By Xiang Ai

I got married in 1976. Unexpectedly, in the second year after marriage, I noticed some sores on my body. At first, they were just some red spots on my arms, and I thought they were bug bites. I looked for folk remedies as treatment; however, it didn’t work. Afterward, those red spots were getting more and more and bigger and bigger, and I hardly found a good spot on my body except my head, feet, and hands. The sores were itchy, painful, bleeding, and purulent, and they oozed exudate as well. I couldn’t even put my clothes on. So, I had to wrap myself by using a sheet all day. My husband took me to the hospital for treatment for half a year, but it still couldn’t be cured. We started going from one doctor to another, however, we still couldn’t get the way to cure those sores. In the end, we spent all the money, and our relatives were worried about lending us money as well. I cried all day without any hope, and I had no idea about my situation. I couldn’t stop thinking of my poor family, my sick body, and my terrible life. It seemed nothing would be better than death.

Sores Were Cured After I Returned to the Lord

My sister-in-law came to my house to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus to me when I was desperate and without hope for the future life. She said that the Lord Jesus is the true God. People who truly believe in Him will be saved by faith. It seemed the light appeared in the dark and I felt my life was full of hope after hearing what she said. Afterward, my husband brought me to an old sister’s house to join their Sunday service. The old sister told me: “The Lord is powerful, and He can perform great miracles. Because of Him, the paralyzed could walk, the blind could see, leprosy could be cured, and death could be resurrected. The Lord’s salvation will come to you as long as you truly believe in Him with the heart and confess with the mouth …” She read the Bible to me, and the scripture said, “And, behold, they brought to Him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said to the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; your sins be forgiven you” (Matthew 9:2). “And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitudes saw it, they marveled, and glorified God, which had given such power to men” (Matthew 9:7–8). “And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind Him, and touched the hem of His garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch His garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned Him about, and when He saw her, He said, Daughter, be of good comfort; your faith has made you whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour” (Matthew 9:20–22). When she read that the Lord could make the paralyzed walk and cure the woman who was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, I was shocked and moved by the Lord’s great power. I knew the Lord was powerful and I had faith in Him. I prayed to the Lord: “Lord, please heal my illness, forgive my sins and let me get out of the torment of illness …” After praying, I was not worried about the illness too much as usual. In order to understand more of the Lord’s words, I lived in the old sister’s house. I prayed, sang hymns, and joined the gatherings with my husband every day. I also brought my illness into my prayer often. I had been living with the old sister for a week, and at the same time, I took medicine and put plasters on the sores. Unexpectedly, those sores were getting better, and the pain was relieved a lot as well. I truly thank the Lord! I realized that only the Lord had great power, and only He could save man’s life. After that, my faith in following the Lord was stronger than before. About two or three months later, all my sores were miraculously cured. My husband and I said: “The Lord saved our family, and led us to a new life! We must believe in the Lord earnestly in the future.” My relatives and friends visited me, and they felt inconceivable when they saw all my sores were cured. So, I preached the gospel to them and bore witness to what the Lord did on me, so they all believed in the Lord. And then, the pastors of the three communes summoned dozens of brothers and sisters to come to my house to join the gathering. I stood up and cried with joy. I was excited to bear witness to wonderful acts of the Lord to brothers and sisters. They were moved by the Lord’s acts and sang praise to Him. After that, my husband and I read the Bible and prayed to the Lord every day. I also joined a church choir. During that time, I wouldn’t miss any fellowship no matter how important things were and how busy the work was.

When I immersed myself completely within the rich grace of the Lord, I got really sick because of another illness.

One day in June 1988, after I had breakfast, I suddenly got abdominal pain. I went to the restroom immediately, and I found much pus in the excrement. I thought I had dysentery, so I went to a clinic to get some medicine. However, it was getting worse after I took some medicine. The third night, I kept going to the restroom, and then I couldn’t get up from the toilet. The excrement was full of blood and pus, and it felt like my intestines were being pulled down and I felt an agonizing pain in my abdomen. I couldn’t fall asleep because of the pain. It caused me cold sweats and to be curled up. I couldn’t walk, and I didn’t have enough strength to speak. I just felt like something was in my abdomen. It was blocked, and I could hardly breathe. And I was just thinking: “I got really sick so suddenly, and then it got worse and worse while I kept taking medicine. Could it be a trial from God? If it is too serious to cure, will I die?” Under this extremely painful situation, I prayed to the Lord: “Lord, please help me. I am still young, and I have two little children. What about the children if I die?” My husband saw that I was in a serious condition, so he took me to the township hospital for an exam.

