Since the reform and opening up, a large number of entrepreneurs (including Christian businessmen) have flooded into the cities in southern China. Sister Xiaoyue and her husband, Brother Zhang are both Christians who originally did business in the northeast of China. They moved to the south of China to do business more than a decade ago in pursuit of the policy dividend and now have two children.
When it comes to business, rise and fall may happen. While talking about the experience of the family at the lows of life, Sister Xiaoyue recalled the reason why her company was in trouble at that time: borrowing due to greed for investment. "Businessmen often borrow as much as possible, aiming for the highest gains."
Being entangled in debt due to financing driven by greed
Due to their over-leveraged investments, Xiaoyue, and her husband were not only debtors but also creditors, being owed money by others.
In recent years, the issue of triangular debt has been one of the biggest factors crushing small and medium-sized enterprises. Triangular debt refers to the relationship formed by the defaults on payments among enterprises. This inter-company indebtedness results in many businesses having little to no liquidity.
Companies mired in triangular debt often face severe cash flow problems. To keep their operations running, many opt to borrow money to alleviate the immediate cash flow issues. However, if the enterprise cannot make a breakthrough in its profitability and cannot get debt repayment from the debtors, then the behavior of the enterprise to borrow will make the debt bigger and bigger, and the crash is only a matter of time.
Sister Xiaoyue recalled that she had been borrowing money to pay debts and resolve the crises of enterprises, "the debt could not be paid, and many triangular debts emerged." The constant borrowing to pay off debts left Sister Xiaoyue and her husband feeling hopeless, unsure of when their struggles would end. These hardships led them to deepen their reliance on God.
"My husband and I have really become humble since then and stopped borrowing money." Sister Xiaoyue said. And then they were faced with a lack of money and a difficult life. At that time, Sister Xiaoyue was pregnant with her second child, and they moved from the big house they lived in into a small house. In the most difficult times, they even resorted to using their child's piggy bank coins to buy cabbage and pickles. Once, they drove their luxury car to the gas station but could only afford to put in 15 yuan of fuel, which shocked the gas attendant.
At the same time, it was very difficult for the couple to make the people who owed them money pay the debts. No matter how many times they ask, no one will pay them back. For people who wanted this couple to pay their debts, they could only promise to pay later. For several years, Sister Xiaoyue had experienced the debt collectors came to their home together during the Spring Festival.
Bear the responsibility to help the merchant community after experiencing God's help
In insisting on not borrowing money, they experienced the work of God. "God saw us live a pathetic life in front of Him, and He would never leave us alone. The God we believe in is true." Sister Xiaoyue recalled, "Suddenly, some people who owed us money called me to pay back the money." After this couple received the money, "we paid our debts first and then continued to wait for God's work."
"More and more people who owe us money are voluntarily paying it back. Through these amazing things, we can see that God would never let us starve to death." Looking back at the hardships, Sister Xiaoyue thought that this experience was special for them. Not only did they go through hardships, but they also learned to rely on God in times of trouble. As a result, they were more thoughtful about what would be effective in helping groups of Christian business people they met in church who had similar experiences.
Accompanying the business community rather than lending them money
Sister Xiaoyue shared that when ordinary businessmen face financial difficulties, their most common solution is to borrow money. Having experienced God's guidance and overcome their debt crisis, Sister Xiaoyue and her husband realized that "in the business community, we should accompany them through these challenging times."
Not lending them money is not because we don't love them or want to help them, but because we need to examine their faith, ensuring they aren't acting out of greed and are following God's will." In helping people, "we need to do it according to the Bible, not according to experience, and not blindly help a person." This is the way Sister Xiaoyue and her husband are now helping the business community, and she specifically shared, "When God disciplines people and places them in challenging circumstances, we shouldn't blindly help them, as we might also suffer the consequences." "Therefore, when guiding the business community, our approach is to support them while ensuring we also go through our journey of experiencing God's work."
During the fellowship time, they would pray together, especially for those in need. In addition to bringing the real experience of God, Sister Xiaoyue mentioned a basic principle of doing business, which is to obey the law and pay taxes on time. In addition, Sister Xiaoyue believes that business needs to be down-to-earth, bearing in mind to avoid blind expansion due to greed, and Christian businessmen need to abide by biblical values.
While helping groups of businessmen, they have also encountered people who have refused their help. "It's not up to anyone to decide whether they accept your help or not and whether they want to do business with biblical values." She shared, "Instead of thinking about what you can get from the people you serve, serve with an attitude of giving, and serve with unconditional love from the Lord."
