By Xiao Feng
In 1999, I, following my husband, accepted Almighty God’s work in the last days. In the past meetings, I often listened to brothers and sisters sharing their experiences and testimonies, from which I felt that God’s protection will pull us through no matter how great the dangers and adversities are, as long as we trust Him faithfully. Later, being on the danger list, I saw God’s love when I depended on Him.
One day at the end of June 2008, I got a stomachache just after breakfast. At the beginning, I took little account of it and thought it was dysmenorrhea. However, I was no better several hours later, so I told this to my mother-in-law. She consoled me: “It doesn’t matter, for you’ve always had period pains. Bear it and you’ll be well after these days.” But I felt this stomachache was different from before. Since my mother-in-law also said that it doesn’t matter, I thought: Wait for a while to see if it can be relieved. If not, it isn’t dysmenorrhea. After a while, the pain was not relieved; rather, it became severer. So I writhed in agony on the bed, and soon I was covered in sweat and my clothes were soaked. Seeing my face streaming with sweat and turning pale, my mother-in-law hurried to phone my husband and went to the nearby clinic to call for the doctor.
After the examination, the doctor said there was something growing in my belly and I should be treated immediately in the county hospital; otherwise, my life would be in danger. I thought: No wonder my belly is so painful. What should I do if I need an operation? At this moment, I thought of God’s Word: “Be quiet within Me, for I am your God, your only Redeemer. You must quiet your hearts at all times and live within Me; I am your rock, your buttress. Have no other mind, but rely on Me with your whole heart and I will certainly appear to you—I am your God!” (“Chapter 26” of Utterances of Christ in the Beginning). It is right, God is our only Redeemer. I should believe in His almightiness. Then I prayed silently: O God! My stomach is getting more and more painful. The doctor said there was something growing in my belly and I should go to hospital for an operation. O God! You are the almighty God. And all things are in Your hand. I will put my all in Your hands. May You guide me! After praying, I calmed down a little. Soon my husband came back and took me to the county hospital.
Having arrived at the hospital, I was examined and diagnosed as acute cyst. I needed an operation at once, or I would be in mortal danger. The doctor said the cyst was like the stem of the melon. The more painful I felt in my belly, the greater vigor I would use and then the tighter the cyst twisted; in the end, the cyst would be broken. Once the poison in the cyst permeated through my body, it would be difficult to save my life. Having heard that, I thought: How could it be a cyst? I didn’t find any cysts when I had a caesarean section operation last year. Seeing my doubtful look, the doctor said to us: “You can confirm the diagnosis in the municipal hospital through the night if you don’t believe the results. Have an operation here after you are diagnosed.” I drew my husband aside and said to him in a low voice: “We have only 200 yuan now, and it is approaching dark. What is worse, my stomach is so painful that I cannot walk. How can we go to the municipal hospital? If it is truly an acute cyst, won’t this return delay the time? Whether the result is right or wrong, we should depend on God. Put all things in God’s hand and let Him preside over and arrange whether I should be dead or alive.” My husband nodded approvingly and said: “Ok, be treated here. Believe that God will protect us.” Then we were confronted with the difficulty of whether I could be operated on. When we came here hurriedly, we only brought 300 RMB with us. Except for the inspection fees, we had only 200 RMB left. Moreover, it was dark then and there weren’t any buses yet, so we could not fetch any money from home in time. If I had an operation, we didn’t even have enough money for a deposit, what should I do? With my belly aching all the time, I could not hold on any longer if I didn’t have this operation tonight. At that time, either sitting or standing, I felt as if someone was scraping fiercely inside my stomach. I was in such pain that beads of sweat were rolling down my forehead. At this crucial time, I couldn’t hold on any more. I could just rely on God unceasingly in my heart.
When we were at our wits end, I suddenly thought that Doctor Zhang, who performed the caesarean section operation on me last year, worked in this hospital. Then I said to my husband: “Now it is dark outside and we do not have enough money. My belly is so painful that I cannot hold on any more. Doctor Zhang works in this hospital. We phone her and see if she can help us.” My husband answered awkwardly: “Doctor Zhang? She just performed a caesarean section operation on you. We didn’t have any friendship! The society of today is materialistic, let alone doctors. We have no money or power. How can she help us without reason? Won’t we be more embarrassed in case she doesn’t want to help us when we phone her?” I leaned on his shoulder feebly, lowering my voice and said: “Now we can only depend on God. In the past meetings, brothers and sisters said that we should pray to God to lead us if we encounter any difficulty, and then we will surely see His deeds if we have faith in God. Let’s pray to God and put Doctor Zhang in God’s hand. May God move her! Anyway, just try it, please!” So he called Doctor Zhang and told my situation to her. We couldn’t imagine she promised us right away on the phone.
