The article tells the stories of two devout female believers: one, an illiterate woman who became a Christian and learned to read the Bible, and the other, a Christian woman who encountered divine "pursuit" on three occasions.
A pastor recounted this testimony. About a decade ago, when he was in his twenties, serving as a clergyman, he had an experience. After a gathering, he accompanied a Christian woman in her seventies back home. She walked briskly, outpacing him. Her house was on the sixth floor of a building without an elevator, which left the pastor gasping for breath by the time they arrived. During their conversation, he discovered that the elderly woman had suffered from asthma and knee pain for years. Descending the stairs posed a challenge, often taking over thirty minutes to reach the ground floor. Sometimes, she chose to remain home rather than go downstairs.
A relative of hers, who was a Christian, learned about her condition and encouraged her, saying, "Put your faith in the Lord; He can protect and heal you." She was hesitant but agreed to attend church and give it a chance.
She was illiterate with a very limited vocabulary, and reading the Bible posed a challenge for her. Nonetheless, she took her Bible to gatherings. She gradually learned to follow along with the readings, eventually becoming able to read independently, but she could not read anything besides the Bible. Yes, she persisted in reading the Bible, attending worship services, and eventually becoming a Christian.
After she became a Christian, she was healed of asthma and knee pain. Initially, descending the stairs was difficult for her, but she would silently pray or repeat "Emmanuel" repeatedly. Over time, her descent time reduced from over thirty minutes to just ten minutes, until it became effortless. The knee pain and asthma eased, and she went from taking the bus to walking to church.
Another woman, formerly a staunch atheist and proud university teacher, encountered the gospel through a pastor but initially rejected it. Undeterred, the pastor persistently invited her to have conversations. On the third occasion, she did not vehemently refuse him. The pastor suggested that she could say a prayer of commitment without immediately becoming a Christian.
She prayed the commitment prayer like the pastor said but still hesitated to believe, claiming the prayer was ineffective. The pastor explained to her that committing through prayer was like entering into a "covenant" with God, and if she did not uphold this covenant, God would "chase" after her relentlessly.
The next day, God began to "examine" her “covenant fulfillment” and "pursue" her three times. That day, one of her close friends came to her, mentioning that a relative of hers was a Christian who constantly invited her to church, and she wanted this woman to accompany her. The teacher thought to herself, "I prayed yesterday, and today God arranged for someone to invite me to church!" Reluctantly, she went to church on Sunday morning.
In the afternoon, a foreign teacher from her school approached her, asking for help with learning Chinese. When the teacher handed her a Chinese book, she was astonished to find it was a Chinese version of the Bible!
Later, she took the Bible home, thinking, "The Bible is also a world classic; I might as well take a look." She randomly flipped to Jeremiah 11:1-4, where it read, "Thus says the Lord: 'Cursed is the one who does not obey the terms of this covenant.'"
After realizing God’s "pursuit" of her within just a day, she hurriedly informed the pastor of the day's events, confirming her realization that God had chosen her and expressing her newfound desire to believe in Him.
(The article was originally published by the Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Nonye Nancy
今天分享文盲女信徒信主读圣经，然后病得医治和女基督徒教授信主后三次被神“追赶”的故事。
一位牧长讲了这样一个见证。大约十多年前，他还是二十多岁、身为教士。有一次聚会之后他送一位七十多岁的女基督徒回家。一路上她是健步如飞，有点感觉跟不上。老信徒的家在六楼，没有电梯，牧师后来爬得气喘吁吁了。到了她的家之后，聊天知道：这位女信徒多年以前有气喘病、膝关节也疼。她下楼困难，从她家到一楼，要几步一停，半个多小时才能下来。为此，有的时候几乎就在家待着不下楼。
她有个亲属是基督徒，了解到她的病情之后对她说：“你信主吧，祂能保守你、医治你。”她半信半疑，就说好吧，就跟着去教堂试试。
她本来基本是文盲，认识的字非常有限，读圣经对她来说是一件困难的事情。可是她每到聚会也拿着圣经看，慢慢地能够随着大家一起读经，到后来还能够单独读经。但是呢，离开圣经，她还是不认识字。这样，她坚持读经，参加崇拜，成为一个基督徒。
信仰后，她的气喘病和膝关节疼得到了医治。起初，她下楼困难，就在心里默默祷告，或者就是反复默诵“以马内利”。这样她下楼的速度由半个多小时减少为十几分钟，直到正常，上下六楼一点也不费劲。膝关节和气喘病减轻了，她去教堂也由乘坐公交车改为走路。
