“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life like? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’” These are my favorite scriptures, which appeared the first time I opened the Bible.
In 2015, my sophomore year, I received my mother’s call informing me that my twin brother had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Trembling, I couldn’t understand how a healthy person suddenly got cancer. Why did God punish our family like this? A fatal disease made everything in vain. What’s the meaning of our hard work in studying? I was drowning in the endless bitterness, thinking it would be better not to be born in this world if life was like this.
Long ago, my aunt gave me a Bible, which I treated as a literary storybook all the time. In desperation, this dusty Bible just occurred to me. When I opened it and saw the scriptures from James, I realized that life is in the hands of the Lord.
I was born into a regular family with a normal couple and three normal children in the village of Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province. It was so ordinary that I thought we could live an ordinary and peaceful life. The only unusual thing is that my brother and I were twins. My parents kept teaching us three from our childhood that the only way to succeed is by studying hard.
Therefore, my brother and I put forth all our efforts to study in big cities, moving beyond the rural areas. My brother got admitted to a national key university in Zhejiang Province, while I enrolled in Shanghai. We were affirmed that, with sufficient effort, a bright future awaited us. However, as Proverbs says, “In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” The illness of my brother struck unexpectedly.
With continuous excellence in study, my twin brother believed that he was on a path of absolute truth: “Knowledge is truth; studying changes destiny.” He often burned the midnight oil to get more honors and scholarships without knowing that men’s bodies are temples of God. Cancer knocked on his door due to excessive pressure and long-term sleep deprivation.
God has gradually changed my perspective and whole life as I learned of my brother’s illness. Jesus said, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” My brother only learned that at the cost of his health and life.
Thanks to the Lord, my family took belief in Him because of my brother’s cancer. My aunt had often tried to preach the gospel to us since I was little, but no one accepted. She made another attempt after my brother got sick. The family started to count on “Jesus heals all who believe,” as there was no hope for a cure. However, my brother’s cancer didn’t heal in the end. The Lord granted him four years, and despite this short period, he became a person who truly knew the Lord.
During his illness, he raised three profound questions to those in the fellowship: "You said believing in Jesus can get healed; why hadn't I?” “You said believing in Jesus can go to heaven. What is it like? Have you been there?” “How can I get saved?”
He rested in the Lord’s arm in 2019. Under my brother’s influence, two believers in his fellowship became pastors. My brother also found the answers to his questions, encouraging many people online when he was sick. In his last words, he told me about the “new heaven and new earth” he saw. There was a smile on his face as he passed away, from which I saw a beam of light.
On the contrary, my progress in faith was slow. My brother’s death hit me so much that I even considered jumping out of the window due to overwhelming agony, despite having no physical illness. My sister advised me to go to church. Later, I experienced God’s miraculous guidance in everything and got answers from Him. There has been a huge turning in my thought and life, and I started to seek true life.
One day, there was a vague voice in my dream saying, “Rise and be a channel of blessing to all. You must worship the Lord in spirit and truth. You must believe that nothing is too hard for Christ, for everything has now been finished.” At midnight, I woke up in tears of utter joy and relief, certain that He loves me and that He loves me. Since then, I have renamed myself Chen Yicheng, taking two characters from the Chinese phrase “worship the Lord in spirit and truth.”
I barely dare to show my past and the wounds within. For the sake of the gospel and to bear witness to what Jesus has changed in my life and family, I decided to open myself up, recording the Lord’s grace with my words.
- Translated by Poppy Chan
“其实明天如何，你们还不知道。你们的生命是什么呢？你们原来是一片云雾，出现少时就不见了。你们只当说：‘主若愿意，我们就可以活着，也可以做这事，或做那事。’”这是我最喜欢的经文，也是我第一次翻开圣经，映入眼帘的经文。
2015年，大二的我，接到妈妈的电话，说我的双胞胎哥哥贞桦被确诊为结直肠癌。我整个人颤抖着，想不明白，好好的一个人怎么会突然得癌症呢？为什么老天爷要这么惩罚我们家？一场重病临到，到头来竹篮打水一场空，那我们辛苦努力读书的意义是什么呢？我陷入了无尽的苦毒之中，如果人生就是这样的话，还不如不生在这个世界上……
很早之前，我表姨就送过我一本圣经，一直以来我把圣经当做一本文学故事书看待。在绝境之中，我忽然想到了那本灰尘满面的圣经。当我翻开圣经，看到雅各的这句经文，我才真正意识到生命是掌握在主的手中。
我出生在浙江绍兴一个普通农村家庭，一双普通的父母，带着三个普通的孩子，普通到自以为能普普通通平平安安地过完这一生。我和哥哥是双胞胎，这是唯一有点不普通的事情。爸妈从小教育我们三姐弟，只有读书才会有出息。
于是我们哥俩拼命读书，努力走出农村，走向大城市。我去了上海，我哥去了宁波一所211，我们坚信只要足够努力，未来一片光明。然而，正如箴言所说，人心筹算自己的脚步，惟耶和华指引他的脚步。一场疾病毫无预料地闯进我的家庭。
我哥从小读书就十分优秀，他也自以为走在了“知识就是真理，读书改变命运”这条绝对真理的路上。为了拿到更多荣誉和奖学金，我哥常常熬夜学习。可他不知道，人的身体是上帝的殿。过大的精神压力和长期熬夜作息不规律，最终让癌症找上了门。
从我哥被确诊为结直肠癌的那一刻起，我的观念乃至我的整个人生开始被上帝一步步翻转。耶稣说，“人若赚得全世界，却赔上自己的生命，有什么益处呢。人还能拿什么换生命呢？”我哥以透支健康，以生命为代价才明白了这个真理。
