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of The Church of Almighty God
Wei ShuyaoXinyi City, Jiangsu Province
I was formerly a leader’s assistant in the Justification by Faith Church. I had believed in Jesus for over twenty years and been trained in a theological seminary, so I was very much looked up to by the brothers and sisters in our churches. We were in charge of over thirty churches and had contact with the churches in Beijing, Guangdong, Shandong, Hubei, and other places. The churches had been very prosperous a few years before, but somehow they turned more and more desolate in recent years. The believers became fewer and fewer, and many of them were converted to “Eastern Lightning,” and even some leaders who had believed in God for many years were “deceived.” I had long since heard that those of “Eastern Lightning” were very aggressive and that they did nothing but steal “sheep” from churches. To protect the “sheep,” I racked my brains and took many precautions in our churches, but all in vain. Seeing that the number in our churches decreased, I felt more and more hatred for those who preached “Eastern Lightning.” |
In autumn of 2001, I went back home for the National Day holiday. Before I arrived at home, I heard from a classmate that now there was a very powerful “heresy” called the “Eastern Lightning,” and my mother had been “deceived” by it for seven months. At the news, I was overwhelmed with anxiety, and I hurried to my uncle’s home (who was a preacher I adored). Before I asked anything about my mother, he said to me, “Your mother has accepted the ‘Eastern Lightning,’ and she runs around outside all day long. She went to the brothers’ and sisters’ homes to preach the gospel and even didn’t leave when they drove her. She has really disgraced me. Brothers and sisters in the church all came to ask me what to do with her, and I said to them that I didn’t acknowledge her as my sister anymore, she had been expelled by the church, and they could just drive her away. I heard that those people had discarded the Bible but read a so-called little scroll. That book is very powerful. Once you read it, you will be captivated. Do be careful, Xiao-ni. You must stand the ground. Though she is your mother, this is about belief. That doesn’t count…” Every word of my uncle pierced my heart, and I couldn’t help feeling nervous. “So it is true that the ‘Eastern Lightning’ is a heresy! Otherwise, how could my uncle speak about my mother in that way? How could my mother become like this now? Is it really true that she refused to leave others’ homes even when they drove her? …” I was sad and frightened. How I hoped that my uncle could draw her back! But from his words, I could know that my mother was already “irredeemable.” At that time, I just wanted to go home quickly to see my mother.