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
改革开放以来，南方城市涌入了大批敢闯敢干的创业者，其中也不乏基督徒商人。原本在东北经商的小月姊妹和她的先生张弟兄是在十几年前奔着政策红利举家迁移到南方做生意的一个基督徒家庭，现在育有子女2名。
说起做生意，风浪顺遂都有时。谈及家庭从低谷中走过的经历，月姊妹回忆当时让自家公司陷入困境的原因，贪心之下的举债投资：“商人都是能蹦多高蹦多高，能借多少，借多少。”
曾因贪欲融资 深陷债务捆绑
他们当时不仅是负债方，借了别人很多钱，同时也是债权方，也有很多人欠他们钱。
近年来，三角债问题一直是压垮中小型企业的最大杀手之一。三角债务是指企业相互之间拖欠货款所形成的连锁债务关系，这种不同的企业间的互相欠债，导致很多企业没有可以转动的空间。深陷三角债的公司会陷入资金断流，为了公司能继续运营，很多人选择借钱来缓解资金断流问题。如果企业没有在自身盈利能力上有所突破，没有从债务人那里得到债务偿还，那么企业借款的行为会导致债务问题越滚越大，崩盘只是早晚的事情。
小月姊妹回忆说，当时一直在借钱周转债务和企业危机，“然后窟窿填不上了，就出来很多个三角债。”这种不断借钱周转，填窟窿的日子，让小月姐妹和丈夫陷入深深的无力中，不知道这样的日子什么时候是个头。也因着这些艰难，让原本有信仰的他们转而学习依靠神。
“我和先生真的谦卑下来，不借钱了。”小月姐妹说。 而之后，面对的是实实在在的没钱和窘迫。那时候小月姐妹正好身怀二胎，他们从原先居住的大房子换成了小房子；最难的时候经历过把孩子的存钱罐打开，拿硬币去买白菜咸菜；也经历过开着豪车去加油站，在加油小哥吃惊的目光中加15块钱油。 同时，夫妇二人找欠自己钱的人还钱也非常困难，不管他们怎么要，别人都不给。
面对来要债的人，他们只能向对方明确表态— —现在肯定还不上，让对方等着，并承诺之后会还上。曾在几年的时间中，他们都经历了每逢过年被集中催债的时候。
经历神的信实，对帮助商人群体有了负担
在坚持不借钱的过程中，他们经历了神的工作。“神真的看着我们在他跟前死了，神不会不管我们，我们信的是真的神。”小月姊妹回忆说：“之前追着屁股在后面要钱不给自己的人，忽然打电话让自己去拿钱。”夫妻两收到钱之后，“还是先还债，然后继续等候神的工作。
”陆续有更多之前欠他们钱的人居然主动还款了。“在这些事情上看到，神没有让我们饿死。” 回头再看曾经的艰难时，月姊妹认为这段经历对他们来说是特别的，不仅走过了艰难，他们学习了在患难中依靠神。因此，在帮助在教会中遇到的和自己有同样经历的基督徒商人群体时，她们对于什么是有效的帮助有了更多思考。
陪伴商人群体，而不是借钱帮助他们
小月姐妹分享说，一般生意人遇到困难的时候，最直观的解决方法可能就是找人借钱。但是经历过神的带领，并走过债务危机的月姊妹和丈夫认识到，“在商人群体中，我们做的是陪着他们一起走这段死路。
（不借钱给他们）不是不爱他们，也不是不帮他们，而是要在信仰里面查看，自己是不是有贪心并且是否按着神的旨意在行。” 在帮助人上“需要按着圣经来，不是按着经验，也不盲目的插手去帮助这个人。”这是小月姐妹和丈夫现在秉持的帮助商人群体的方式，她特别分享说：“当神管教和给人环境的时候，不要人为地去帮助一个人，不然你也折里头。” “所以，牧养商人群体的时候，我们的方式是陪伴他们，一定要有自己经历神的过程。
”在团契时光中，他们会一起祷告，特别会为有困难的人代祷。 除了引人真实的经历神之外，她提到一个做生意的基本原则，就是遵纪守法，按时上税。此外，小月姐妹认为，做生意需要脚踏实地，切记贪心之下的盲目扩大，基督徒商人需要遵守圣经性的价值观。
在帮助商人群体时，他们也遇到过中途走掉的人。“对方接不接受你的帮助，对方在做生意时，愿不愿意秉持圣经价值观，这些都不是别人能决定的事情。”她分享说：“不要想着从自己服事的人身上获得什么，而是带着付出的态度做服侍，用从天父来的没有条件的爱来服务对方。”
一基督徒商人夫妇的见证：依靠上帝走出三角债泥潭后 更明白如何帮助商人群体
Since the reform and opening up, a large number of entrepreneurs (including Christian businessmen) have flooded into the cities in southern China. Sister Xiaoyue and her husband, Brother Zhang are both Christians who originally did business in the northeast of China. They moved to the south of China to do business more than a decade ago in pursuit of the policy dividend and now have two children.
