Sister Xu accepted Christianity shortly after starting college in 2006. After she started college she occasionally encountered a Christian woman. Out of curiosity, she heard two verses from the Christian: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. " (Galatians 5:22-23)
She was instantly attracted by the verses. Wanting to produce much fruit, Xu started a journey of faith with a mindset of trying.
The Christian faith is not a myth invented by human beings
Xu soon accepted the faith and prayed the sinner's prayer, active in attending church services. "Actually I didn't believe in it. I just felt that the services were good and the hymns were melodious," she said, "but I didn't really understand the pastors' sermons at times, nor was I interested in them."
She thought that there was no clear distinction between the Christian faith and other religions and Jesus was like a big figure in a Western fairytale or legend. One of her fellowship members once shared in a fellowship meeting the story that her demon-possessed family member was healed by God, making her reflect on the faith. She confessed, "I began to believe that ghosts and God both exist in the world after hearing her testimony." Since then, she started to believe in God and seek Him.
One day a foreign pastor was invited to give sermons in her church. He called the congregation to kneel in prayer. Seeing almost all the believers around her getting down on their knees, she felt embarrassed --- in her education, she only knelt down before her parents when she was a child and it was shameful to fall on her knees in public. Giving in to her team leader's request, she knelt down at last. At that moment, she felt the outpouring of the Holy Spirit from her head. "In that minute, I totally believed in the existence of God without any doubt."
God filled her inner hole with love, leading to her family's conversion
Xu claimed that there was a deep ditch of emptiness in her heart before knowing Jesus, but God filled it with His love.
Born in a family with four children, she had two older sisters and one younger brother. As the third child, she was often ignored by her family. Over time, indignation grew inside her from her indignation. She concluded that her existence didn't actually matter.
However, God's love comforted her wounded heart and filled her long-standing emptiness. She had a deeper understanding of "love" and became considerate of her parents --- after all, it was not easy to raise four children and almost impossible to attend to all of them well. God erased the harm caused by her family. She started to pray for her family and share the gospel with them.
Delighted at knowing her change resulted from her faith, her parents gave thanks to God for her change. She said, "My family was influenced by me; my sisters and my parents followed Jesus."
God taught her to work for Him and helps her examine herself
Xu works in an educational institution. "I don't hide my faith in the workplace. I help the children in difficulty or in need in my class as much as possible." She tells Christian short stories to children on special occasions like Christmas and Thanksgiving Day so that they might know the history of these holidays.
Although her pay is not commensurate with her efforts, she works dutifully. "However, I know that I don't work for people or my boss, but God." Despite being busy with her hard work, she has never complained. The boss trusts her and the parents of her students have praised her.
However, her body was crushed with a heavy workload and various diseases struck her. Problems then appeared in her faith and work in succession. Her spirituality hit rock bottom: she started to fall away from the church, seldom attending services or coming near to God... "I suffered from serious insomnia for some time. Taking sleeping pills didn't work."
She thought that working too hard contributed to her illness, neglecting the spiritual battles. Xu became anxious and restless. The diseases occurred repeatedly and couldn't be cured.
It was at that desperate time that she heard God's voice --- "Don't be afraid and everything will be all right." The simple word shone like a strong light into her heart shrouded in darkness. At that moment, she regained consciousness and strength: she must get through the phase by any means possible.
"I thank God for bringing me through the problems in that time," she said with gratitude and joy, "because the sickness made me weak. Many times I was unwilling to commit some of my life problems to God, leaving openings for Satan to attack my faith and life."
God let her see her weakness and limits, leading her to think and reflect on herself during the painful period. She believed that God never gave her up or stayed away from her, though her sickness was caused by her own sins. God helped her through the environment so as to surpass herself by changing and growing up and putting aside her own thoughts.