另外一个女信徒之前是一个“顽固”的无神论者，也是一位自视清高的大学教师。一位牧师给她传福音，她直接拒绝。这位牧师不放弃，多次邀约和她交流。第三次时，她不是激烈的反驳了。牧师说她可以不马上信主，但可以先跟着做一个决志的祷告。
姊妹跟着牧师做了决志祷告，但是她还是坚持不信，说祷告了也是无效。牧师告诉她，做了决志祷告就是和上帝签订了“约”，如果她不遵守这个约，上帝会“追赶”不放松的。
结果在第二天，上帝开始“检查”她的“履约”情况，并三次“追赶”她。这天，她的一位闺蜜来找她，说她的一位亲属是基督徒，总是邀请去教会。想请这位姊妹陪着去应付一下。她心里思忖：“我这昨天做了决志祷告，今天上帝就安排人来找我去教会啊！”无奈，她在主日上午去了教堂。
下午，一位同校的外籍教师找到她，请她帮助学汉语。当那位教师把汉语书给她的时候，她“傻了”：竟然是一本和合本的汉语《圣经》！
后来她拿着那本圣经回到家中，心想：圣经也是世界名著，我不妨看看。于是她随手翻到了耶利米书11章1到4节的经文，赫然看到，神如此说：不听从这约之话的人，必受咒诅。
她意识到在一天之内上帝的“追赶”，于是也赶紧和牧师说了当天的情况，并说她承认上帝在拣选她，她要信主。
（本文作者为福音时报特约撰稿人。）
2位老姊妹的信仰见证
The article tells the stories of two devout female believers: one, an illiterate woman who became a Christian and learned to read the Bible, and the other, a Christian woman who encountered divine "pursuit" on three occasions.
A pastor recounted this testimony. About a decade ago, when he was in his twenties, serving as a clergyman, he had an experience. After a gathering, he accompanied a Christian woman in her seventies back home. She walked briskly, outpacing him. Her house was on the sixth floor of a building without an elevator, which left the pastor gasping for breath by the time they arrived. During their conversation, he discovered that the elderly woman had suffered from asthma and knee pain for years. Descending the stairs posed a challenge, often taking over thirty minutes to reach the ground floor. Sometimes, she chose to remain home rather than go downstairs.
A relative of hers, who was a Christian, learned about her condition and encouraged her, saying, "Put your faith in the Lord; He can protect and heal you." She was hesitant but agreed to attend church and give it a chance.
She was illiterate with a very limited vocabulary, and reading the Bible posed a challenge for her. Nonetheless, she took her Bible to gatherings. She gradually learned to follow along with the readings, eventually becoming able to read independently, but she could not read anything besides the Bible. Yes, she persisted in reading the Bible, attending worship services, and eventually becoming a Christian.
After she became a Christian, she was healed of asthma and knee pain. Initially, descending the stairs was difficult for her, but she would silently pray or repeat "Emmanuel" repeatedly. Over time, her descent time reduced from over thirty minutes to just ten minutes, until it became effortless. The knee pain and asthma eased, and she went from taking the bus to walking to church.
Another woman, formerly a staunch atheist and proud university teacher, encountered the gospel through a pastor but initially rejected it. Undeterred, the pastor persistently invited her to have conversations. On the third occasion, she did not vehemently refuse him. The pastor suggested that she could say a prayer of commitment without immediately becoming a Christian.
She prayed the commitment prayer like the pastor said but still hesitated to believe, claiming the prayer was ineffective. The pastor explained to her that committing through prayer was like entering into a "covenant" with God, and if she did not uphold this covenant, God would "chase" after her relentlessly.
The next day, God began to "examine" her “covenant fulfillment” and "pursue" her three times. That day, one of her close friends came to her, mentioning that a relative of hers was a Christian who constantly invited her to church, and she wanted this woman to accompany her. The teacher thought to herself, "I prayed yesterday, and today God arranged for someone to invite me to church!" Reluctantly, she went to church on Sunday morning.
In the afternoon, a foreign teacher from her school approached her, asking for help with learning Chinese. When the teacher handed her a Chinese book, she was astonished to find it was a Chinese version of the Bible!
Later, she took the Bible home, thinking, "The Bible is also a world classic; I might as well take a look." She randomly flipped to Jeremiah 11:1-4, where it read, "Thus says the Lord: 'Cursed is the one who does not obey the terms of this covenant.'"
After realizing God’s "pursuit" of her within just a day, she hurriedly informed the pastor of the day's events, confirming her realization that God had chosen her and expressing her newfound desire to believe in Him.
(The article was originally published by the Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Nonye Nancy
Faith Stories of Two Elderly Sisters