A Miracle in the Front of the Operating Table

When I arrived at the township hospital, the doctor dared not receive me because I was in a serious condition. My husband’s classmate helped to get an injection for emergency treatment and hastened to urge us to go to the county hospital. I thought: “No matter how serious my illness is, my life and death are in God’s hand.”My husband brought me to the county hospital which is tens of miles from here. The doctor performed a series of exams for me immediately, and the final diagnosis was intestinal adhesion and the intestines were ulcerated and purulent. Surgery was needed immediately, otherwise it would be life-threatening. This made me afraid. I must be given anesthetics for surgery, however, I was previously allergic to anesthetics when I was receiving a tubal ligation. After the tubal ligation at that time, my husband took me home, and I passed out before I got in the room. He even didn’t know when I passed out. After the emergency treatment, I slowly regained consciousness and the doctor said that I couldn’t use anesthetics anymore. When I thought about it, I was scared because this surgery was more complicated than the ligation surgery. So, the anesthetics must be used. This would kill me! However, it was surgery, how could I endure pain without anesthetic? The doctors were ready for the surgery, and I had no time to think about it anymore. What should I do? At that moment, I felt I was on the verge of death and extremely pained. I thought: “I am not sure if I could get through it this time. I am only thirty-something. My two children are still young. One is 10, and the other one is only 8. Their grandparents were gone. If I were gone, there would be no one to take care of my children and my husband. I’ll never see them again. I don’t want to die, and I still want to live longer!” The more I thought about it, the more pain I felt. Under the helpless situation, the only thing I could do was pray to the Lord. So, I cried and prayed to the Lord: “Lord! I don’t know if I could get through it. If I die, what about my family? Lord! Please help me, please save my life, please have mercy on me …”

After praying, I unconsciously thought of what Job said in the Bible when he went through trials: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly”(Job 1:21–22). Job endured such a great trial and pain. His property was robbed in a night; his children died; his body was full of sores. He became a man with nothing. But he said nothing about complaints, and he didn’t have concern for or plan his life in the future. He didn’t even think about whether he would be alive or dead. The only thing he thought about was obeying all arrangements from God to bear witness for God and humiliate Satan. I just thought that my life was in the Lord’s hand. The Lord decided whether I would die or live. No matter what happened, I must rely on the Lord. If the Lord allowed my life to be taken, I must obey the Lord and give my life to the Lord without any blame and complaint. When I thought of this, I felt much better, less sad and pained.

Then, the doctors were ready to perform the surgery for me. My husband worried about the anesthetic allergy. “She was allergic to anesthetics.” He said. And the doctor said: “Knockout drops are needed if no anesthetics are used. Otherwise the patient couldn’t get through it.” My husband was so worried about my life after hearing that. He was afraid that using knockout drops would be life-threatening, and what if I couldn’t wake up. If I died after the surgery, he would lose wife and money. My husband touched my weak pulse and kept crying and praying to the Lord: “Lord! Her illness is in your hand, please help her and save her life.” I wanted to say something to make him feel better, but I could say nothing. A while later, I heard my husband suddenly say to the doctor: “Could you please help do the exam again before the surgery?” The doctor said impatiently: “We already finished all examinations, and our doctors who had a lot of experience had diagnosed that your wife’s intestines were severely purulent and she must have surgery as soon as possible. Double check? Why? The result would be the same no matter how many times we did.” My husband still asked the doctors to double check it. Hearing what my husband said, I felt that there were the Lord’s great intentions in it. So, I prayed to the Lord in my heart: “Lord! All is in your hand!”

During the examination, I heard the doctor talking in surprise, “Look! The intestines were clear, and no blockage. You’re gonna be okay!” “What? How did this suddenly change?” “Were we wrong before? If only one said so, it might be wrong, but three or five of us all took a look at her, were we all wrong? We did the examinations again and again. It was weird!” My nephew next to them said, “My aunt truly believes in the Lord, so, the Lord could save her life.” “My mum believes in the Lord as well, I never believed that the Lord could bring the dead to life although she always said the Lord could. But I truly believe it now.” At this point, family members of other patients also felt strange and gathered around to discuss. While listening to their discussion, I also felt that my abdomen seemed to be clear and there was no blockage and I couldn’t feel pain anymore. I endured the abdominal bloating and huge pain and also couldn’t breathe well a while ago, but all at once that kind of feeling disappeared. I was too excited to control my tears, and I had no idea what I should say to the Lord. I just kept thanking the Lord who gave me a second life.

And I thought of the Bible verses about the Lord’s resurrection of the dead Lazarus. The Lord Jesus said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (John 11:25). And the Bible says, “And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said to them, Loose him, and let him go” (John 11:43–44). I could see that the Lord Jesus had authority and power from the Lord’s words. Lazarus stank after four days of death. But he was resurrected because of a word of the Lord Jesus. I truly experienced the Lord’s authority and power from my experience. Man’s life and death is in God’s hand. I was cured without surgery. This was because the illness had been cured by the Lord’s power and it was the Lord’s protection for me. The doctors couldn’t guarantee the result of the surgery. In addition, I couldn’t use anesthetics and that would be life-threatening. Although I got really sick, the Lord was always taking care of me and my illness was cured miraculously. My heart was full of gratitude to the Lord. It is the Lord who cared for me.

Relatives and villagers visited me when they heard I came back home. I told them about the power of God, and they all said that they were going to believe and follow God as well, because believing in the Lord was good, and the Lord Jesus is the true and living God. I was excited and the tears streamed down my cheeks. God helped me get out of the serious illness again and again. The experience strengthened my faith and determination to follow God. Whenever I counted the grace of God, I felt grateful and I was determined to work for God and repay God’s love. Amen!