At present, Gong Shuzhen, who serves as a deacon of the Christian Church in Yaodu District of Linfen City and the head of the Jindian Church, is now 59 years old. Chosen by God in her early twenties, Gong has served for more than twenty years on the post of the rural grassroots church with great concentration.
Recalling her own journey of faith, Mrs. Gong said that she “became a believer late in her life”, because she did not have any major setbacks in her teenage years, and never thought that her life would be blessed with faith.
In 1984, the 22-year-old Miss Gong got married and lived in Jiace Village. Good times did not last long, however, and shortly after marriage, she suffered from a strange disease. Her legs became weak, and she could not walk anymore, which affected the normal life of the family. Over the year that followed, her family took her to doctors everywhere, but they couldn’t find the cause. The family began to try some folk prescriptions and pray to some gods. They spent much money, but nothing worked.
Under these desperate circumstances, a believer from her extended family advised her,“Why don’t you try to believe in Jesus. Maybe Jesus can cure you.” Considering that she was unable to walk and could not go to church, so her husband went to church for her on Sundays. Though he had only just begun to hear about God, he who was touched told her, “What they taught in the church is really good, and they are all praying for you.”
Gradually, under the influence of her husband, she also learned simple prayers, and she often prayed to God alone in bed.
After half a year, her body became much better, and gradually she could walk slowly. The recovered woman was filled with gratitude and praise for God. From then on, every Sunday, she would walk three miles to the town with her Bible and hymns in her backpack.
She desired to learn more about the Bible. So, besides the hearth, beside the bed, in the yard, she could be seen reading the Bible in every corner of the house.
She said, “Even though I could not understand some verses, I read them carefully. God’s word is very sweet, and I have learned many truths in the scriptures.”
Four years later, she was baptized as a Christian at the local Xiyi Church. After her baptism, she resolved in her heart that she would serve the Lord for her whole life, be devout, and lead a holy life.
After she became a Christian, there was more and more passion and firmity in her heart. No matter how cold or hot it was, she never stopped going to church. Her husband also supported her in her faith. Gradually, she began to participate in some of the services that she could, such as reading scripture at small gatherings, praying, teaching poetry, and later, running a kindergarten at home for four or five years.
Li Duxin, then the head of the Xiyi Church, once asked her if she would serve God. She expressed her willingness at once. In this way, Gong followed Li to the Jindian Church. At the church, she became an accountant which the church needed. She served as an accountant for about seven years and began to lead small services in the pastoral area. Later, a meeting point was set up in her house, and weekly services were held there, with more than 20 people attending each time.
At that time, the site where Jindian Church was located was formerly an old oil workshop in the town. The house fell into disrepair and became a dilapidated building. For the personal safety of believers, buying a house as the new church has become a top priority for the church. At the time, the church had just over 10,000 yuan, making it difficult to buy a new place. During the meeting, some people questioned that the accounts of the church were not clear, but Gong felt that she had a clear conscience. She thought that although she was young and incompetent, she had done her best in church affairs and had never been greedy for a penny. Not wanting to get involved in an unreasonable dispute, she decided to quit.
Unexpectedly, several believers took thousands of yuan from the church to continue the work of buying a new church. As a result, they ran out of money and failed to complete the work. With a little money left, the church did not dare to let the money get wasted, so they entrusted a sister who worked in the local office to take care of it.
Later, Yu Zhu, who was in charge at that time, and another sister approached Gong again, hoping that she could continue to manage the church’s financial affairs. So, she started looking for a new location. She and two co-workers went to all the corners of Jindian Town, looking for all possible places in the town, but could not find a suitable place.
One morning as she ate, she prayed, “God, where is the place you have prepared?” Then a voice in her ear said, “The house of Tian’en.” She knew God had answered their prayers. She immediately put down her bowl and went to the home of the head of the church. Strangely enough, Brother Tian’en, who ran an iron factory out of town and was seldom at home, came back just in time. What’s more wonderful was that his grandmother and mother are both believers, so they were very glad about negotiating the installments, and the new church was finally settled.
Unexpectedly, when she got back to the church, they held a meeting to discuss this, and all other members got quite angry. All three of them were accused of acting on their own without prior consultation and had been asked to examine themselves. Under pressure, the two co-workers could only make self-criticism against their will, but Mrs. Gong prayed to God and calmly explained to everyone that the fault really lied in not discussing with everyone in advance, but that this is really God’s preparation.
After this incident, Gong, who did not like to be involved in conflicts, stopped participating in church management but continued to provide daily services until 1997, when she was appointed deacon.
