1956年，袁长老响应当时“支援大西北”的号召，进入了西安缝纫机厂。在工厂工作的同时，袁长老还以义工的身份参与西安教会的服侍。袁长老在音乐上有恩赐，在教会恢复聚会前，他就成立了一个圣诗班，由他担任指挥；待西安中心礼拜堂（如今的南新街教会）恢复聚会后，便把整个诗班搬入了教会。
教会恢复初期，传道人缺乏，袁长老想要提前退休，到教会全职服侍。未曾想，此时他的家庭遭遇了患难。
1982年，袁长老虚岁才50岁的妻子罹患肺癌，一家人陷入忧愁之中。袁长老育有五个儿子，当时最小的还在读小学。袁长老的妻子对孩子们放心不下。 此时，一个梦翻转了袁长老妻子的状态，使她由忧愁变为了喜乐，也懂得了交托。因为她想通了：人在世界上是有限的，而且她知道自己要去更美好的地方。当同事、亲友来探望、安慰她时，她笑着接待他们，令来访者颇感惊奇。
第三个三十年：实现了圣工的梦想
袁长老儿时就有一个梦想——藉着电影传福音。1982年，他从西安缝纫机厂退休，自己经营一个门店，如此，时间就灵活了许多。
1986年，他从亲友那里获得了一部《耶稣传》的录像带，几个月个月后，袁长老看见一个好消息——一款美国产的录像机降价，价格为2500元。当时，他的存款刚好2500元，就赶紧买下了。
“陕西省哪个教会开培灵会了，人家就告诉我；人家中午吃完饭，休息的时候就给他们放。就提了这个录像机，陕西省到处走。周一到周六都有；我主日还得到处走，一是可以放录像，另外还可以勉励讲道。”
至此，袁长老圆了儿时的用电影传福音的梦想。
4年后，袁长老回到了宁波老家的教会，开始了全职服事。期间，他推动了泉口真神堂的新堂建设。除了在本堂服事，袁长老还骑着电动车到周边的教会服事，帮助牧养以及建立乐队、诗班；路程远的，需要换乘两部远程公交车才能到达。
全职服事近二十年后，2007年，年近八旬的袁长老又开始学习电脑，通过电脑扫描诗歌，并且学习制作PPT。
从2008年到2019年，袁长老做了12年的PPT，其中以证道的大纲为主，也有泉口真神堂的历史以及他家族的信仰史等内容。
90岁开始“云上”分享
2019年，年逾90岁的袁长老停了讲台的服侍，他又发现了一个新的服侍途径——“云上”分享。他搜集整理了宋尚节博士、宁波已故传道人黄德堂、传教士孙大信等牧者的分享、见证，加上自己的灵修分享。周一到周六每天通过微信跟信徒们分享，周日则是以图片的形式给信徒们送上祝福。
“台上停了，台下传，”看着现在的服侍，袁长老开心地说道，可以跟信徒“在空中相遇，彼此勉励”…
【特稿】94岁袁长老的恩典岁月
Experiencing God’s protection in his lifetime, an elder in China’s northeastern coastal Zhejiang Province is still serving the Lord in his nineties.
The Gospel Times, an online Chinese Christian newspaper, interviewed Elder Yuan Xiangzhong at the age of 94 in the Church of the True God in Fenghua District, Ningbo.
Just like Moses’ three forty years, Yuan’s life can be divided into three thirty years. During the first thirty years, he grew up in the church and worked outsides as an apprentice. In the second one, he entered the sewing machine factory far away from his home, serving in the church as a volunteer. In the third thirty years, he served full-time in the church, realizing his dream. After the age of 90, he shifted from serving at the pulpit to share "on the cloud".
The first thirty years: blessed by God and experiencing many miracles
Born in 1929, Elder Yuan is the third generation of Christians in his family. Yuan Caijiao, Elder Yuan's grandfather, was the first Christian in the family. His father, Yuan Haishan, who inherited the faith of his grandfather, became a pastor at the Church of the True God in Quankou, Ningbo.
Elder Yuan experienced many blessings from God during those days of scarcity and social unrest - escaping typhoid fever twice, getting rice during a famine, and surviving attacks by Japanese soldiers and bandits.
Yuan came back from the dead after suffering from typhoid fever. When Elder Yuan was nine years old, he suffered twice from typhoid fever, an incurable disease at the time. After recovering the first time, a high fever followed the second time. The damage was even worse this time, as he lost his hair, his eyesight, his hearing, and his voice. He became unconscious and just as deadly. But the family and believers in the church didn't give up and continued to pray for him, then he miraculously came back to life.
"That's dying and living. Why do I have to die and live? Because Jesus wants me to be a witness for him." Looking back on that experience as a child today, Elder Yuan said gratefully.
God provided food in the midst of famine. When Elder Yuan was young, the local people often did not have enough to eat. At that time in Xiao Town, people often ate mixed grains, potatoes, and gourds which were shredded and made into pulp to eat.
With Yuan's brother-in-law farming on the other side of the river, his family members went to fetch 15 kilograms of rice, which was confiscated and given to an orphanage, where the children screamed with hunger, as they could not smuggle grain.
