Pastor Shan Luan, who looks like he's in his 40s, has been serving the church for more than 20 years. He is a warm-hearted and honest person with a strong Northeastern accent. He looks just like a good friend to the common people.
He told his farming experience in the early days of his ministry. It’s a story about how the wonderful and great God strengthened his faith in ministry through this event.
Farm for supply and the land was offered by the Lord
In 2003, Pastor Shan Luan was a young man. He was just married, and God had already called him. He was working in the suburbs of a city in the north of China, but the economic conditions for preachers at that time were not good. So he prayed to the Lord, "Lord, since you have sent me to serve here, please provide for me in my daily life."
After the prayer, a sister who lived in the suburb said she had 12 hectares of land for him to grow crops. In fact, according to locals, this piece of land was not very good. But since it came to him after praying, he decided to contract the land to grow corn.
The land that was lost and regained
It had already been agreed, but not long after, that sister said, "Brother Shan Luan, I have contracted the land to someone else, and he has bought corn seeds and fertilizer, so now you can't grow anything on it."
Brother Shan Luan was also very helpless when he heard this, but he did not pay for the field himself, so he could not say anything. He could only pray, "Lord, do you allow me to grow crops on this piece of land or not? That sister said to let me grow crops on this piece of land, and now she says that someone else has contracted it. Is this your arrangement for me or not? Please make the way for me."
However, when it was about time for the farmers to plow (when it is time to sow seeds), that sister came to him and said, "Brother Shan Luan, you could come and grow crops on my field. The man who had rented the land said that he would not grow anything on it."
Brother Shan Luan asked, "Didn't you rent it to someone else? Didn't you say that the man already bought seeds and fertilizer?" That sister replied, "Yes, he bought them, but he said he wouldn't plant anything on them, so you can plant anything you like on them." Brother Shan thought that this chance had come about after his own prayer and that the land that had been lost was now back, and he believed that it was the Lord's guidance. He found another brother, and together they leased the land.
No experience in farming
In fact, Brother Shan knew the reason why that man gave up the contract after he had already bought seeds and fertilizer. It was because the land was considered a second-class field by experienced farmers—that is, the water would soon be gone after it was poured on it.
According to experience, when there has been no rain before sowing, they must water the field before sowing the seeds.
However, 20 years ago, local agriculture was not mechanized, so plowing, planting, and fertilizing all required manual labor. One needed a four-wheeler to pull a large bucket to the well with enough water to pump water and then used the water pipe to pour the land one acre after another. In this way, the process of farming would be complicated, and the farming time would be elongated. If the field was small, it was fine. But watering 12 hectares of land was a huge project for him. As Brother Shan is not a local, he is not familiar with the local villagers, so it was difficult for him to ask for help. In order to save money and time, he and his partners decided to take a risk by sowing seeds without watering them.
However, other people would water before sowing seeds, and some villagers mocked him when they saw that he didn’t water the land before sowing seeds. But no matter how they thought about him when the seeds were sown, Shan and his brothers rented a house in the village. While farming (and other subsequent work, such as thinning, fertilizing, applying pesticides, etc.), they also spread the gospel to the local villagers. There were relatively few people in the village who believed in Jesus, and when they preached, some believed while others did not, and at that time, most people would not believe.
After some time, the seedlings were growing in the field, but the growth of his corn seedlings was very poor. There were only 100 seedlings every 400 meters. It was not only sparse, but the seedlings were as thin as a hair, and they looked like they would die at any time.
Hopelessness
Let’s do a simple division. There were less than 100 plants every 400 meters, which means that on average, only one plant was on the land that was four meters long. From a distance, the ground looked almost like a desert. At this time, some villagers began to mock him, saying, "We told you that you needed to water the land before you sow, but you did not listen. You believe in God, right? Then pray to your God to let it rain!" This is an absolute disgrace to the preacher, but there was nothing to debate because it was the only possible solution. So Brother Shan and his partner prayed together, asking the Lord for mercy and then looking for a remedy. They decided to go to the big well in the village to draw water and water the fields.
