Even though she is going through terrible pain, a female pastor smells of Christ, obedience, joy, and perseverance, just like a flower that grows in a harsh environment.
Y (pseudonym) was born in a rural area in western China, and her father was a truck driver sent by the company to transport corpses in the Tangshan earthquake in 1976. He was also stimulated and had mental issues.
Y said that at the beginning, her mother prayed to the gods and Buddhas to heal her father until someone in the village preached the gospel to her.
After believing in the Lord, her mother moved the family to the city to be a street sweeper when Y was in the fifth grade of primary school. Living in a staff dormitory provided by the company, they still had to pick up leftover vegetables from the vegetable market to eat. Still, her mother took her four children to the nearby church on Sundays. Believers often visited and helped them.
Her mother died of cancer when Y was in her third year of high school, having watched her children grow up one by one.
When it was time to fill out the university application form, she gave up the admission qualification without telling anyone, as her parents had no money.
A person, who visited her mother, who was suffering from rectal cancer, encouraged them, saying, “Your family is going to the seminary, she couldn't afford the tuition fees." Her classmate helped her contact a male believer in Beijing who paid for her four years of tuition.
In addition to tuition fees, she didn’t have gym clothes in a physical education class, but one person presented a set to her on Sunday.
After her mother died, the heartbroken girl suffered gastrointestinal problems, and her classmates began to take turns bringing her food and medicine. Four years later, Y was one of only two college graduates who got their bachelor's degrees without being given a job.
She didn't have a full-time job at a megachurch, but she preached in many places in the city where she lived, becoming known as a grassroots pastor.
A female Christian in the church where Y gathered with her mother in childhood invited her to preach in her family fellowship twice a week, providing her with a room to live in. Later, she also joined a large pastoral fellowship, and they would go to many places to give sermons, worship, and praise. Y was the youngest, working as a secretary and printing CDs. She also went to Beijing to study the post-production of film and TV with a team specializing in gospel film and TV. After the team disbanded, she learned how to set up a cell group in Shanghai and then returned to her hometown in the west to serve due to pregnancy preparations.
Without pay, she received travel expenses ranging from tens of yuan to a hundred or two hundred yuan at a time, and most of the churches she served were a little out of the way. For example, it took her four hours to get to the church she served recently.
Worse than not having enough food was constantly receiving bad news from her family.
Her father, who had not yet fully recovered from the stimulation he had received, became disoriented and walked out when Y was out preaching. He spent a lot of time at home alone himself, and her brother and sister, who lived close by, did not have the time to care for him. The search for him did not end until today.
In 2015, her devout sister-in-law fell ill and passed away. When she was alive, she gave her tithes to Y, who did not have a salary or donations from others. Though her brother’s family was not rich, they never took the initiative to get back the money they had lent to others, some of whom later became rich. When visiting others, she would drink the water with a worm in the glass so the host might not notice after praying and believing the Lord would protect her.
Suffering the pain of his wife’s death, Y’s elder brother should also take care of his daughter, who was shocked to hear her mother had died, and he jumped off the building under tremendous psychological pressure.
When she let the church hold a memorial service for her brother, the family members were told, "It can’t be carried out as he committed suicide."
In 2019, Y began to open a sauced meat shop that was prosperous, with dozens of apprentices, to pay off the debt of building a house in his hometown.
She had the opportunity to serve in a church for a long time, but the church eventually chose another male Christian. After many years, she learned that the church feared her being a burden to the church since her family was so poor.
She has a small business, so she finds that it is most convenient to arrange get-togethers on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. These are the days when she has the freest time. She does not have to worry about money and is therefore in a position to help others who are struggling financially.
Her daughter, who is now in her teenage years, finds it challenging to communicate effectively with her because she has spent so many years working. Y wants to spend more time with her, who doesn’t believe in Jesus.
In 2022, she suffered a broken leg from a car accident, which forced her to stop her service.
Y wished to make a speedy recovery so he could return to duty as soon as possible. She desired to serve as a worship leader for a group of Christians who lived in the same town that she did because they could not get together due to the disease and the distance between their homes and the church.