Later, in order to increase the income for the family, she took part in the direct selling of a brand’s products, and the rumor of “worshipping in the church on Sundays and doing business on other days” spread among believers, and some people even said that she was doing “pyramid selling” and reported to the church. In order to reduce the negative impact, the church can do nothing but suspend her preaching service.
After that, she began to feel some strange looks around her. Every time she saw the believers around her, they seemed to deliberately avoid her, and many people did not dare to talk to her. Later, when she was buying medicine in a pharmacy run by one of her sisters, she found out that the believers were secretly saying that she was doing a “pyramid scheme” and were reluctant to contact her, let alone talk to her. After hearing these people’s opinions, Mrs. Gong started to be unwilling to go to church.
While she was away from God, she spent every Sunday reading the Bible at home instead of going to church for more than two years, and she felt terrible about it. Then her husband encouraged her by saying “Go to church because that’s what you supposed to do. We believe in God, not the people.”
Gradually, Gong regained the confidence to attend services. But she always got there when the service had already begun and left immediately after it was over, making no contact with anyone.
Once, the church in town had a leaky roof and needed to be repaired. When it was time to build a leading team, the church sent someone to visit her, hoping that she could continue to participate in the management of the church. But having experienced many twists and turns, she did not want to participate again and politely declined.
With the joint efforts of the believers, the church was renovated. No one told her about the dedication, she only knew that there was a party. Unexpectedly, just as she arrived at the door of the church, one of the brothers shouted harshly, “What are you doing here? Don’t come in here! Get out of here! What have you been doing when we need you?”
There were a lot of people from other churches at the dedication, and the church was full. The public humiliation was very painful for her. But this, she thought, was also God’s test for her, so she silently wiped away her tears and stood outside the church, smiling as she greeted the believers.
In 2019, the Jindian Church elected a new leadership team, putting Mrs. Gong and another sister in charge. The sister was the head, and Mrs. Gong was the deputy head. Later, the other sister, unable to adapt to the needs of church management in the new situation, volunteered to become the deputy head, and Gong became the head.
This time, she did not refuse and trusted in the Lord. After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, she did a good job in the church’s pandemic prevention work, timely made use of mobile phone information, conducted online pastoral care, and sent scripture to encourage the believers. In addition, they often organized visits to co-workers to resist heretical cults such as “Eastern Lightning” and “Secret Religion”. At the same time, she did a good job in the conversion and return of some radicalized believers.