Unexpectedly, just when they went to the pump, the pump was broken, and the villagers were waiting for water, so they asked them to pay for the repair of the pump. Not much water has been pumped yet. Only two hectares of land had been watered; 300 yuan was spent on diesel fuel, and 400 yuan was paid to repair the pump.
The secretary of the production brigade came up with a way to help him. He advised Shan to rent 20 tractors, hire some people to plow the land in a day, and then hire some farmers to sow the seeds again. Although it would be quite helpful, the cost would come down to 8,000 yuan. In addition, he would need to buy some new seeds. The cost was really too high!
Brother Shan declined the kind suggestion of the secretary of the production brigade and decided to dig a well in the field. They hired someone to drill the ground. According to the rules, they would not pay until there was water. In the end, there was no water after the land was drilled for 20 meters. The people who dug the well left, the villagers who watched the bustle left, and the secretary of the production brigade shook his head and also left. Brother Shan Luan and his partner went home and prayed again. Brother Shan prayed and said, "Lord, have mercy on us. Did you not send me to farm the field?"
In despair, God promises peace
When Brother Shan opened the Bible, he read this psalm: "My heart is not proud, O LORD; my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore."
Looking only to the Lord, Brother Shan knew they would be able to sleep peacefully in the bosom of the Lord.
People can only see the despair in the environment, but the God believed by Brother Shan and his partner is the "living God". He prayed constantly at night, and then all the villagers were surprised that it rained the same night! And the rain continued for a day and a night, watering the land completely. God had taken care of them.
They also saw how small human effort was before God's grace. The rain affected millions of acres of land. However, they have no regrets for the effort they made to water the field, but only gratitude.
Meet a conscientious merchant
Then they saw the wonder of God. After the rain, the seeds began to sprout on the formerly bare land. If only 10 percent of the seedlings were produced before, then it gradually increased to 70 percent. For this piece of second-class land with no watering, the germination rate of 70 percent was already a surprise. Since there were many fields, they hired local villagers to thin the plants and naturally preached the Gospel to them while hiring people to work: "You see, God has let it rain!" The villagers had to believe it. Because the seedlings grew in batches, they were thinned three times so that there was more chance to communicate with the local villagers, and the local people began to know that there is a God.
With all the new sprouts coming out, they found there was much to be thankful for. Because it was supposed to be necessary to spread agricultural chemicals (weeding) for a certain period of time after the seedlings came out. But when they went to buy agricultural chemicals, the people selling agricultural chemicals knew about their crops and did not sell them anything. So they listened to the explanation of the store owner of agricultural chemicals. When the new plants came out, they were especially grateful to the store owner because if they had applied agricultural chemicals, the coming sprouts may have been killed by them. They were amazed by the store owner’s behavior of not selling them agricultural chemicals in order to make a profit, thinking that it was also God's grace and protection.
The last plant came out first
From the situation of seedlings, they also discovered that the field was not thinned in one day (at that time, there were no seeders present, so the field could not be thinned in one day), because there was much land, and the thinning lasted about a week. During the farming period, they also needed to organize the gathering, and they had to attend the gathering on Saturday and Sunday, so they did not thin the seedlings on Saturday and Sunday. After the rain, they found that the seedlings thinned after Monday had come out first because the seedlings planted later had gained the power of the rain. This also showed Brother Shan Luan that his worship of God would never delay work!
The Lord watches over the city
Farmers know that crops need careful care in the early stages of planting. Until the seedlings are all out and thinning, fertilization, spraying, and weeding are over, the rest will only be handed over to "God". In addition to looking forward to good weather, people could do nothing else. So many farmers also look for other jobs between the summer and the autumn harvest. For the ones who cannot go to the cities for a job, diligent people would only go to the field to check the growth of the crops. When autumn came, they waited until the corn was ripe and ready for harvest and checked the field more often so that it would not be stolen. Brother Shan Luan saw that there was no need for labor, so he left the village to do other work and returned only in the autumn harvest.
