Zhang Guiyan, Wang Mingdao's chief assistant for ministry and daily life in his last ten years in Shanghai, passed away at the age of 79 on January 3, 2024.
In 2021, Zhang once shared the story of Wang Mingdao’s later years, who was a representative figure of the house churches in China's Christian community, with the Christian Times, an online Christian newspaper in China.
Wang had lived in Shanghai after being released from prison when he was already 80 years old.
Wang Mingdao dedicated his later years to continuous sermons until his passing. During the process of organizing Wang's sermons, Zhang began with tapes, on which he spent eight yuan per tape to record, although others used tapes costing cents. Later, the lower-cost tapes became inaudible. Only Wang's sermons were preserved and eventually converted to CDs.
Zhang Guiyan once collected Spiritual Food Quarterly, a publication Wang insisted on even while imprisoned. The publication of this quarterly was rough, with one unskilled believer in a small church using an old-fashioned printing method with a foot pedal disc machine, resulting in inconsistent ink printing. Zhang spent 20 years gathering all these publications and even taught himself Adobe Photoshop to organize them. Among the 41 years of diaries from Wang, the most memorable one, 1954 (the year the Three-Self Patriotic Movement was established), got lost. Brother Zhang had sent all of Wang's sermons and diaries to Hong Kong for publication.
Wang Mingdao's religious convictions bore some resemblance to those of the Baptists, emphasizing the importance of the separation of church and state. "I won't deliver a word until you remove the flag if I were the young me," Wang stated once at a sermon when he noticed an American flag on the podium because it was the Fourth of July.
There is overseas material alleging that Wang worked hard to preach even in the prison bathroom, with 93 people believing in the Lord. Zhang clarified that this was a rumor. Mr. Wang did not preach the gospel to many people in prison, for those in prison were spiritually weak.
Zhang described Wang as "a senior in our church, an elder member of our family, and a warrior who had been injured in the battle."
"He would point out your problems, but without forcing you to change your mind," Zhang added. “Mr. Wang was very self-critical, who was more critical and crucial of himself than he was to others.”
- Translated by Poppy Chan
2024年1月3日，王明道最后十年在上海服事和生活的助手张桂炎在上海家中离世，享年79岁。
2021 年，张曾与中国一网络基督教报纸基督时报分享了中国基督教自立教会的代表人物王明道晚年的故事。
王1980年从监狱出来了以后在上海居住，那时已经80岁了。
王一直到死都是在讲道，从来没有间断过。张整理过他的讲道，最开始是磁带。当时他花8块钱一盘的磁带录讲道，其他人的都是几毛钱的，后来那些人的磁带都发不出来声音了。只有他的都存下来了，后来他转成了CD。
王在狱中也曾经一直坚持写过114期的《灵食季刊》，张曾经做过这个刊物的收集。这个刊物的出版是很粗糙的，是用脚踩的圆盘机来印刷的，是非常古老的印刷方式，油墨也不均匀，是由一个小教会的男信徒做的。张花了20年的时间找了这些刊物，还自己学PS了把这些整理好。王有41年的日记，其中有一部最精彩的是1954年那本丢失了。这些讲道和还有日记，张弟兄都给了香港的一些出版社出版了。
王的信仰背景有点接近于浸信会。王只是为了坚持自己的信仰，坚持信仰和政治是要分离的。王一次去讲道时曾看到讲台上有美国国旗，因为那一天刚好是美国国庆日。王说：“按照我年轻时的性格，你们不把旗子拿走，我就不讲道。”
海外有英文资料说王明道在狱中洗手间也努力传福音，93个人信主了，张说这个是谣言。王明道先生在狱中并没有传福音给过很多人，其实他们在狱中都是很软弱的。
张评价王明道说：“我们教会的一个长者，是我们家里的一位老人，是一个争战过程中受伤的勇士。”
“他虽然会指出你的问题，但是也不会强硬的逼迫你改变想法。”张说，“王先生的自我批判性很强，他是一个自我批评者。他批评自己比别人批评自己的还要狠得多。”
张桂炎生前回忆王明道晚年的故事
Zhang Guiyan, Wang Mingdao's chief assistant for ministry and daily life in his last ten years in Shanghai, passed away at the age of 79 on January 3, 2024.
In 2021, Zhang once shared the story of Wang Mingdao’s later years, who was a representative figure of the house churches in China's Christian community, with the Christian Times, an online Christian newspaper in China.
Wang had lived in Shanghai after being released from prison when he was already 80 years old.
Wang Mingdao dedicated his later years to continuous sermons until his passing. During the process of organizing Wang's sermons, Zhang began with tapes, on which he spent eight yuan per tape to record, although others used tapes costing cents. Later, the lower-cost tapes became inaudible. Only Wang's sermons were preserved and eventually converted to CDs.
Zhang Guiyan once collected Spiritual Food Quarterly, a publication Wang insisted on even while imprisoned. The publication of this quarterly was rough, with one unskilled believer in a small church using an old-fashioned printing method with a foot pedal disc machine, resulting in inconsistent ink printing. Zhang spent 20 years gathering all these publications and even taught himself Adobe Photoshop to organize them. Among the 41 years of diaries from Wang, the most memorable one, 1954 (the year the Three-Self Patriotic Movement was established), got lost. Brother Zhang had sent all of Wang's sermons and diaries to Hong Kong for publication.
Wang Mingdao's religious convictions bore some resemblance to those of the Baptists, emphasizing the importance of the separation of church and state. "I won't deliver a word until you remove the flag if I were the young me," Wang stated once at a sermon when he noticed an American flag on the podium because it was the Fourth of July.
There is overseas material alleging that Wang worked hard to preach even in the prison bathroom, with 93 people believing in the Lord. Zhang clarified that this was a rumor. Mr. Wang did not preach the gospel to many people in prison, for those in prison were spiritually weak.
Zhang described Wang as "a senior in our church, an elder member of our family, and a warrior who had been injured in the battle."
"He would point out your problems, but without forcing you to change your mind," Zhang added. “Mr. Wang was very self-critical, who was more critical and crucial of himself than he was to others.”
- Translated by Poppy Chan
Wang Mingdao's Late Assistant Recalls Wang's Later Years