Looking back on the bumpy road of service and the experience she had gone through over the years, she was deeply impressed. “All these years, I have been growing spiritually in the Lord. I thank God for His guidance. Thank God for letting me experience all of this. All of these trials and setbacks are for me to be mature so that I continue to be complete, to become a vessel used by the Lord. In the days to come, I still want to dedicate myself, serve the Lord for my whole life, and continue to promote the Gospel of the Lord and let our Jindian Church become a golden lampstand to illuminate this area, to honor God and benefit the people. This is the goal of my unremitting efforts."
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
现今担任临汾市尧都区基督教会执事、金殿教会负责人的公淑珍已经59岁，从她二十出头被神拣选，在乡村基层教会的岗位上潜心服侍了二十余年。
回忆起自己的信仰历程，公姊妹说，自己算得上是“半路出家”，因为在她青少年时期的成长经历中，并没有过什么较大的波折，也从没想过自己的人生会跟信仰产生交汇。
1984年，22岁的公姊妹嫁到贾册村。好景不长，结婚不久后，她就患上了一种怪病，双腿无力不能行走，这给一家人的正常生活造成了不小的影响。随后的一年时间里，家人带她四处求医，却一直查不出病因。家人便开始寻一些民间偏方、歪门邪道，求仙问佛、烧香磕头等各种办法都用尽了，花了不少钱，也没见什么效果。
在万般无奈的情况下，公姊妹娘家的一位信耶稣的婶婶劝她说：“不行试试信耶稣吧，兴许耶稣能治好你。”
由于公姊妹患病不能行走，也没有办法前去教堂礼拜。丈夫替她去礼拜。到了礼拜天，丈夫真就替她去了几次教堂，虽然刚刚接触，听得云里雾里，但是心里受到感动的丈夫告诉她：“教会里讲得很好，大家都为你祷告哩！”
慢慢地，在丈夫的影响下，她也学会了简单的祷告，病榻上的她常常独自向神祷告。
大半年之后，她的身体居然感觉好转了不少，慢慢地就能下地走路了。康复后的公姊妹心里充满了感谢与赞美。从此，每到主日，她就背上圣经和赞美诗，徒步到三里开外的镇上参加礼拜。
她希望能够更多了解圣经。于是，灶台旁、卧榻边、院子里……家里的各个角落，都能看到她抱着圣经阅读的身影。
“虽然有的经文看不懂，那我也仔细读下去。神的话真是非常甜蜜，我也在经文里明白了不少真理。”公姊妹说。
4年后，她在当地的西宜教会接受了洗礼，成为了一名基督徒。受洗之后，公姊妹心中立志，这一生立定心意，为主而活，虔诚事主，过圣洁的生活。
成为基督徒后，公姊妹的内心愈发火热坚定，无论寒冬酷暑，她坚持礼拜，从不懈怠，丈夫也很支持她的信仰。逐渐地，她开始参与一些力所能及的服侍，例如在小聚会点读经、祷告、教唱诗歌，后来，还在家里办了四五年的幼儿园。
一次，时任西宜教会负责人的李笃信长问她是否愿意侍奉神？她当即表示愿意。就这样，公姊妹就随着李长老一起来到金殿教会。在教会，负责人给她安排了一个任务：教会缺个会计，计划让她担任，她欣然接受了。在会计位置上，公姊妹一干就是七八年，并开始在牧区带领小礼拜。后来还在家里设立了接待点，每周有一次小礼拜，每次有二十余人参加。
当时的金殿教会占用地点是镇上的一间老油坊，房屋年久失修，成了危房。为了信徒们的人身安全，买房子迁新堂就成为教会的当务之急。当时，金殿教会的账目上仅有一万多元，这让购买新地方成为难题。开会时就有人质疑教会账目不清，而公姊妹自觉问心无愧，虽然自己确实是年轻，能力尚浅，但是在教会事务上尽心竭力，从未贪占一分钱。不愿卷进无端纷争的她也就决定辞职不干了。
没想到，之后，有几个肢体就拿了教会几千元继续置办新堂的工作，结果钱花完了，事也没办成。还剩一点钱，教会不敢再让资金流失了，就委托一位在当地上班的姊妹代管。
后来，当时负责的玉珠老弟兄和另一位姊妹又找到她，希望她能继续把教会财务管起来。于是，她又开始了寻找新堂地点的工作。她和同工一起走遍了金殿镇的所有角落，把镇上所有可能的地方都找遍了，也没找到合适的地方。
一天上午，她一边吃饭一边默祷：“神啊，你所预备的地方在哪里呢？”这时耳边有个声音说：“天恩家”。她知道，神回应了大家的祈求。她立刻放下碗去了教会负责人家里，奇妙的是，这个在外地办铁厂的天恩弟兄平时几乎就不在家，可这次前去，他正巧回来。更为奇妙的是，天恩的奶奶和母亲都是信徒，在商量分期付款的问题上，非常爽快，新堂终于定下来了。
不料，回到教会，大家开会一商量，顿时“炸了锅”。原来，有人指责他们三个人不和大家提前商量，便自作主张，还要求他们作检讨。迫于压力，与公姊妹同行的两位同工只能违心做了检讨，但公姊妹向神祷告后，心平气和地对大家解释，此次过错确实在于没有和大家提前商量，但这确实是神的预备。
经过此次事情，不喜欢参与纷争的公姊妹也就不再参与教会管理，但是还带一些日常礼拜，直到1997年，她被按立为执事。
后来，为增加收入补贴家用，公姊妹在业余时间参加了某品牌产品的直销。而“主日在教会礼拜侍奉、平时做生意”的流言便在信徒之间传开，甚至有人反映她干“传销”，并且告到教会，为降低负面影响，教会只能暂停了她的讲道侍奉。
此后，她便渐渐感受到了周围的一些异样目光，每次见到信徒时，大家似乎在有意地躲避着她，许多人见面也不敢和她说话。后来，有次她在一个姊妹开的药店买药，一问才知道，信徒们私下传言说她“传销”，不愿和她接触，更不敢和她说话。得知大家的看法后，百口莫辩的公姊妹也就不愿再去教会礼拜了。
在远离神的日子里，她每个主日就在家里看圣经，不能到教会，她的心里也十分难受，就这样持续了大概两年多。后来，丈夫鼓励她说：“该去就去教会吧，咱们信的是神，又不是人。”
于是，公姊妹慢慢恢复了参加礼拜的信心，只不过，每次她都是等礼拜开始了才去，一结束就早早离开，和谁也不接触。
有一次，镇上教会的房顶漏水需要翻修，要选领导班子时，教会又派人叫她，想让她继续参与教会的服侍管理。但是经历了许多波折的她不想再参与，就婉言拒绝了。
在信徒们的共同努力下，教会修缮完成。在献堂时，也没人通知她，只是说有场聚会。没想到，她刚到教会门口，就有一个弟兄厉声呵斥：“你来干啥！不要进来，滚回去！早干啥去了！”
当时献堂仪式来了许多兄弟教会的人，教堂也坐满了人，这样的公开羞辱让她的心里非常难受。但她想，这也是神试练她的功课，于是她默默地擦去眼泪，站在教会外面，面带笑容地迎接远道而来的信徒们。
2019年，金殿教会重新选举领导，让公姊妹和另一位姊妹负责，那位姊妹任负责人，她任副负责人。后来，由于另一位姊妹不适应新形势下教会管理的需要，自愿改任副负责人，她任负责人。
这一次，她没有再拒绝，接受了主的托付。2020年疫情发生后，她，做好教会防疫工作，及时进行利用手机信息，进行网上牧养，发送经文进行劝勉。此外，还经常组织同工看望，抵御“东方闪电”“秘密教”等异端邪说；同时做好一些“信仰极端化”信徒的转化回归工作。
回顾这多年来的坎坷侍奉之路以及所经历的历练，公姊妹深有感触：“这些年，我在主里，灵命不断增长。我也感恩神的保守，感谢神让我经历这一切，原来这一切的磨练对付，破碎挫折，都是为了让我得到造就，让我不断完全，成为合主使用的器皿。在今后的日子里，我依旧要献上自己，为主而活，不断兴旺主的福音，让我们金殿教会成为照亮一方的金灯台，荣神益人，这是我不懈努力的方向。”
（感谢临汾教会同工张晓华、武泽新提供图片）
记临汾金殿教会公淑珍执事的曲折服侍路
At present, Gong Shuzhen, who serves as a deacon of the Christian Church in Yaodu District of Linfen City and the head of the Jindian Church, is now 59 years old. Chosen by God in her early twenties, Gong has served for more than twenty years on the post of the rural grassroots church with great concentration.