Brother Shan said that the local people lived in houses close to the fields, and there were many thieves. Every farmer's crops may be stolen more or less, and there are paths before and after their land, so many people may pass by his field. If someone wanted to steal some corn from his land, there was nothing Brother Shan Luan could do to prevent it. But they were thankful that they lost only about a four-wheeler of corn that year, which locals considered normal. Other farmers lose more. The locals wondered, "Gee, why don't thieves steal from him? Why do they only steal from the locals?"
He knew that this was the Lord's protection. No one ever watched their land from the time they finished planting to the autumn harvest.
The farce of harvest and the grace of the Lord
It was harvest time, and Brother Shan and his partner came back to harvest. Originally, it was barren land, but that year, this land ushered in a large harvest. Because of the vastness of the land, they need to hire people for the autumn harvest. But then the hiring went awry due to a lack of experience. Generally, when threshing corn, the wages of men and women were different. After all, the strengths of men and women were different, and their work was different. But Brother Shan and his partner were kind enough to hire men and women for 30 yuan per day. It was normal for a man to have a wage of 30 yuan per day and a woman to have a wage of 20 yuan per day. But they paid 30 yuan per day for all of them, and when it came time to do the heavy work, the locals quit. No one was willing to load cars because loading cars requires strength, and women can't do it. The 9-meter grain cart came, the men were gone, and there was no one to load the corn onto the truck. But corn was only about 20 cents a pound back then. Watching it get dark, Brother Shan Luan and his partner gritted their teeth and decided to do it by themselves, and an old man kindly accompanied them all night without sleeping until dawn before loading all the corn onto the car.
The villagers came the next day, and to everyone's surprise, an old man and two young men stayed up all night and loaded the corn from 12 hectares of the field onto the truck.
This time, they shocked the villagers again. “Two young men who believe in the Lord are really special.” Speaking of this farming experience, Brother Shan Luan has numerous testimonies. Although there were setbacks in the sale of grain later, in the end, they again experienced God's preparation.
That year, after deducting all expenses, they netted 10,000 yuan, which was a substantial amount of money at the time, especially on land that locals believed would lose money.
