Divine Encounters

Noticing that several people had Bibles, Zhang Wei was curious to see this unusual book.

Taking her six-year-old son by the hand, Tang Yue didn’t expect anything unusual as she walked from her home to the nearby market. Little did she know that she was about to experience a divine encounter.

Tang Yue believed in God, and on Sundays she met with other Christians, but at the moment she was thinking about what she needed at the market. As she walked down the street, two kind-looking men approached her and stopped.

“You know,” said one, “keeping Sunday is not from the Bible.” He held up a Bible and showed the astonished Tang Yue texts regarding the seventh-day Sabbath. Encouraging her to see for herself, the other man told her, “You can search the internet, and see what day is really the Sabbath day.” Then the men concluded their brief presentation by telling Tang Yue that “Jesus came to this world, and ‘the Saturday church’ is really God’s church.” Then as quickly as they had come, the two men disappeared into the crowd.

Finding the Church

Amazed by this strange, brief encounter, Tang Yue went home and searched the internet for answers to the questions the strangers had raised. To her surprise, she came across a website—in Chinese—that gave clear answers about the seventh-day, Saturday, being God’s true Sabbath. The site also offered easy-to-follow Bible studies. Learning that the website was from a Seventh-day Adventist ministry called “Amazing Facts,” she wondered if there might be an Adventist church nearby.

After a little searching, Tang Yue was happy to find an Adventist church in her city.Surely there must be something special about this church, she thought to herself.

Finding her way to the church the following Sabbath, Tang Yue looked for the two men who had approached her on the street, but she didn’t see them. In fact, she never saw them again.

Tang Yue keeps returning to the Adventist church and believes that she has found her spiritual home. “[This church] is teaching what the Bible says,” says Tang Yue. “It’s very different from the other church. I believe that what the Adventists are teaching is the truth, and that Jesus is coming soon.” Tang Yue continues to worship regularly with Seventh-day Adventists who meet together in an apartment within a city in central China.

Zhang Wei’s Encounter

Zhang Wei was no ordinary citizen. He had served well in the Chinese army, and as a highly respected person, served as mayor of his village. Eventually, however, he decided to move to a large city where he could earn more money in construction.

One day as we was walking along a city street, something caught his attention—music coming from the ground level of a large apartment building. Peering through the windows he could see people singing.

Soon, someone came up to Zhang Wei and invited him to come inside the apartment. Although somewhat reticent to go in the building, yet curious to learn more, Zhang Wei entered the Adventist house church.

Noticing that several people had Bibles, he was curious to see this unusual book. Happily the Adventists shared with Zhang Wei some of their most treasured Bible passages and prayed with him.

Zhang Wei returned often to the Adventist house church. One day the subject of healthy living came up, including diet. Explaining the Biblical laws of clean and unclean meats, the members told Zhang Wei that pigs were unclean and that often the animal was infested with worms. Thinking the Adventists couldn’t be right about this, Zhang Wei decided to conduct a little experiment.

The Pig Experiment

Many people worked at the same construction site as Zhang Wei, and the company cook sometimes purchased an entire pig to feed the crew. One day when pork was on the menu, Zhang Wei quietly went up to the carcass to see if the pig was really “unclean.” Making sure no one was watching, Zhang Wei quickly took a knife and sliced the animal open. He found the swine’s flesh crawling with worms from head to hoof. Shocked and disgusted, he never ate pork again. Before long, Zhang Wei accepted all of the Bible truths he was learning at the Adventist church and was baptized.

Following his baptism Zhang Wei returned to his home village where he began an Adventist house church with just one person—himself! But he started sharing the things he had learned from the Bible with others, and the church grew. Today, the county where Zhang Wei lives has six Adventist churches, and three neighboring counties each have churches—due to the prayers and powerful witness of Zhang Wei.

This quarter, part of your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help to establish more house churches in China. Thank you so much for your generous support!