Recalling her own journey of faith, Mrs. Gong said that she “became a believer late in her life”, because she did not have any major setbacks in her teenage years, and never thought that her life would be blessed with faith.
In 1984, the 22-year-old Miss Gong got married and lived in Jiace Village. Good times did not last long, however, and shortly after marriage, she suffered from a strange disease. Her legs became weak, and she could not walk anymore, which affected the normal life of the family. Over the year that followed, her family took her to doctors everywhere, but they couldn’t find the cause. The family began to try some folk prescriptions and pray to some gods. They spent much money, but nothing worked.
Under these desperate circumstances, a believer from her extended family advised her,“Why don’t you try to believe in Jesus. Maybe Jesus can cure you.” Considering that she was unable to walk and could not go to church, so her husband went to church for her on Sundays. Though he had only just begun to hear about God, he who was touched told her, “What they taught in the church is really good, and they are all praying for you.”
Gradually, under the influence of her husband, she also learned simple prayers, and she often prayed to God alone in bed.
After half a year, her body became much better, and gradually she could walk slowly. The recovered woman was filled with gratitude and praise for God. From then on, every Sunday, she would walk three miles to the town with her Bible and hymns in her backpack.
She desired to learn more about the Bible. So, besides the hearth, beside the bed, in the yard, she could be seen reading the Bible in every corner of the house.
She said, “Even though I could not understand some verses, I read them carefully. God’s word is very sweet, and I have learned many truths in the scriptures.”
Four years later, she was baptized as a Christian at the local Xiyi Church. After her baptism, she resolved in her heart that she would serve the Lord for her whole life, be devout, and lead a holy life.
After she became a Christian, there was more and more passion and firmity in her heart. No matter how cold or hot it was, she never stopped going to church. Her husband also supported her in her faith. Gradually, she began to participate in some of the services that she could, such as reading scripture at small gatherings, praying, teaching poetry, and later, running a kindergarten at home for four or five years.
Li Duxin, then the head of the Xiyi Church, once asked her if she would serve God. She expressed her willingness at once. In this way, Gong followed Li to the Jindian Church. At the church, she became an accountant which the church needed. She served as an accountant for about seven years and began to lead small services in the pastoral area. Later, a meeting point was set up in her house, and weekly services were held there, with more than 20 people attending each time.
At that time, the site where Jindian Church was located was formerly an old oil workshop in the town. The house fell into disrepair and became a dilapidated building. For the personal safety of believers, buying a house as the new church has become a top priority for the church. At the time, the church had just over 10,000 yuan, making it difficult to buy a new place. During the meeting, some people questioned that the accounts of the church were not clear, but Gong felt that she had a clear conscience. She thought that although she was young and incompetent, she had done her best in church affairs and had never been greedy for a penny. Not wanting to get involved in an unreasonable dispute, she decided to quit.