She believed that as long as God prepared the location, she would be able to assist those she was serving because she could play the piano, preach, and host.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
小Y是西部一位基层传道人，她的一生经历了常人难以忍受的苦难，但就在这恶劣的环境中开出了生命的花，满有基督的香气，顺服、喜乐且坚韧。
她的家乡在西部一个农村里，父亲开卡车。1976年唐山地震，父亲被公司派去唐山拉尸体，他受到刺激精神出了问题，本来拮据的一家人如今雪上加霜。
小Y说，母亲一开始为了给父亲治病还到处求神拜佛，直到村里有人向她开始传福音。
信主之后，在小Y小学五年级那年，母亲把家都迁到了城里，她自己找了份扫大街的工作，带着一家人挤在公司提供的一间职工宿舍里。虽然生活上依然要捡着菜市场的菜吃，但好在母亲会带着他们兄妹四人周日都去附近的教堂聚会，常得弟兄姐妹们的探望和帮助。
小Y高三那年，眼看孩子都一一长大，母亲却患上了癌症。报考志愿的当口，因家里没钱，瞒着所有人直接放弃了被录取。
母亲得的是直肠癌，一次探望中，有人鼓励说，你们家还是蒙受神极大恩典的，小Y何不奉献给神呢？小Y立即应了：我可以去读神学，只要神医治我妈的病，让我干啥就行！
七月份，天气很热的时候，妈妈还是过世了，但小Y被神学院录取了。 虽然考上了神学院，但学费却是拿不出来的，同学帮助她联系到北京一个教会富有爱心的弟兄，为她支付了四年的学费。
除了学费，要上体育课的话得有运动服，但小Y没有，谁知道礼拜天就有人送她一身运动衣。母亲离开后，伤心过度的小Y肠胃出了问题，同学开始轮流给她送饭送药。一转眼四年过去，小Y成了当年毕业生中唯二拿到学士学位证的人，但因种种原因，她没有得到分配。
虽然没有被分配到大教堂做专职服事，但小Y所在的城市有很多聚会点，毕业以来，她辗转在各个聚会点之间，成为一个全职的基层传道人。
有一段时间，原先跟着母亲一直聚会的教堂里，有一位姊妹家中有一个聚会点需要带，就请小Y一个礼拜讲两次道，还为她提供了一间房间住。后来一段时间，她也加入过一个规模较大的牧者团契，他们会一起到各处团契，讲道敬拜赞美，小Y是当时年纪最小的，在其中做过秘书，刻印光盘，还到北京跟专门做福音影视的团队学习了影视后期等；团队因故解散后，她也曾到过上海，学习如何建立细胞小组，后因备孕又回到西部家乡服事···
小Y作为传道人，工资往往是不用想的，通常每次讲道都只会有跑路费，一次几十，多则一百或两百，而她去服事的教会大多距离不近，比如以近期她稳定讲道带领的教会来讲，去一趟来回要四个小时。
相比物质的缺乏，接二连三来自家人的噩耗，更令她难以承受。
她的父亲自当年受刺激后精神就没有好转，小Y外出讲道时，他往往一个人在家，兄嫂住在附近但无暇顾及。最终在有一天走失了，直到今天都还没有找到。
2015年小Y的大嫂得病过世。之前她知道小Y没有工资没有奉献，大嫂会把自己的十一奉献给她，兄嫂一家家庭也不富裕，但因着秉承自己所相信的圣经上的话，借贷给别人决不主动往回要；大嫂探望别人时，看到递来的水杯里有虫子，也会心里祷告说主会保守然后坦然喝下去···。
大嫂的离开让小Y的侄女受到了很大的刺激，大哥在承受丧妻之痛的同时还要照顾女儿，也承受着巨大的心理压力。后来就跳楼了。
等家人找到教会要为大哥办丧礼的时候，却被告知，“自杀，不给办丧礼。”
2019年小Y老家盖房子欠了债，为还清债款，她开始一边做小生意，一边服事，她的卤味生意做得红火，现在已经带着几十个徒弟。
小Y此前曾有机会在一个教堂稳定下来，却没想那个教会最终选择了另外一个弟兄，多年后才得知，原来当初“不被选择”的原因，是觉得她家里太穷会拖累教会。
如今小Y有了一个小生意，时间自由灵活，还可以在周二周五和周日带聚会，不用为家里发愁，也能帮助到别人。
多年的服事，如今已到青春期的女儿跟她已经难以好好沟通，在信仰上也出现了一些不好的倾向，小Y也担心，“不能把娃给耽误了”。
直到2022年她发生车祸，腿部骨折，病情让她被迫停下来，
小Y还是希望能尽快恢复过来，恢复服事，她们家所在的小区中有一些基督徒，因为疫情和距离教堂远没办法聚会，想带这些弟兄姐妹聚会。
她想，弹琴，主持，讲道，这些都具备，只要神预备，地方合适，就可以开始。
一个基层传道人的告白和坚守
Even though she is going through terrible pain, a female pastor smells of Christ, obedience, joy, and perseverance, just like a flower that grows in a harsh environment.