But for Brother Shan Luan, his harvest was not only 10,000 yuan. He gained the faithfulness of God, the wonderful preparation of God, the mercy of God, and the protection and care of God. He knew that God is a helper in despair, and he depends on him all his life. He remains steadfast on the path that God has shown him.
(The name in this article is a pseudonym.)
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
山峦牧师，看起来有40多岁的样子，却已经事奉了20多年。他为人热情，讲话朴实，还带有浓厚的东北人的口音。一看就是平民百姓的“好友”。
他为笔者讲述了他事奉初期的种地经历——那位奇妙伟大的上帝是怎样透过这件事坚定他事奉的信心的。
做工求供应，有地送上门
2003年，山峦牧师还是个年轻小伙子，刚刚结婚不久，那时候上帝已经呼召他。他当时在北方一个城市的郊区做事奉，但是那个时候传道人经济条件都不好，他向主祷告说，“主啊，你既然打发我做工，也求你在生活上供应我。”
祷告之后，住在另一个郊区的一个姊妹说家里有12垧地可以让他种。其实按照人的眼光看，地是不太好的地。但因为是祷告之后找上他的，他就决定包这块地种玉米。
失而复得的土地
本来已经谈好了，结果没过多久，姊妹又说，“山峦弟兄，我把地包给别人了，别人玉米种子化肥都买了，所以你不能种了。”
山峦弟兄听到这个话也很无奈，但是自己没有付钱，所以也不好说什么，只好祷告，“主啊，你到底许可不许可我去种地呢，姊妹说让我种，现在又说包给别人了，不让我种了。这到底是不是你的旨意呢，求你为我开道路。”
谁知，等到农村快要开犁的时候（要种地的时候），那个姊妹又找他说，“山峦弟兄，我家的地还是你来种吧，那个包地的又说不种了。”
山峦弟兄问道，“你不是去找别人种了吗？你不是说那人种子、化肥都买了吗？”姊妹回答，“是买了，但是又说不种了，所以你可以种。”山峦弟兄想到这个活是自己祷告之后才有的，并且曾经失去的土地现在又回来了，他相信这是主的带领。他找到另一位弟兄，两个人一起包下了这块土地。
种地没有经验
其实山峦弟兄也能猜到为什么有人都买好种子和化肥还要放弃承包，因为这片地在有经验的农民眼里是一块次等地，因为水浇上去，很快就没有了。
根据经验，播种之前没有下过透雨，农民在种地的时候，都要“作水种地”，就是需要先浇地，再撒种。
但是20年前，当地农业还没有实行机械化，所有劳作都是人工，从打垄到撒种到施肥都需要人工。“作水”即浇地，需要一辆四轮车拉着一个大水桶去有足够多水的井里抽水，再用水管一垄一垄的浇地。这样种地的工序就复杂了，工期也会拉长。如果地少，还好说。12垧地要“作水”种，这个工程量对山峦弟兄来说非常大。山峦弟兄又是外来户，跟当地村民不太熟，也不好请人帮忙。为了节约成本和时间，他和合伙种地的弟兄决定冒一次险——不作水，干种。
可是别人种地都作水，看到有不作水的，有些村民就会有点瞧不起山峦弟兄。但是山峦弟兄不管这么多，种子撒完了，他就跟弟兄在村庄租个房子。一边种地（还有后续的工作，间苗，施肥，打农药等），一边给当地村民传福音。村庄当地信耶稣的比较少，他们传的时候，有人信，有人不信，不信的更多。
过了段时间，地里出苗了，但山峦弟兄的玉米苗长势很惨，一根垄400米长，平均每根垄只出了100颗左右的小苗。不但稀疏无比，而且出的小苗就像头发丝一样细，看起来就长不大。
补救无望
算个简单的除法，400米长不到100棵苗，也就是说平均4米才一棵苗。远远看上去，地几乎就是光的。这时候有村民开始嘲笑了，说：“叫你作水，你也不作水，你不信上帝吗，求你的上帝把雨播下来吧！”这对于传道人绝对算是耻辱，但是也没有什么可辩论的，因为事实如此。于是这两个弟兄一起祷告，求主怜悯，然后想办法补救。他们决定去村里的大井里那里拉水，然后浇地。
但是那个时候，因为干旱，大家也都需要浇地，村民就不是特别愿意让他们去抽水。后面又说让他们去那里抽水了，可谁成想，偏偏赶在他们去抽水的时候，水泵烧了。水泵坏掉了，村民等着用水，就说让他们赔钱赶快修水泵。水还没抽多少，只浇了2垧地，还花了300元的柴油钱，这又赔了400元修水泵，这一切对于贫穷的传道人真是雪上加霜！
眼看着地没出多少苗，大队书记也不忍心，就想了个办法帮他们救急说， “我给你找20个拖拉机，用一天的时间帮你把地推了，然后找人给你种完。你看看行不行？”虽然说是帮忙，但是算下来，工钱得8000元，此外还需要重新买种子。算来算去成本实在太高！
山峦弟兄拒绝了大队书记的好心建议，决定自己在地头打井。他们找人来钻井，按照规矩，打出水来才给钱，打不出水不给钱，结果打井人打了20米深也没有打出水来。打井的人走了，看热闹的村民走了，大队书记也摇摇头走了。两位弟兄只好回到家继续祷告。山峦弟兄祷告，说“主啊，你怜悯我们吧，不是你让我来种地的吗？”
绝望中，上帝应许平安
当他打开圣经的时候，他读到这篇诗歌：“耶和华啊，我的心不狂傲，我的眼不高大；重大和测不透的事，我也不敢行。我的心平稳安静，好像断过奶的孩子在他母亲的怀中；我的心在我里面真像断过奶的孩子。以色列啊，你当仰望耶和华，从今时直到永远！”
单单仰望耶和华！山峦弟兄知道自己要在母亲的怀抱当中安睡。
人看环境只有绝望，但两个弟兄所信的上帝是“活神”，两个弟兄晚上不断地祷告，让全村人都意外地是当天晚上就下雨了！而且绵绵不断一直下了一天一宿，一天一宿的雨，把地浇灌得透透的。上帝眷顾了他们。
他们也看到人的努力在上帝的恩典面前是何等渺小，上帝的恩雨降下，之前那两垧地等于是白抽水、白花钱、也白挨累了！不过，他们并不遗憾，只有感恩。