Unexpectedly, several believers took thousands of yuan from the church to continue the work of buying a new church. As a result, they ran out of money and failed to complete the work. With a little money left, the church did not dare to let the money get wasted, so they entrusted a sister who worked in the local office to take care of it.
Later, Yu Zhu, who was in charge at that time, and another sister approached Gong again, hoping that she could continue to manage the church’s financial affairs. So, she started looking for a new location. She and two co-workers went to all the corners of Jindian Town, looking for all possible places in the town, but could not find a suitable place.
One morning as she ate, she prayed, “God, where is the place you have prepared?” Then a voice in her ear said, “The house of Tian’en.” She knew God had answered their prayers. She immediately put down her bowl and went to the home of the head of the church. Strangely enough, Brother Tian’en, who ran an iron factory out of town and was seldom at home, came back just in time. What’s more wonderful was that his grandmother and mother are both believers, so they were very glad about negotiating the installments, and the new church was finally settled.
Unexpectedly, when she got back to the church, they held a meeting to discuss this, and all other members got quite angry. All three of them were accused of acting on their own without prior consultation and had been asked to examine themselves. Under pressure, the two co-workers could only make self-criticism against their will, but Mrs. Gong prayed to God and calmly explained to everyone that the fault really lied in not discussing with everyone in advance, but that this is really God’s preparation.
After this incident, Gong, who did not like to be involved in conflicts, stopped participating in church management but continued to provide daily services until 1997, when she was appointed deacon.
Later, in order to increase the income for the family, she took part in the direct selling of a brand’s products, and the rumor of “worshipping in the church on Sundays and doing business on other days” spread among believers, and some people even said that she was doing “pyramid selling” and reported to the church. In order to reduce the negative impact, the church can do nothing but suspend her preaching service.
After that, she began to feel some strange looks around her. Every time she saw the believers around her, they seemed to deliberately avoid her, and many people did not dare to talk to her. Later, when she was buying medicine in a pharmacy run by one of her sisters, she found out that the believers were secretly saying that she was doing a “pyramid scheme” and were reluctant to contact her, let alone talk to her. After hearing these people’s opinions, Mrs. Gong started to be unwilling to go to church.
While she was away from God, she spent every Sunday reading the Bible at home instead of going to church for more than two years, and she felt terrible about it. Then her husband encouraged her by saying “Go to church because that’s what you supposed to do. We believe in God, not the people.”
Gradually, Gong regained the confidence to attend services. But she always got there when the service had already begun and left immediately after it was over, making no contact with anyone.
Once, the church in town had a leaky roof and needed to be repaired. When it was time to build a leading team, the church sent someone to visit her, hoping that she could continue to participate in the management of the church. But having experienced many twists and turns, she did not want to participate again and politely declined.
With the joint efforts of the believers, the church was renovated. No one told her about the dedication, she only knew that there was a party. Unexpectedly, just as she arrived at the door of the church, one of the brothers shouted harshly, “What are you doing here? Don’t come in here! Get out of here! What have you been doing when we need you?”
There were a lot of people from other churches at the dedication, and the church was full. The public humiliation was very painful for her. But this, she thought, was also God’s test for her, so she silently wiped away her tears and stood outside the church, smiling as she greeted the believers.
In 2019, the Jindian Church elected a new leadership team, putting Mrs. Gong and another sister in charge. The sister was the head, and Mrs. Gong was the deputy head. Later, the other sister, unable to adapt to the needs of church management in the new situation, volunteered to become the deputy head, and Gong became the head.
This time, she did not refuse and trusted in the Lord. After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, she did a good job in the church’s pandemic prevention work, timely made use of mobile phone information, conducted online pastoral care, and sent scripture to encourage the believers. In addition, they often organized visits to co-workers to resist heretical cults such as “Eastern Lightning” and “Secret Religion”. At the same time, she did a good job in the conversion and return of some radicalized believers.
Looking back on the bumpy road of service and the experience she had gone through over the years, she was deeply impressed. “All these years, I have been growing spiritually in the Lord. I thank God for His guidance. Thank God for letting me experience all of this. All of these trials and setbacks are for me to be mature so that I continue to be complete, to become a vessel used by the Lord. In the days to come, I still want to dedicate myself, serve the Lord for my whole life, and continue to promote the Gospel of the Lord and let our Jindian Church become a golden lampstand to illuminate this area, to honor God and benefit the people. This is the goal of my unremitting efforts."
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
The Tortuous Service Road of Deacon Gong Shuzhen of Linfen Jindian Church