Y (pseudonym) was born in a rural area in western China, and her father was a truck driver sent by the company to transport corpses in the Tangshan earthquake in 1976. He was also stimulated and had mental issues.
Y said that at the beginning, her mother prayed to the gods and Buddhas to heal her father until someone in the village preached the gospel to her.
After believing in the Lord, her mother moved the family to the city to be a street sweeper when Y was in the fifth grade of primary school. Living in a staff dormitory provided by the company, they still had to pick up leftover vegetables from the vegetable market to eat. Still, her mother took her four children to the nearby church on Sundays. Believers often visited and helped them.
Her mother died of cancer when Y was in her third year of high school, having watched her children grow up one by one.
When it was time to fill out the university application form, she gave up the admission qualification without telling anyone, as her parents had no money.
A person, who visited her mother, who was suffering from rectal cancer, encouraged them, saying, “Your family is going to the seminary, she couldn't afford the tuition fees." Her classmate helped her contact a male believer in Beijing who paid for her four years of tuition.
In addition to tuition fees, she didn’t have gym clothes in a physical education class, but one person presented a set to her on Sunday.
After her mother died, the heartbroken girl suffered gastrointestinal problems, and her classmates began to take turns bringing her food and medicine. Four years later, Y was one of only two college graduates who got their bachelor's degrees without being given a job.
She didn't have a full-time job at a megachurch, but she preached in many places in the city where she lived, becoming known as a grassroots pastor.
A female Christian in the church where Y gathered with her mother in childhood invited her to preach in her family fellowship twice a week, providing her with a room to live in. Later, she also joined a large pastoral fellowship, and they would go to many places to give sermons, worship, and praise. Y was the youngest, working as a secretary and printing CDs. She also went to Beijing to study the post-production of film and TV with a team specializing in gospel film and TV. After the team disbanded, she learned how to set up a cell group in Shanghai and then returned to her hometown in the west to serve due to pregnancy preparations.
Without pay, she received travel expenses ranging from tens of yuan to a hundred or two hundred yuan at a time, and most of the churches she served were a little out of the way. For example, it took her four hours to get to the church she served recently.
Worse than not having enough food was constantly receiving bad news from her family.
Her father, who had not yet fully recovered from the stimulation he had received, became disoriented and walked out when Y was out preaching. He spent a lot of time at home alone himself, and her brother and sister, who lived close by, did not have the time to care for him. The search for him did not end until today.
In 2015, her devout sister-in-law fell ill and passed away. When she was alive, she gave her tithes to Y, who did not have a salary or donations from others. Though her brother’s family was not rich, they never took the initiative to get back the money they had lent to others, some of whom later became rich. When visiting others, she would drink the water with a worm in the glass so the host might not notice after praying and believing the Lord would protect her.
Suffering the pain of his wife’s death, Y’s elder brother should also take care of his daughter, who was shocked to hear her mother had died, and he jumped off the building under tremendous psychological pressure.
When she let the church hold a memorial service for her brother, the family members were told, "It can’t be carried out as he committed suicide."
In 2019, Y began to open a sauced meat shop that was prosperous, with dozens of apprentices, to pay off the debt of building a house in his hometown.
She had the opportunity to serve in a church for a long time, but the church eventually chose another male Christian. After many years, she learned that the church feared her being a burden to the church since her family was so poor.
She has a small business, so she finds that it is most convenient to arrange get-togethers on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. These are the days when she has the freest time. She does not have to worry about money and is therefore in a position to help others who are struggling financially.
Her daughter, who is now in her teenage years, finds it challenging to communicate effectively with her because she has spent so many years working. Y wants to spend more time with her, who doesn’t believe in Jesus.
In 2022, she suffered a broken leg from a car accident, which forced her to stop her service.
Y wished to make a speedy recovery so he could return to duty as soon as possible. She desired to serve as a worship leader for a group of Christians who lived in the same town that she did because they could not get together due to the disease and the distance between their homes and the church.
She believed that as long as God prepared the location, she would be able to assist those she was serving because she could play the piano, preach, and host.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
Suffering, Loyalty of Grassroots Pastor
