Testimony by Liu Ming, 3rd year student from Jiangsu Province Bible School
I am Liu Ming, a third year student from Jiangsu Province Bible School. I thank the Lord for His calling and leading in giving me the opportunity to take the 3-year Bible course. Not only did I gain a deeper understanding of the Bible, my perspective in life has also deepened through all the learning. I was a lay preacher in a rural church in Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province. I strongly believe that all Christians need to grow in our spiritual maturity and that can only be done through the reading of the Bible. As human beings, we cannot live without food; as Christians, we cannot live without the Bible.
I remembered how I started attending church with my parents when I first became a Christian in 1980. Bibles were limited then and we met at someone’s house for Bible Study. During the meeting, those who are literate will take turns to read a portion of the Scripture and that brought great spiritual satisfaction to the listeners. As I was the youngest and the most literate amongst them, I became the only one to read the Bible out most of the time. From merely reading out the scriptures, I moved on to explaining the passages. That was how I started my ministry as a lay preacher. The picture of yearning eyes of those around me is still etched in my heart. I silently prayed, “Lord, how wonderful it would be if you could provide everyone with a Bible!”
With the implementation of the religious freedom policy, there is now greater ease for anyone to meet for Bible study and get a copy of the Bible. Whenever I open my Bible to the page with this sentence, “The bible paper is contributed by the United Bible Societies (UBS)”, I give praise to God and to UBS for its assistance in bringing God’s blessings to the Christians in China.
I am also grateful to UBS for donating the Study Bible to the students at the Jiangsu Bible School as it is a great tool in helping us grasp the meaning of the Bible verses. I did not know before that the Bible has so many different editions, and that there are many Bible reference books and tools available. These are what the poorer rural churches yearn for and I hope that UBS will continue to provide more Bibles and related Bible resources to them. That will be an immeasurable help in spreading the Gospel message and the building up of the Church in China. Thank you UBS for your help! Thank you for your sacrifice!
Edited by Pamela Choo
Translation provided by Chiong Min Lee
for United Bible Societies, China Partnership
