Reflections after applause
▲Pastor Huang Jirong is very grateful to God for giving him a wife, daughter, son-in-law and grandson who love him, accept and help him! Sometimes they worry, but never complain (photographed in 2010).
I never thought that the West End Chinese Church would carefully arrange this retirement thanksgiving party for me. I am amazed and delighted, my emotions are inspired, and my heart is grateful. I want to praise God. May His name be hallowed, may His kingdom come, and may His will be done.
Thank you to Pastor Xu Zhongyi for instigating the church to host this gathering: thank you to the co-workers who are responsible for various matters; thank you to the brothers and sisters who came to the stage to share their testimonies and led song worship, prayer, hymn presentation, pianist, reception, audio-visual operation, and transportation. . Thank you to everyone who attended.
I also sincerely thank my wife, Huang Cao Jielian, who is a blessing given to me by God: she is a good wife and mother at home; she serves extraordinary people in the church; she is sincerely considerate and dedicated to those in need. Present here are my daughter, son-in-law and grandson who love me and accept and help me. Thank you to them. Sometimes they worry about me, but they never complain.
I want to testify to the Lord’s grace in three aspects. He is truly gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in love, and a wonderful and great God.
Forget what’s behind and work hard on what’s ahead
When I was young, I was a person who carried a heavy burden, could not forget the pain, confusion, low self-esteem and loss. If it weren’t for the Lord Jesus who saved me, asking me to forget what’s behind and look forward to what’s ahead (refer to Philippians 3:13); if it weren’t for the Lord Jesus who released me, asking me to no longer be held hostage by the yoke of slavery and making me free (refer to Philippians 3:13) Galatians 5:1), I cannot stand here today to bear witness.
I grew up in a family with a genetic legacy of mental illness. My mother could not handle housework, let alone take care of the family. The eldest brother died on the operating bed in his first year of college; the second brother suffered from a rare vascular rupture; the third brother became mentally ill when he was in his senior year of high school; and after graduating from high school and entering the workforce, the younger sister's mood changed and she became a mental patient.
After graduating from Tsinghua University, my father was admitted to Yale University in the United States, specializing in English literature and world history. He was ordered to return to China to get married and serve the country. During the war, his family fled to Hong Kong, where he barely supported his family by teaching English. When I came home from junior high school, I had to buy groceries, cook, and do housework. Later, I had to look after my third brother. Academically, things didn't go well either. I was forced to transfer from a Chinese school to an English school. As a result, I took the high school entrance examination three times, but failed the English subject each time and had to repeat the grade.
In this way, I spent my young years in darkness and difficulty. Fortunately, the Lord Jesus saved me with His great love, allowing me to trust and accept Him. Not only did I gain the authority to become a child of God, but I also gained freedom. . Since then, I have continually acknowledged that Jesus’ “death” in history has taken me and my past into the grave. At the same time, I also believe that Jesus’ “resurrection” in history has moved me into His eternal kingdom. He guides me to move forward courageously, enabling me to run every stage of the journey set before me with a thankful and joyful heart, and to win through the Lord.
Not borrowing earthenware vessels, but borrowing treasures
When I was a child, I relied on my intelligence. I took small tests and played a lot, and played big tests. The more I played, the better my grades became. When I was in junior high school, I was awarded the "Learning Model" in the school. Unexpectedly, in high school, because of my poor English, I became known to the whole school as a "reservation student". I was really ashamed and confused. Even though I worked so hard to read everything in the dictionary, I still made no progress. I even thought about committing suicide and felt that I was a failure and incompetent.
In such a bleak situation, the Lord Jesus changed my values and made me believe that His precious presence and blessing would be shown in every aspect of my life. Especially when I was called, I put myself at the Lord’s feet and asked Him to equip and use me. The Lord moved me through the four words “The Lord will use Him” in Matthew 21:3, and I It is just a little donkey and an earthen vessel, completely left to the Lord’s use.