感谢主，也是因为我哥罹患癌症，我们全家因此信主。其实早在我三、四岁的时候，我的表姨就经常给我们传福音，但是我们那个时候没有接受。我哥生病后，表姨再次给我们传福音。当我哥没有被救治的可能的时候，我们全家开始指望“信耶稣得医治”。不过，我哥最终并没有得医治，主给了他四年的时间。虽然短暂，但是我哥是一个真认识主的人。
在他生病期间，他曾经向团契里的人提了三个深刻的问题：
“你们说信耶稣病得医治，为什么我没有得医治？”
“你们说信耶稣可以去天堂，天堂是什么样？你们去过吗？”
“我怎样才能得救？”
我哥于2019年安息主怀。受我哥影响，他团契里两个同学都做了传道人。我哥自己也找到了问题的答案，他在生病期间在网上用文字鼓舞了好多人。他还在留给我的遗书中提到了他所看见的“新天新地”，他离世的时候脸上是带着笑容的，并且我看到了一道光……
但是我的信仰之路走得很慢，我哥的离世对我来说是很大的打击。我身体没有生病，但太痛苦了，甚至有过从窗户跳下去的念头。姐姐劝我去教会。此后，我在各种事情中经历了祂奇妙的带领，上帝回答了我的疑问。我的想法到我的生活都有极大的翻转。我开始寻求真正的生命。
有一天，我在梦里听到一个依稀的声音，“起来，你要成为众人祝福的管道。你要以心灵和诚实赞美敬拜主，你要相信，在基督里没有难成的事，一切都已成了。”我半夜起来，泪流满面，内心感到无比的喜悦和释放，我相信祂是爱我的，我是被祂所爱的。从那之后，我给自己取了一个在基督里的新名字，陈以诚，“以心灵和诚实赞美敬拜主”。
我从来不忍心把自己的过往和心口的伤痛展现给世人所看，但为了福音的缘故，为了见证基督在我生命中、家庭中所做的改变的工作，我想要敞开自己，用文字记录主的恩典。
一位致力于文字事奉的弟兄的信仰见证：（一）我是陈以诚
“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life like? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’” These are my favorite scriptures, which appeared the first time I opened the Bible.
In 2015, my sophomore year, I received my mother’s call informing me that my twin brother had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Trembling, I couldn’t understand how a healthy person suddenly got cancer. Why did God punish our family like this? A fatal disease made everything in vain. What’s the meaning of our hard work in studying? I was drowning in the endless bitterness, thinking it would be better not to be born in this world if life was like this.
Long ago, my aunt gave me a Bible, which I treated as a literary storybook all the time. In desperation, this dusty Bible just occurred to me. When I opened it and saw the scriptures from James, I realized that life is in the hands of the Lord.
I was born into a regular family with a normal couple and three normal children in the village of Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province. It was so ordinary that I thought we could live an ordinary and peaceful life. The only unusual thing is that my brother and I were twins. My parents kept teaching us three from our childhood that the only way to succeed is by studying hard.
Therefore, my brother and I put forth all our efforts to study in big cities, moving beyond the rural areas. My brother got admitted to a national key university in Zhejiang Province, while I enrolled in Shanghai. We were affirmed that, with sufficient effort, a bright future awaited us. However, as Proverbs says, “In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” The illness of my brother struck unexpectedly.
With continuous excellence in study, my twin brother believed that he was on a path of absolute truth: “Knowledge is truth; studying changes destiny.” He often burned the midnight oil to get more honors and scholarships without knowing that men’s bodies are temples of God. Cancer knocked on his door due to excessive pressure and long-term sleep deprivation.
God has gradually changed my perspective and whole life as I learned of my brother’s illness. Jesus said, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” My brother only learned that at the cost of his health and life.
Thanks to the Lord, my family took belief in Him because of my brother’s cancer. My aunt had often tried to preach the gospel to us since I was little, but no one accepted. She made another attempt after my brother got sick. The family started to count on “Jesus heals all who believe,” as there was no hope for a cure. However, my brother’s cancer didn’t heal in the end. The Lord granted him four years, and despite this short period, he became a person who truly knew the Lord.
During his illness, he raised three profound questions to those in the fellowship: "You said believing in Jesus can get healed; why hadn't I?” “You said believing in Jesus can go to heaven. What is it like? Have you been there?” “How can I get saved?”
He rested in the Lord’s arm in 2019. Under my brother’s influence, two believers in his fellowship became pastors. My brother also found the answers to his questions, encouraging many people online when he was sick. In his last words, he told me about the “new heaven and new earth” he saw. There was a smile on his face as he passed away, from which I saw a beam of light.
On the contrary, my progress in faith was slow. My brother’s death hit me so much that I even considered jumping out of the window due to overwhelming agony, despite having no physical illness. My sister advised me to go to church. Later, I experienced God’s miraculous guidance in everything and got answers from Him. There has been a huge turning in my thought and life, and I started to seek true life.
One day, there was a vague voice in my dream saying, “Rise and be a channel of blessing to all. You must worship the Lord in spirit and truth. You must believe that nothing is too hard for Christ, for everything has now been finished.” At midnight, I woke up in tears of utter joy and relief, certain that He loves me and that He loves me. Since then, I have renamed myself Chen Yicheng, taking two characters from the Chinese phrase “worship the Lord in spirit and truth.”
I barely dare to show my past and the wounds within. For the sake of the gospel and to bear witness to what Jesus has changed in my life and family, I decided to open myself up, recording the Lord’s grace with my words.
- Translated by Poppy Chan
Testimony: Discovering True Life From My Brother's Death