遇到良心商家
然后，他们又看到上帝的奇妙。雨后，原来光秃秃的土地开始陆续出苗。如果说之前只出一成苗的话，陆陆续续又出到七成，对于这片没有作水，又是没有人愿意种的次等地来说，能出七成苗已经是惊喜了。因为地很多，他们就雇当地的村民间苗，在雇人干活的时候自然地给他们传福音，“你们看，上帝把雨播下来了！”村民们无话可说。因为这些苗是分批长出来的，所以前后间了三次苗，这样跟当地村民交流多起来了，当地的人就开始知道有上帝的存在了。
新苗都出齐了，他们发现还有很多感恩的。因为按理说苗出来之后一定的时间内需要打封闭农药（除草用的）。但是他们去买农药的时候，卖农药的人知道他们的地出苗情况，就没有卖给他们。他们就听了农药店老板的话。等一茬茬新苗长出来之后，他们格外感激那个老板，因为如果打上农药，后出的苗可能就都被农药打死了。他们感叹老板没有为了赚取利润而卖给他们农药，想想也是上帝的恩典和保守。
后种的先出
从出苗的情况中，他们还发现了一个事情，因为种地不是一天种完的（那时候不像现在有播种机，一天就播完了），因为地比较多，前后共用了一个礼拜。种地期间还赶上聚会，他们要参加礼拜六和礼拜天的聚会，所以礼拜六、礼拜天就没有种地，等礼拜一再继续种。降雨之后，他们发现礼拜一之后种的反而先出了，因为后面种的借了雨水的力。这件事也告诉山峦弟兄，敬畏上帝不耽误事儿！
耶和华看守城池
农民都知道种地前期需要农民精心照料，等到苗都出齐了，间苗、施肥、打药、除草都结束了，剩下的人只能交给“老天爷”了，除了盼着风调雨顺，人做不了什么了。所以很多农民也在夏季到秋收之前这段时间出去打工。不能外出的，勤快的人也只能是没事儿就去地里看看长势；秋天到的时候，等到玉米成熟能吃的时候，再多去地里看看，免得被人偷。山峦弟兄看着也不需要人了，就离开村庄做别的工了，到秋收的时候才返回来。
山峦弟兄说，当地人住的房子和庄稼地挨的很近，小偷也很多。大家的地多多少少都会被偷，他们的地前后都有小道，会常常有人经过，如果有人想偷，主人想看也是看不住的。但是他们很感恩，那年他们只丢了大约一四轮车的玉米，在当地人看来丢这点儿也是正常的，其他人丢的更多。当地人都纳闷，“你看，小偷怎么不偷他的呢？就偷当地人的了！”
山峦弟兄心里知道这是主的保守，因为他们的地从种完地直到秋收都没人看着。
收割的闹剧与主的恩典
该秋收了，山峦弟兄和另一位弟兄回来收割。本来是非常不好的地，但是那一年，这片地却迎来了大丰收。因为地多，秋收需要雇人。但是雇人的时候又因为经验不足出了岔子。一般打玉米的时候，男人和女人的工钱一般会区别开，毕竟力气不同，干的活也不同。但他们当时好心，雇人的时候无论男女都给订了30元。正常应该男的给30元，女的给20元。但是都给30元，等到干重活的时候，当地人都不干了。装车没人装了，因为装车这个活需要力气，女人干不了。那9米长的粮食车来了，男人们都走了，没人给他们装车了。但那时候玉米才2毛钱一斤。眼看着天黑了，两个弟兄咬咬牙决定自己装，一位老大爷好心地陪着他们一起一晚上没睡觉一直干到天亮，才把全部玉米装上车。
第二天村民都来了，谁都没想到，一个老人和两个年轻人熬了一夜把12垧地的玉米装上了车。
这一下，他们又让村民震惊了。两个信主的小伙子，果然不一样。 说起这次种地的经历，山峦弟兄有说不完的见证。虽然之后卖粮也出现了挫折，但是最后他们还是再次经历了上帝的预备。
总结
这一年，他们除掉所有费用，净收入有1万元，这在当时是一笔不小的数目，尤其是在当地人认定是会赔钱的土地上。
但对于山峦弟兄来说，他的收获不仅仅是这1万元，他收获的是上帝的信实，上帝的奇妙预备，上帝的怜悯，上帝的保守与看顾……他知道上帝是绝望中的帮助者，是他一生的依靠，他从此对上帝所指示的道路坚定不移。
（文中主人公使用化名。）
故事|年轻时候一次曲折的种地经历 竟激励一位牧者服事至今
Pastor Shan Luan, who looks like he's in his 40s, has been serving the church for more than 20 years. He is a warm-hearted and honest person with a strong Northeastern accent. He looks just like a good friend to the common people.
He told his farming experience in the early days of his ministry. It’s a story about how the wonderful and great God strengthened his faith in ministry through this event.
Farm for supply and the land was offered by the Lord
In 2003, Pastor Shan Luan was a young man. He was just married, and God had already called him. He was working in the suburbs of a city in the north of China, but the economic conditions for preachers at that time were not good. So he prayed to the Lord, "Lord, since you have sent me to serve here, please provide for me in my daily life."
After the prayer, a sister who lived in the suburb said she had 12 hectares of land for him to grow crops. In fact, according to locals, this piece of land was not very good. But since it came to him after praying, he decided to contract the land to grow corn.
