Sister Xiang was riding on the train when a woman had a health emergency. Another woman hurried to help the sick woman, praying over her and crying, “You should believe in God.” The woman’s words remained with Sister Xiang, even after she left the train.

She searched for a Christian church and found a house church. There she met Jesus and found a peace and joy she’d never known. But the house church was far from her home, so she organized a house church closer to home and invited people to worship there. She became passionate about sharing God’s love with others.

Then she met some Adventists who showed her from the Bible that the Sabbath was not Sunday, but Saturday. She read the Bible texts over and over until she was convinced that the Sabbath was indeed God’s holy day.

Sister Xiang eagerly told her fellow believers and friends what she had discovered. One by one they joined her in worshipping on Sabbath. Sister Xiang begged the Adventist church in the nearby city to send them a teacher. The church sent a layman to study with them. They had few Bibles and no hymnals, so they copied Bible texts and songs to use.

The small group of believers quickly grew to more than the house could hold. They divided and continued to grow. In three years they established five churches and several house churches, all led by Sister Xiang.

The government ordered Sister Xiang to stop the religious meetings. Day after day Sister Xiang and another believer went to the government office of religion and prayed silently for permission to worship together. Finally the governor allowed the Adventists to build a church.

The believers in the area swarmed to help build the church, which was completed in three months. Several daughter house churches continued to meet. Within two years the believers had built five more churches with congregations of from 50 to 500 people.

Sister Xiang attended lay training classes held in the mother church in the area. Today, with nine churches, nine house churches, and 800 members, she says that the greatest need continues to be for trained lay leaders and lay evangelists to help reach the people in neighboring communities and introduce them to Jesus. “It’s how we grow,” she says. “They are hungry, but they don’t know that Jesus can fill their every need. We must tell them.”

Please pray for the believers in China and around the world; and continue giving your mission offerings, which make mission outreach possible.

Xiang shares God’s love with people in northern China.

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