- Translated by Karen Luo
许姊妹是从2006年开始接触信仰，那时她刚上大学，偶然遇到一个教会的基督徒姐妹，秉着好奇心，恰好听见这个姐妹说到一节经文：“圣灵所结的果子就是仁爱、喜乐、和平、忍耐、恩慈、良善、信实、温柔、节制。这样的事，没有律法禁止。（加5:22-23）”一瞬间许姊妹就被吸引住了。简短的一席话让许姊妹产生了很想要“试试看”的心理，抱着“想要成为能结出这九种果子的人”的想法，许姊妹踏上了信仰这条道路。
基督教信仰原来不是人杜撰的神话故事
很快，许姊妹就接受了信仰，并做了决志祷告，积极地参加着教会的聚会。“其实那时我内心并不太信，只是感觉聚会很好，赞美诗很好听。”许姊妹如此说：“但有时候牧师讲道时说了什么，我听的并不太明白，也不感兴趣。”
在她看来，基督教的信仰跟其它宗教信仰似乎没有太大区别，耶稣应该是类似西方神话传说里的大人物。有一次，在团契小组聚会时，其中一位成员分享了她家人被鬼附后又被神医治的事，开启了许姊妹对信仰上的思考。许姊妹坦言，“但那次听完她的分享后，我开始确信这个世上是真的有鬼存在，也有一位神的存在。”
从那时开始，许姊妹开始信有神，并寻求神。许姊妹更加想要亲身经历神。有一天，一位国外的牧师受邀来到许姊妹的教会讲道，中途他呼召弟兄姊妹们有愿意的可以跪下来祷告。看着周围的信徒几乎全都跪下，许姊妹感到有点为难——在她所受的教育里，除了小时候跪过父母以外，也没有跪过其他人，更别提是在大庭广众之下下跪。这让许姊妹有点难以接受。拗不过组长的请求，许姊妹最终顺着她的意思跪了下来。就在许姊妹跪下的那一刹那，她感觉到圣灵从头浇灌下来，那一刻的充满与感动是她信仰这么久以来从未有过的体会，“那一刻我完完全全相信了神的存在。没有丝毫的怀疑。”
神的爱填补我内心的缺失 带领家人一同信仰
许姊妹说，在认识信仰以前，她的内心有一道很深的沟渠，里面空落落的，原来那里面所缺失的是爱。而神已经用祂的爱将她心底那道沟渠填满。
许姊妹出生在一个多子多女的家庭，除了上面两个姐姐外，底下还有个弟弟。从小，家族里爸爸这边的亲戚就非常喜欢老大和老四，做为老三的许姊妹夹在中间，处于一个尴尬的位置，常常被人忽略。久而久之，许姊妹内心生出一种不公平的愤慨来，“那时我常常觉得自己被不公平的对待着，加上常常挨打的缘故，我的性格非常倔强。”
那时的许姊妹虽然年纪还小，但内心早早就品尝到了“忧伤”与“失落”的滋味。许姊妹认为其实这个世上有她没她也没有太大的差别。神的爱安慰了许姊妹受伤的心，也填补了她内心长期以来的空虚与缺失，让她对“爱”有了更深的明白，她开始体谅家庭与父母——毕竟要教养四个孩子不是容易的事情，难免会有顾此失彼的时候。原生家庭给许姊妹带来的伤害，被神大能的手全然抹去，许姊妹开始为家人祷告，向他们传福音。
信仰使许姊妹变得成熟、豁达，在家里所表现出来的也不仅仅只是倔，而是更多的去体贴父母、友爱兄弟姐妹，懂事且善解人意。她长大了，懂事了，能够安慰父母的心了。
得知许姊妹的改变是因着信仰，父母都非常高兴，也为着女儿的改变而感谢神。许姊妹也常常不遗余力地与家人交流信仰，因为她的改变，就是最好的福传方式。“家里人受我的影响，现在四个兄弟姐妹里，大姐、二姐和我爸妈都开始信主了。”
神教导我为祂工作 也帮助我在生病中反思自己
现在的许姊妹在一家教育机构上班，她始终牢记自己基督徒的身份，都要以荣耀神为先。“我不会在工作上避忌我的信仰，也会尽力帮助班上有困难、有需要的孩子们。”许姊妹说，她会利用圣诞节、感恩节这样特殊的节期给孩子们讲述基督教里的小故事，使他们知道这些节日的来历。
许姊妹尽职地去完成在工作上的每一件事，尽管有时候她的回报与付出不能成对等，“但我知道我并不是在为人工作，也不是为老板工作，而是在为神工作。”因此，虽然很忙很累，但许姊妹从来都不曾有过怨言。也正是因着许姊妹的认真负责，机构的老板对交托给她的事情极为放心；家长们也对许姊妹交口称赞。
然而，巨大的工作量却击垮了她的身体，各样的病症在同时间迸发。随之，信仰上，工作上，也陆续出现了一些问题，许姊妹的灵命陷入到前所未有的低谷当中，开始远离教会，不常聚会，也不常亲近神了……
“有段时间，我的失眠非常严重，就算吃安眠药也没有作用，”。但那时她所想的是自己多半是因为工作太累导致身体崩塌，却没有想到这也有属灵的争战在里面。
睡眠不好，导致许姊妹的身体出现了一系列的连锁反应，例如拉肚子、心律不齐等等，但许姊妹整个人都被这些“小问题”给抓住，变得焦虑、彷徨和不安，病情也反反复复不能根治。
也就是在这个最绝望的时期，许姊妹听见神告诉她：“不要怕，都会好的。”简单的几个字，如同一道强光照进了许姊妹长久来被黑暗笼罩的心底，那一瞬间她清醒过来，也重拾力量：无论如何，都要突破这个阶段！
“感谢神在藉着这个时间所发生的事情来破碎我，”如今，每谈及那段灰暗的病痛历史时，许姊妹话语里所包含的并不是埋怨与苦毒，反而是感恩与喜乐：“因为生病我变得软弱，很多时候不愿意再将自己生活上的一些问题交托给神，是我给撒旦留了破口，让它来攻击我的信仰和生活。”但神让她看清楚了自己的软弱和有限，让她在经历痛苦的阶段里去思考和反省，许姊妹认为，病痛虽然是人自己的罪所引起的，但感谢神从未放弃她、远离她，而是藉着环境来帮助她，让她能够突破自己，放下个人的想法去改变、成长。
基督徒姊妹职场见证：好奇心开始信仰 却经历神不离不弃的爱
Sister Xu accepted Christianity shortly after starting college in 2006. After she started college she occasionally encountered a Christian woman. Out of curiosity, she heard two verses from the Christian: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. " (Galatians 5:22-23)
She was instantly attracted by the verses. Wanting to produce much fruit, Xu started a journey of faith with a mindset of trying.