The land that was lost and regained
It had already been agreed, but not long after, that sister said, "Brother Shan Luan, I have contracted the land to someone else, and he has bought corn seeds and fertilizer, so now you can't grow anything on it."
Brother Shan Luan was also very helpless when he heard this, but he did not pay for the field himself, so he could not say anything. He could only pray, "Lord, do you allow me to grow crops on this piece of land or not? That sister said to let me grow crops on this piece of land, and now she says that someone else has contracted it. Is this your arrangement for me or not? Please make the way for me."
However, when it was about time for the farmers to plow (when it is time to sow seeds), that sister came to him and said, "Brother Shan Luan, you could come and grow crops on my field. The man who had rented the land said that he would not grow anything on it."
Brother Shan Luan asked, "Didn't you rent it to someone else? Didn't you say that the man already bought seeds and fertilizer?" That sister replied, "Yes, he bought them, but he said he wouldn't plant anything on them, so you can plant anything you like on them." Brother Shan thought that this chance had come about after his own prayer and that the land that had been lost was now back, and he believed that it was the Lord's guidance. He found another brother, and together they leased the land.
No experience in farming
In fact, Brother Shan knew the reason why that man gave up the contract after he had already bought seeds and fertilizer. It was because the land was considered a second-class field by experienced farmers—that is, the water would soon be gone after it was poured on it.
According to experience, when there has been no rain before sowing, they must water the field before sowing the seeds.
However, 20 years ago, local agriculture was not mechanized, so plowing, planting, and fertilizing all required manual labor. One needed a four-wheeler to pull a large bucket to the well with enough water to pump water and then used the water pipe to pour the land one acre after another. In this way, the process of farming would be complicated, and the farming time would be elongated. If the field was small, it was fine. But watering 12 hectares of land was a huge project for him. As Brother Shan is not a local, he is not familiar with the local villagers, so it was difficult for him to ask for help. In order to save money and time, he and his partners decided to take a risk by sowing seeds without watering them.