After a little while, Doctor Zhang came in a hurry from home. When I saw her wearing a pair of slippers, I asked her and knew that she wasn’t on duty that day. Just having prepared the supper well, she got our call and hurriedly came here with a pair of slippers, even without having dinner. The moment I saw her I was in excitement: God is indeed almighty! Doctor Zhang is off today. We merely made a phone call, she came here without having dinner. When she saw that I covered my belly with my hands painfully and half-bowed, she took the laboratory sheet quickly and said: “It is an acute cyst and cannot be delayed. And you should have an operation at once, or your life will be in danger.” Then she asked whether we have enough money to pay the bill. We told her we only had 200 RMB left after the examination and that was not enough for the deposit of the operation. Hearing this, she went directly to the place of receiving deposits and helped us sign as a guarantor. Following that she arranged personally to perform an operation on me.
We spend too much time in waiting. At this time doctors and nurses were about to get off work. Doctor Zhang went into their office and said to them: “An operation is needed immediately for this emergency case, so you should not leave now.” Several nurses who would be off work were reluctant at that moment. So I prayed to God in my heart: O God! What should I do? My stomach is getting more and more painful. Without having an operation, I don’t know whether I can live through tonight. O God, may You lead me. Whether I am able to have an operation or not is in Your hands. I am ready to submit to You regardless of how You orchestrate it.” After prayer, I saw God’s wondrous deed. To my surprise, regardless of her angry colleagues, Doctor Zhang insisted on advising them to cooperate with the operation. I was extremely relieved and couldn’t help thanking God: “O God, we do not have any friendship with Doctor Zhang and didn’t give her any benefits. However, she helps us like this, which is attributed to You touching her heart and Your great mercy on me. God, thank You for protecting me.
After the operation, the cyst cut down from my body weighed about 250g, inside which was filled with black juice. That cyst was to be broken. If I didn’t have a timely operation, the poison would run throughout my body once the cyst was broken, then I would die. At this time, grateful tears blurred my eyes. Really thank God! If He didn’t arrange for Doctor Zhang to sign as a guarantor, I would not have been in the world. Thank God for offering me the second life. It was already past 10 p.m., the doctors and nurses hadn’t had supper yet. Doctor Zhang bought beef noodles for doctors and nurses to relieve their hunger. Seeing this scene, my gratitude to God in my heart was beyond words: O God, I don’t really know how to thank You. You’ve opened a path before us. It was You who altered Doctor Zhang’s thoughts and ideas and moved her. God, I’ve truly seen Your love to me and great protection toward me. My husband said quietly to me: “Thank God so much! We didn’t give a kickback to her and we didn’t have any with her. She was so nice that she signed as a guarantor for us. Surprisingly, she also bought beef noodles for the doctors and nurses with her own money. Only God can mobilize everything; all that was totally dominated by God!”
After a day of torment and fright, my husband bent over my bed tiredly and slept. But I was in a daze because of the pain of the scar. Unconsciously, the bottle full of saline solution had gone empty, but both my husband and I didn’t realize it at all. All of a sudden, a nurse entered and woke my husband up, saying: “How careless you are. The bottle full of saline solution has gone empty. How could you fall asleep? If you don’t change another bottle in time, the bottle of air will enter her body, then her life will be in danger.” I looked at the watch. It was already 1:00 a.m. Thank God so much! If the nurse did not come in time and help me change another bottle, my life would have been in danger. After that, my husband and I still had a lingering fear, from which we’ve seen God’s wondrous deed again. Because the nurses usually do not make the rounds of the wards in this hospital except for something special. For example, a nurse won’t come into a ward unless family members of the patients ring the bell. Not to mention it was too late! It happened that a nurse entered just when the bottle had been empty. God has saved me once again! This completely convinced me of God’s Word: “His deeds are omnipresent, His power is omnipresent, His wisdom is omnipresent, and His authority is omnipresent” (“Man Can Only Be Saved Amidst God’s Management”).
In this experience, I truly saw God is living and true. When my life was dying, God rescued me from the danger once again and again. I saw God is caring and protecting me by my side at any time so that I can survive. I am resolved to pursue the truth well, perform my duty faithfully and repay God’s love through my practical actions!
