29. Experiencing the Tribulations, I Was Accompanied by God’s Love

Wang Yu Henan Province

My name is Wang Yu. I’m 76 years old. In 1978, I believed in the Lord Jesus because of illness. I received much grace during my believing. Because of that, I was very zealous in working for the Lord, giving messages and preaching the gospel everywhere and also hosting the brothers and sisters. Very soon, the believers in our church increased to over 2000. Then, the persecution of the CCP government also came. In order to stop me from believing in God and preaching the gospel, the policemen searched my house many times. Each time, they would take away anything that was worth some money and could be moved at my home, and they even unscrewed the light bulbs and took them away. Moreover, I was arrested and imprisoned by the Public Security Bureau a dozen times. In 1996, I accepted Almighty God’s end-time work. Two years later, I experienced more frenzied arrest and persecution of the CCP government. Although having undergone a great many afflictions, I felt God’s salvation and love for me.

27. The Ordeal in the Devil’s Den Made Me Taste God’s Love More Deeply

Fenyong Shanxi Province

From my childhood, I lived under my parents’ best care, but in my heart I often felt lonely without reliance, and there was always an unexplainable distress binding me, which I couldn’t get free from. I often asked myself, “Why does man live? How on earth should man live?” But I never got the answer. In 1999, I fortunately accepted Almighty God’s end-time work. From then on, under the feeding and supplying of God’s word, my lonely heart received comfort and I always had a feeling of returning home, feeling very peaceful and secure. Only then did I know what happiness is. Later, I read God’s words, “The world in mankind’s heart where there is no God’s position is dark, hopeless, and empty. … God’s place and God’s life cannot be replaced by any man. What mankind needs is not only a just society where they have enough to fill their stomach and everyone is equal and free. What they need is God’s salvation and God’s life supply for them.” (from “God Is Sovereign over the Destiny of All Mankind” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) Then, I knew that what a living man needs is not eating well, dressing well, or enjoying well, but is God’s salvation and God’s supply to man’s life. Only thus can the emptiness in man’s heart be solved.

24. Awake in the Tribulation of Persecution —A Seventeen-year-old Christian’s True Experience of Being Persecuted

Wang Tao Shandong Province

I’m a Christian in the Church of Almighty God. Compared with the kids at my age, I’m the luckiest, for I was uplifted and selected by God and accepted the end-time work of Almighty God with my parents at the age of eight. At that time, although I was young, I was very willing to believe in God and read God’s word. As I constantly read God’s word and listened to the fellowship of the uncles and aunties, over the years, I understood some truths. As I grew older, I saw that the brothers and sisters all pursued the truth and practiced being honest and lived in harmony, without intriguing against each other as between my classmates at school. I felt that it was my happiest and most joyful time to stay with the brothers and sisters. Later, I heard these words in Fellowship and Preaching About Life Entering In, “To believe in God and pursue the truth and follow God in Mainland China, one has to tie his head to the waist of his trousers, which is absolutely true….” At that time, I didn’t understand the meaning of those words. Through the fellowship of the brothers and sisters, I knew that believers in Almighty God would be arrested by the police because China is an atheistic country without freedom of belief. But at that time, I didn’t believe those words. I thought that I was just a child, and even if I was arrested by the “policemen,” they wouldn’t hurt me. Not until later I personally experienced the police’s arrest and affliction did I see clearly that the “policemen” in my mind are actually a gang of devils!

20. God’s Light Led Me in the Tribulation

Zhao Xin Sichuan Province

From childhood, I lived in the mountain. I didn’t see much of the world or have higher expectations. After I got married and had children, both my sons were sensible and obedient and my husband was hardworking. Although our family wasn’t very well-off, we lived together harmoniously, feeling very happy and satisfied. In 1996, I suddenly had a serious illness, so I began to believe in Jesus. From then on, I often read the Bible and actively attended meetings. Unexpectedly, my illness got better gradually. Since then, I had greater faith in following Jesus.

18. The Light of Life Shining in the Devil’s Dark Den

Lin Ying Shandong Province

My name is Lin Ying. I’m a Christian in the Church of Almighty God. Before I believed in Almighty God, I always tried to work with my own ability for a better life. But things ran counter to my wish; I got into trouble and was frustrated everywhere. Having fully experienced life’s hardships, I felt exhausted mentally and physically and felt extremely miserable. Just when I was distressed and helpless, a sister preached Almighty God’s end-time gospel to me. I read God’s words, “When you feel tired and when you slightly feel a sense of desolation of this world, do not feel perplexed and do not weep. Almighty God, the Watcher, is ready to embrace your coming at any time.” (from “The Sighs of the Almighty” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) I couldn’t help shedding tears. The motherly words of Almighty God greatly comforted me. I felt that I, like an orphan wandering for years, returned to the bosom of my family and was no longer lonely and helpless. From then on, I thirstily read God’s word every day. Through having meetings and fellowshipping with the brothers and sisters in the Church of Almighty God, I saw that they were so kind and honest. There was no jealousy, dispute, or intrigue among them. No matter who met any difficulty, others would sincerely fellowship about the truth and help him solve it, without making bargains or seeking rewards. What they lived out was God’s love.

15. God’s Word Led Me to Overcome the Suppression of the Force of Darkness

Qiu Zhen Zhejiang Province

I believed in Jesus from childhood with my mother. In the days of my following the Lord Jesus, I was often moved by the Lord’s love, feeling that the Lord Jesus loved us so much that he was crucified and shed his last drop of blood for the sake of redeeming us…. At that time, the brothers and sisters all loved and sustained one another. We enjoyed the Lord’s love, but at the same time, we were persecuted and suppressed by the CCP government. The police labeled our house churches as having “illegal meetings.” They often raided our meeting places and ordered that we couldn’t have meetings unless we got the relevant license approved by the government. Otherwise, we would be arrested to be fined or sentenced. Once, my mother and another five or six brothers and sisters were arrested and interrogated by the police for a whole day. In the end, the police released them after confirming through investigation that they were all ordinary believers. From then on, in order to escape the government’s raids, we had to have meetings secretly. Even so, our faith wasn’t diminished. But later, I found that I got less and less enjoyment in the meetings. The preachers and believers formed cliques and intrigued against one another. Many believers grew cold in faith and loved the world and money, and they only cared about making money but were unwilling to attend meetings. The several believers who came to have meetings and listen to messages chatted to one another or dozed off. Seeing that the church became desolate day by day and the believers were scattered and went away, I was very sad but couldn’t do anything. In the second half of 1998, one of my relatives preached to me the end-time gospel of Almighty God, the returned Jesus. After hearing it, I was so excited that I shed tears for meeting with the Lord in my life. Since then, I eagerly read God’s word every day and understood many truths and mysteries from that. My thirsty heart received the watering and supply which I had never received before. Moreover, from God’s word, I knew the reason why the church was desolate. I read these words of God, “God’s work in all the other places will stop, and all people will be forced to search for the true way. It will be like the case of Joseph. Everyone went to him for things to eat and bowed down to him, because he had food to eat. In order to escape the disaster of starvation, all people will have to seek the true way. The entire religious world will suffer a severe famine. Only the God of today is the spring of living water and has the ever-flowing spring for people to enjoy. All people will turn to him.” (from “The Millennial Kingdom Has Come” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) So God has already done a new work, no longer working in the churches of the Age of the Grace.