However, other people would water before sowing seeds, and some villagers mocked him when they saw that he didn’t water the land before sowing seeds. But no matter how they thought about him when the seeds were sown, Shan and his brothers rented a house in the village. While farming (and other subsequent work, such as thinning, fertilizing, applying pesticides, etc.), they also spread the gospel to the local villagers. There were relatively few people in the village who believed in Jesus, and when they preached, some believed while others did not, and at that time, most people would not believe.
After some time, the seedlings were growing in the field, but the growth of his corn seedlings was very poor. There were only 100 seedlings every 400 meters. It was not only sparse, but the seedlings were as thin as a hair, and they looked like they would die at any time.
Hopelessness
Let’s do a simple division. There were less than 100 plants every 400 meters, which means that on average, only one plant was on the land that was four meters long. From a distance, the ground looked almost like a desert. At this time, some villagers began to mock him, saying, "We told you that you needed to water the land before you sow, but you did not listen. You believe in God, right? Then pray to your God to let it rain!" This is an absolute disgrace to the preacher, but there was nothing to debate because it was the only possible solution. So Brother Shan and his partner prayed together, asking the Lord for mercy and then looking for a remedy. They decided to go to the big well in the village to draw water and water the fields.
Unexpectedly, just when they went to the pump, the pump was broken, and the villagers were waiting for water, so they asked them to pay for the repair of the pump. Not much water has been pumped yet. Only two hectares of land had been watered; 300 yuan was spent on diesel fuel, and 400 yuan was paid to repair the pump.
The secretary of the production brigade came up with a way to help him. He advised Shan to rent 20 tractors, hire some people to plow the land in a day, and then hire some farmers to sow the seeds again. Although it would be quite helpful, the cost would come down to 8,000 yuan. In addition, he would need to buy some new seeds. The cost was really too high!
Brother Shan declined the kind suggestion of the secretary of the production brigade and decided to dig a well in the field. They hired someone to drill the ground. According to the rules, they would not pay until there was water. In the end, there was no water after the land was drilled for 20 meters. The people who dug the well left, the villagers who watched the bustle left, and the secretary of the production brigade shook his head and also left. Brother Shan Luan and his partner went home and prayed again. Brother Shan prayed and said, "Lord, have mercy on us. Did you not send me to farm the field?"
In despair, God promises peace
When Brother Shan opened the Bible, he read this psalm: "My heart is not proud, O LORD; my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore."
Looking only to the Lord, Brother Shan knew they would be able to sleep peacefully in the bosom of the Lord.
People can only see the despair in the environment, but the God believed by Brother Shan and his partner is the "living God". He prayed constantly at night, and then all the villagers were surprised that it rained the same night! And the rain continued for a day and a night, watering the land completely. God had taken care of them.
They also saw how small human effort was before God's grace. The rain affected millions of acres of land. However, they have no regrets for the effort they made to water the field, but only gratitude.
Meet a conscientious merchant
Then they saw the wonder of God. After the rain, the seeds began to sprout on the formerly bare land. If only 10 percent of the seedlings were produced before, then it gradually increased to 70 percent. For this piece of second-class land with no watering, the germination rate of 70 percent was already a surprise. Since there were many fields, they hired local villagers to thin the plants and naturally preached the Gospel to them while hiring people to work: "You see, God has let it rain!" The villagers had to believe it. Because the seedlings grew in batches, they were thinned three times so that there was more chance to communicate with the local villagers, and the local people began to know that there is a God.
With all the new sprouts coming out, they found there was much to be thankful for. Because it was supposed to be necessary to spread agricultural chemicals (weeding) for a certain period of time after the seedlings came out. But when they went to buy agricultural chemicals, the people selling agricultural chemicals knew about their crops and did not sell them anything. So they listened to the explanation of the store owner of agricultural chemicals. When the new plants came out, they were especially grateful to the store owner because if they had applied agricultural chemicals, the coming sprouts may have been killed by them. They were amazed by the store owner’s behavior of not selling them agricultural chemicals in order to make a profit, thinking that it was also God's grace and protection.