The Christian faith is not a myth invented by human beings
Xu soon accepted the faith and prayed the sinner's prayer, active in attending church services. "Actually I didn't believe in it. I just felt that the services were good and the hymns were melodious," she said, "but I didn't really understand the pastors' sermons at times, nor was I interested in them."
She thought that there was no clear distinction between the Christian faith and other religions and Jesus was like a big figure in a Western fairytale or legend. One of her fellowship members once shared in a fellowship meeting the story that her demon-possessed family member was healed by God, making her reflect on the faith. She confessed, "I began to believe that ghosts and God both exist in the world after hearing her testimony." Since then, she started to believe in God and seek Him.
One day a foreign pastor was invited to give sermons in her church. He called the congregation to kneel in prayer. Seeing almost all the believers around her getting down on their knees, she felt embarrassed --- in her education, she only knelt down before her parents when she was a child and it was shameful to fall on her knees in public. Giving in to her team leader's request, she knelt down at last. At that moment, she felt the outpouring of the Holy Spirit from her head. "In that minute, I totally believed in the existence of God without any doubt."
God filled her inner hole with love, leading to her family's conversion
Xu claimed that there was a deep ditch of emptiness in her heart before knowing Jesus, but God filled it with His love.
Born in a family with four children, she had two older sisters and one younger brother. As the third child, she was often ignored by her family. Over time, indignation grew inside her from her indignation. She concluded that her existence didn't actually matter.
However, God's love comforted her wounded heart and filled her long-standing emptiness. She had a deeper understanding of "love" and became considerate of her parents --- after all, it was not easy to raise four children and almost impossible to attend to all of them well. God erased the harm caused by her family. She started to pray for her family and share the gospel with them.
Delighted at knowing her change resulted from her faith, her parents gave thanks to God for her change. She said, "My family was influenced by me; my sisters and my parents followed Jesus."
God taught her to work for Him and helps her examine herself
Xu works in an educational institution. "I don't hide my faith in the workplace. I help the children in difficulty or in need in my class as much as possible." She tells Christian short stories to children on special occasions like Christmas and Thanksgiving Day so that they might know the history of these holidays.
Although her pay is not commensurate with her efforts, she works dutifully. "However, I know that I don't work for people or my boss, but God." Despite being busy with her hard work, she has never complained. The boss trusts her and the parents of her students have praised her.
However, her body was crushed with a heavy workload and various diseases struck her. Problems then appeared in her faith and work in succession. Her spirituality hit rock bottom: she started to fall away from the church, seldom attending services or coming near to God... "I suffered from serious insomnia for some time. Taking sleeping pills didn't work."
She thought that working too hard contributed to her illness, neglecting the spiritual battles. Xu became anxious and restless. The diseases occurred repeatedly and couldn't be cured.
It was at that desperate time that she heard God's voice --- "Don't be afraid and everything will be all right." The simple word shone like a strong light into her heart shrouded in darkness. At that moment, she regained consciousness and strength: she must get through the phase by any means possible.
"I thank God for bringing me through the problems in that time," she said with gratitude and joy, "because the sickness made me weak. Many times I was unwilling to commit some of my life problems to God, leaving openings for Satan to attack my faith and life."
God let her see her weakness and limits, leading her to think and reflect on herself during the painful period. She believed that God never gave her up or stayed away from her, though her sickness was caused by her own sins. God helped her through the environment so as to surpass herself by changing and growing up and putting aside her own thoughts.
- Translated by Karen Luo
Christian in the Workplace Experiences God’s Unchanging Love