From 1965 to 1968, I served as an officer of the Bible Reading Club in Hong Kong, responsible for children’s evangelistic ministry, promoting Bible reading and translating the “Daily Bible Reading Interpretation”. Later, he was invited by the Chinese Sunday School Association of Hong Kong (the future Hong Kong Evangelical Evangelists Association) to serve as the education director to promote believer training ministry. He was also invited by the Southeast Asian Diocese to lead the "Sunday School Teacher Training". From these ministries, I saw the importance of holistic education in the church and the preciousness of life renewal and growth.
From 1982 to 2002, he assisted the senior pastor of "Xiaoston Chinese Church" for twenty years in pastoring the church. He was assigned to plant a church and established "Xiaoston West China Church" and pastored the church wholeheartedly. From 2002 to 2010, he gave up his pastoral duties and went on missionary missions in China, assuming the vision and mission of passing on teachings.
I have never engaged in most of these ministries. I have neither experience nor ability. I was worried and fearful before doing them. Thank the Lord. During the forty-five years of service, I sincerely hold to God’s promise that He will not use earthen vessels but treasures (refer to 2 Corinthians 4:7), and I will try my best to complete the tasks assigned to me by God.
▲Pastor Huang Jirong often travels thousands of miles with his colleagues, taking trains and buses through provinces and cities, and going to villages and towns for training.
Trust and obey, and you will not be ashamed
I am a person who is strong on the outside and weak on the inside, afraid of things and others, stubborn and suspicious, and not easy to obey. However, the Lord has greatly graciously disciplined, chastened, and molded me so that I can learn to trust and obey. As Romans 9:33 says at the end:“Whoever believes in Him will not be ashamed.”
When I was troubled, stressed, and confused as a teenager, I could only find comfort and strength from reading the Bible and praying in the morning and evening. Sometimes I need to pray quietly because I don’t have a room of my own, so I have to go into the bathroom, lock the door, kneel inside, and pray loudly or silently. It was truly a precious time to practice relying on the Lord.
In the first year of entering seminary, I was twenty-five years old, and my heart was filled with too many unsolvable problems: my father’s disapproval, the burden on my parents, my brother and sister with mental problems who had no one to take care of me, and even my own church was torn apart. I asked myself: Can I finish studying theology in four years? After reading this, do you want to serve in a church? Where is my other half? Whenever I feel depressed and lost, I constantly seek the Lord’s guidance from reading the Bible and praying.
One day when I was doing my devotions, I read Isaiah 33:6: "You will have security all the days of your life—abundant salvation, wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the surpassing treasure of you." I suddenly felt great spiritually. Inspired, we cling to God’s promises and trust Him. Until now, the Lord has taken on all my problems and solved them. I know very well that I cannot ignore God. I must trust Him, obey Him, and fear Him, because I have spent this life in the stability and blessings promised by God.
▲The vision of the training team is written in big letters on the wall.
In 1965, when I was about to graduate from the seminary, a senior invited me to join the Hong Kong Bible Reading Association. I was afraid of not knowing how to proceed, so I had to pray earnestly. One day, I read Exodus 33:14:“Myself will go with you, says the LORD, and I will give you rest.”My heart became brighter, and the darkness and fear were swept away. In this way, in the next forty-five years of service, although my workplace, responsibilities, and personnel environment changed three times, the Holy Spirit reminded me time and time again to firmly trust and obey the Lord. I asked the Lord to go with me personally so that I could gain rest in peace.
In the past eight years, I have followed co-workers in China by taking trains and buses through provinces and cities, to training sites in villages and towns, and I have always felt the joy and satisfaction of the Lord. Just like the content of "Desert Oasis" on January 26: "First the conditions are fulfilled, and then the promises are realized. When we began to trust and obey, God began to bless me." From now on, I don't know how old I will be. No matter what, I still have to trust and obey, and ask the Lord to be with me and give me rest, so that I can continue to bear witness to this great and wonderful God!