Just after Yuan’s father led the whole family in hungry praying, someone knocked on the door, saying, "Mr. Yuan, Mr. Yuan — hurry up, hurry up! Take a bar and a rope to pick up grain in the quay.”The rice was sent there by a church co-worker who ran a rice mill 17.5 kilometers away. This deacon was originally chosen to run the church in Xiao Town, but he was too busy to do so, so he recommended Yuan Haishan. For Yuan's family, he prepared 75 kilograms of rice and hid it under the shipboard.
As the boat sailed to the mouth of the river, there were Japanese soldiers to inspect it. Since the board of the boat had not been opened, they discovered the boat was empty inside with a flashlight.
In this way, the rice was delivered smoothly. At this time, Elder Yuan's family found out that the Holy Spirit had moved the staff worker to prepare rice three days before they prayed.
The church survived the looting by Japanese soldiers and bandits. On April 23, 1940, the Japanese invaded Xiao Town when Elder Yuan's father was in charge of the chapel. One day, Japanese soldiers broke into the church, threw all the church furniture out, and set it on fire. At this time, the church staff took out a letter written by the American Baptist Church, and the leader of the soldiers asked them to evacuate the church after he read the letter and wrote the four words "protect the family house". The Japanese soldiers who came later did not destroy the church when they saw these words.
As well as Japanese soldiers trying to destroy the church, bandits also attacked the church. They went around looting and setting fires, with the old street catching fire at once. Pastor Yuan Haisan pleaded with the bandits who broke into the church, "Have mercy on me; we don't have any money here." After searching the upper floor, the bandits found nothing valuable and went out of the church.
Before they left, they wanted to burn the church. As there was a bundle of untied wood next to the church, the bandits loosened the wood and lit the fire. However, no matter what they tried, the fire did not burn. Pastor Yuan Hai quenched the fire with water after they left. Meanwhile, the neighbor's house, less than 20 meters away from the church, was already on fire. The two new rooms were burned down in less than 20 minutes.
The second thirty years: refinement in the factory
In 1956, Elder Yuan joined the Xi'an Sewing Machine Factory in response to the call to "support the Great Northwest". While working in the factory, Elder Yuan also participated in the ministry of the Xi'an church as a volunteer. Given the gift of music by God, he formed a hymn choir before the church resumed meetings, he moved the entire choir into the church when the Xi'an Central Chapel (now South New Street Church) reopened.
In the early days of church restoration, there was a shortage of pastors, so Elder Yuan wanted to retire early and serve full-time in the church, but a disaster unexpectedly struck his family at this time.
In 1982, Elder Yuan's wife, who was only 50 years old, was diagnosed with lung cancer, and the family was plunged into sorrow. His wife was worried about her five children, with the youngest one still in elementary school. A dream turned around Elder Yuan's wife from sadness to joy, and she knew how to entrust Jesus. As she realized that people were limited on earth and she had a better place to go. Whenever colleagues, relatives, and friends visited her and comforted her, she welcomed them with a smile, which amazed them.
The third thirty years: fulfilling a dream of ministry
Elder Yuan had a childhood dream of preaching the gospel through movies. In 1982, he retired from the factory and ran his own store, which gave him much more flexible time.
In 1986, he obtained a video of the famous movie "Jesus" from a relative or a friend. A few months later, Yuan heard a message that an American-made video recorder had been reduced to 2,500 yuan, so he hurriedly bought it with his deposit of just 2500 yuan. "Learning a church in Shaanxi Province was holding a retreat, I went to show the video at noon when they rested and ate lunch from Monday to Saturday. I also took the video recorder to display the film on Sundays when I sometimes delivered sermons.”
Elder Yuan fulfilled his childhood dream of sharing the gospel through movies.
Four years later, Elder Yuan returned to his church in his hometown of Ningbo and began full-time ministry. During that time, he promoted the reconstruction of the Church of the True God. Elder Yuan also rode his electric bicycle to serve in neighboring churches, build up bands and choirs and provide pastoral care. For these far churches, he had to transfer two times by long-distance bus.
At the age of nearly eighty, Elder Yuan began to learn how to use a computer again in 2007, scanning hymns through the computer and making PowerPoint presentations.
From 2008 to 2019, Elder Yuan has been making PPTs for 12 years, mainly focusing on the outline of his sermons and the history of the Church of the True God and his family's faith.
“Sharing on the Cloud" at 90 years old
Elder Yuan stepped down from the pulpit in 2019 to serve in a completely new way — sharing information "on the cloud".
In addition to his own devotional articles, he collected the sharing, testimonies, and teachings of pastors such as Dr. John Sung Shang Chieh (a renowned evangelist), the late pastor Huang Detang in Ningbo, and missionary Sun Daxin. On Monday through Saturday, he shared with the believers on WeChat, and on Sunday, he sent pictures of blessings.
" I stopped serving from the pulpit," said Elder Yuan, "but we meet in the air and encourage one another."
- Translated by Richard Zou
God’s Grace in Life of 94-Y-O Elder in Zhejiang