When it comes to business, rise and fall may happen. While talking about the experience of the family at the lows of life, Sister Xiaoyue recalled the reason why her company was in trouble at that time: borrowing due to greed for investment. "Businessmen often borrow as much as possible, aiming for the highest gains."
Being entangled in debt due to financing driven by greed
Due to their over-leveraged investments, Xiaoyue, and her husband were not only debtors but also creditors, being owed money by others.
In recent years, the issue of triangular debt has been one of the biggest factors crushing small and medium-sized enterprises. Triangular debt refers to the relationship formed by the defaults on payments among enterprises. This inter-company indebtedness results in many businesses having little to no liquidity.
Companies mired in triangular debt often face severe cash flow problems. To keep their operations running, many opt to borrow money to alleviate the immediate cash flow issues. However, if the enterprise cannot make a breakthrough in its profitability and cannot get debt repayment from the debtors, then the behavior of the enterprise to borrow will make the debt bigger and bigger, and the crash is only a matter of time.
Sister Xiaoyue recalled that she had been borrowing money to pay debts and resolve the crises of enterprises, "the debt could not be paid, and many triangular debts emerged." The constant borrowing to pay off debts left Sister Xiaoyue and her husband feeling hopeless, unsure of when their struggles would end. These hardships led them to deepen their reliance on God.
"My husband and I have really become humble since then and stopped borrowing money." Sister Xiaoyue said. And then they were faced with a lack of money and a difficult life. At that time, Sister Xiaoyue was pregnant with her second child, and they moved from the big house they lived in into a small house. In the most difficult times, they even resorted to using their child's piggy bank coins to buy cabbage and pickles. Once, they drove their luxury car to the gas station but could only afford to put in 15 yuan of fuel, which shocked the gas attendant.
At the same time, it was very difficult for the couple to make the people who owed them money pay the debts. No matter how many times they ask, no one will pay them back. For people who wanted this couple to pay their debts, they could only promise to pay later. For several years, Sister Xiaoyue had experienced the debt collectors came to their home together during the Spring Festival.
Bear the responsibility to help the merchant community after experiencing God's help
In insisting on not borrowing money, they experienced the work of God. "God saw us live a pathetic life in front of Him, and He would never leave us alone. The God we believe in is true." Sister Xiaoyue recalled, "Suddenly, some people who owed us money called me to pay back the money." After this couple received the money, "we paid our debts first and then continued to wait for God's work."
"More and more people who owe us money are voluntarily paying it back. Through these amazing things, we can see that God would never let us starve to death." Looking back at the hardships, Sister Xiaoyue thought that this experience was special for them. Not only did they go through hardships, but they also learned to rely on God in times of trouble. As a result, they were more thoughtful about what would be effective in helping groups of Christian business people they met in church who had similar experiences.
Accompanying the business community rather than lending them money
Sister Xiaoyue shared that when ordinary businessmen face financial difficulties, their most common solution is to borrow money. Having experienced God's guidance and overcome their debt crisis, Sister Xiaoyue and her husband realized that "in the business community, we should accompany them through these challenging times."
Not lending them money is not because we don't love them or want to help them, but because we need to examine their faith, ensuring they aren't acting out of greed and are following God's will." In helping people, "we need to do it according to the Bible, not according to experience, and not blindly help a person." This is the way Sister Xiaoyue and her husband are now helping the business community, and she specifically shared, "When God disciplines people and places them in challenging circumstances, we shouldn't blindly help them, as we might also suffer the consequences." "Therefore, when guiding the business community, our approach is to support them while ensuring we also go through our journey of experiencing God's work."
During the fellowship time, they would pray together, especially for those in need. In addition to bringing the real experience of God, Sister Xiaoyue mentioned a basic principle of doing business, which is to obey the law and pay taxes on time. In addition, Sister Xiaoyue believes that business needs to be down-to-earth, bearing in mind to avoid blind expansion due to greed, and Christian businessmen need to abide by biblical values.
While helping groups of businessmen, they have also encountered people who have refused their help. "It's not up to anyone to decide whether they accept your help or not and whether they want to do business with biblical values." She shared, "Instead of thinking about what you can get from the people you serve, serve with an attitude of giving, and serve with unconditional love from the Lord."
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
Christian Business Couple Overcomes Triangular Debt, Empowers Community With Faith