The last plant came out first
From the situation of seedlings, they also discovered that the field was not thinned in one day (at that time, there were no seeders present, so the field could not be thinned in one day), because there was much land, and the thinning lasted about a week. During the farming period, they also needed to organize the gathering, and they had to attend the gathering on Saturday and Sunday, so they did not thin the seedlings on Saturday and Sunday. After the rain, they found that the seedlings thinned after Monday had come out first because the seedlings planted later had gained the power of the rain. This also showed Brother Shan Luan that his worship of God would never delay work!
The Lord watches over the city
Farmers know that crops need careful care in the early stages of planting. Until the seedlings are all out and thinning, fertilization, spraying, and weeding are over, the rest will only be handed over to "God". In addition to looking forward to good weather, people could do nothing else. So many farmers also look for other jobs between the summer and the autumn harvest. For the ones who cannot go to the cities for a job, diligent people would only go to the field to check the growth of the crops. When autumn came, they waited until the corn was ripe and ready for harvest and checked the field more often so that it would not be stolen. Brother Shan Luan saw that there was no need for labor, so he left the village to do other work and returned only in the autumn harvest.
Brother Shan said that the local people lived in houses close to the fields, and there were many thieves. Every farmer's crops may be stolen more or less, and there are paths before and after their land, so many people may pass by his field. If someone wanted to steal some corn from his land, there was nothing Brother Shan Luan could do to prevent it. But they were thankful that they lost only about a four-wheeler of corn that year, which locals considered normal. Other farmers lose more. The locals wondered, "Gee, why don't thieves steal from him? Why do they only steal from the locals?"
He knew that this was the Lord's protection. No one ever watched their land from the time they finished planting to the autumn harvest.
The farce of harvest and the grace of the Lord
It was harvest time, and Brother Shan and his partner came back to harvest. Originally, it was barren land, but that year, this land ushered in a large harvest. Because of the vastness of the land, they need to hire people for the autumn harvest. But then the hiring went awry due to a lack of experience. Generally, when threshing corn, the wages of men and women were different. After all, the strengths of men and women were different, and their work was different. But Brother Shan and his partner were kind enough to hire men and women for 30 yuan per day. It was normal for a man to have a wage of 30 yuan per day and a woman to have a wage of 20 yuan per day. But they paid 30 yuan per day for all of them, and when it came time to do the heavy work, the locals quit. No one was willing to load cars because loading cars requires strength, and women can't do it. The 9-meter grain cart came, the men were gone, and there was no one to load the corn onto the truck. But corn was only about 20 cents a pound back then. Watching it get dark, Brother Shan Luan and his partner gritted their teeth and decided to do it by themselves, and an old man kindly accompanied them all night without sleeping until dawn before loading all the corn onto the car.
The villagers came the next day, and to everyone's surprise, an old man and two young men stayed up all night and loaded the corn from 12 hectares of the field onto the truck.
This time, they shocked the villagers again. “Two young men who believe in the Lord are really special.” Speaking of this farming experience, Brother Shan Luan has numerous testimonies. Although there were setbacks in the sale of grain later, in the end, they again experienced God's preparation.
That year, after deducting all expenses, they netted 10,000 yuan, which was a substantial amount of money at the time, especially on land that locals believed would lose money.
But for Brother Shan Luan, his harvest was not only 10,000 yuan. He gained the faithfulness of God, the wonderful preparation of God, the mercy of God, and the protection and care of God. He knew that God is a helper in despair, and he depends on him all his life. He remains steadfast on the path that God has shown him.
(The name in this article is a pseudonym.)
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
Story: The Tortuous Farm Experience in Youth Inspired a Pastor to Serve Until Today
