The journey of the victim, the road of fraternity
Discussing China’s Education Aid Plan with Dr. Li Wanbing
Interview/Li Mei
When you open agapeway.org, the website of "Agape Way", the first thing that touches people's hearts is the eyes of the children. Some eyes are pure and flawless, some look heavy in proportion to their age, some are happy, and some seem full of melancholy for the future. Those eyes are looking at what ideas and inheritance society will bring them. And those children are the hope of the nation and the future of society.
In the early morning, it was cloudy and cold, and I was thinking as I drove: Is the future of those poor children covered with dark clouds, or is it a bright future? In the evening, after the rain, the sky cleared up. On the way home, I thought: That night I was going to interview Dr. Li Wanbing, the founder and director-general of the "Path of Love". Why did he start and how did he go through the "Path of Fraternity" for thirteen years?
starting point of life
"I am not ashamed of the gospel; for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." (Romans 1:16)
In 1999, Li Wanbing returned to his hometown to visit relatives after more than ten years abroad. His hometown is Longchang County, Neijiang City, in the southern Sichuan Basin of China. The folk customs there are simple and there are few scholars. The poor living conditions and the concept of not paying attention to reading have caused many rural children to drop out of middle school or even elementary school. Only a few have graduated from high school, and even fewer have gone to college.
Li Wanbing was born in a poor farm family in 1956. Among the fifty elementary school classmates, he was the only one to graduate from high school. After the Cultural Revolution, he was admitted to the Department of Geology of Nanjing University in 1977. After graduation, he was admitted to the Institute of Geology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for postgraduate study, and later studied in the United States to obtain a doctorate. In the eyes of people in his hometown within a radius of dozens of miles, Li Wanbing can be said to be a man with a golden name and a glorious ancestor.
Before studying abroad, Li Wanbing worked as a teacher in an agricultural middle school. When I went back to China to visit my relatives, I met my fellow villagers and former classmates and colleagues, and naturally I was asked about my work and life in the United States. "He is a Christian and now he is a preacher." What kind of job is a preacher? Can you support your family? Only the uneducated believe in God. How can any scholar believe in God? Faced with confusion and inquiries, Li Wanbing did not avoid or evade, but faced it calmly. He recalled:
"God gave me a verse: I am not ashamed of the gospel; for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." He asked, "You really want to know why "People are wondering, and indeed curious, why a doctor turned to "religious superstition." He shared with people his reasons for believing in the Lord and the rationality of his Christian faith. People’s questions and confusions became opportunities for him to preach the gospel.
"Nowadays, many children cannot afford to pay their tuition fees. Do you want to financially support some poor students?" People always think that those who come back from the United States must have a lot of money.
"I personally don't have a lot of money. But I am a Christian, and I know that many Christians are caring. I can raise funds among Christians. Do you accept funds from Christians? Can we announce it, distribute it publicly, and supervise it transparently? "
The local government actively cooperated, and an educational assistance ministry was launched. At the same time, the initial vision also emerged in Li Wanbing's heart: to witness God's actions in himself, to live out his faith, and to demonstrate God's love, glory and redemption in an open, low-key, non-political way and with practical acts of love.
Longchang is the starting point of Li Wanbing’s life and “Charity Road” ministry. Mencius said: "When heaven is about to entrust a great responsibility to this man, he must first strain his mind, strain his muscles and bones, starve his body and skin, and deplete his body." He was born in poverty, but his destiny was changed because of reading, and his life course was changed because of the gospel. God brings the gospel to everyone through the "Road of Charity", so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
▲In June 2011, philanthropy scholarships were awarded to disadvantaged students.
▲Post a list to announce the number of scholarships to facilitate supervision.
Education aids the future of society
"Boai Road" has three ministries in China: educational assistance, cultural exchange and life coaching. The slogan of philanthropy education assistance is: giving opportunities, love and hope to poor young people.
Li Wanbing's poor family background allowed him to deeply understand the living conditions of people at the bottom of society; his growth path made him clearly realize that reading can effectively help them get out of trouble; and the love of Christ made him more considerate of their situation and fully aware that people living at the bottom of society people really need practical help.
"It is not enough to just talk about God's love. It must be expressed in actual actions so that they can truly feel God's love and receive salvation. This is a great blessing for their future."
It takes ten years to plant trees and a hundred years to cultivate people. Li Wanbing believes: "Investment in education cannot be rushed for quick results. Investment in students will not see short-term effects, but after ten years, obvious effects will be seen." More than ten years of "fraternity road" can prove this with facts. a little. For example: There is a child whose father is disabled and whose mother is sick. With the educational assistance from "Boai Road", she finished high school and was admitted to college. After my freshman year, I started working as a tutor and no longer needed to rely on educational assistance. After graduation, when I got a job, I took my parents with me and fulfilled my responsibilities as a daughter.
"Charity Road" not only brings hope to children, but also changes their life trajectory and improves their living conditions. Assisting a child will allow a family and many people around them to learn about the "Road of Fraternity" from curiosity to understanding, and to have a real experience of the Christian fraternity spirit. Then, some people are willing to go to church, and some people believe in the Lord for this reason. The seeds of the gospel are spread through the loving actions of Christians, sowing in the hearts of the recipients and into the entire community.
In the past thirteen years, some of the children who received educational subsidies have completed junior high school and high school, some have completed college and graduate school, and some have even studied abroad. Educational aid, in addition to subsidizing the tuition and part of living expenses for poor students, also provides teacher wage subsidies and teaching materials. At the same time, it also helps to improve school facilities and provide hearing aids for deaf students with residual hearing, etc. At the same time, Li Wanbing gradually figured out the supervision and inspection mechanism in the donation process, ways to reduce administrative costs, eliminate corruption and inappropriate expenditures, and ensure that donations are used most effectively where there is real need.
The ancestors planted trees, and the descendants enjoy the shade. In the early days of Western missionary work to China, they not only preached the gospel and built churches, but also opened hospitals to relieve the suffering of diseases and schools to improve education. The predecessors of many of China's famous universities and hospitals today are missionary universities and missionary hospitals. Many families and future generations have been blessed by this. Today, "Charity Road" is following in the missionary footsteps of its predecessors, bringing the love and salvation of Christ to those poor children and their communities.
Li Wanbing himself is a witness. He stood out from thousands of poor farm children. What he got rid of was not only individual poverty, but also a family that believed in God and was blessed, as well as descendants who inherited the faith and were blessed. Just imagine how many similar individuals and families the "Path of Fraternity" will create.
▲The poor children and their parents come to the Boai Road Sichuan office every quarter to receive living expenses and write reports to supporters.
Faith is the foundation of culture
"Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making appeals to you through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." (2 Corinthians 5:20)
Cultural exchange and life coaching are the other two ministries of "Brotherhood Road". Let’s talk about cultural exchange first, which is to strengthen cultural exchanges between China and the West through English teaching and training.
Culture is the soul of a nation, and faith is the foundation of culture. A person's beliefs determine his thoughts, his thoughts determine his words and deeds, and a nation's actions and words create culture. Cultural exchanges can help people change their ideas. Deep cultural exchanges are, to a large extent, faith exchanges.
In the interview, Li Wanbing emphasized many times that he starts from within and himself. He believes that "cultural mission" and "gospel mission" are extroverted ministries, and he is more inclined to introverted ministry, that is, the change of the gospel on his own personal life, leading to changes in culture and community.
The slogan of Charity Life Counseling is: "We beg you to be reconciled to God on behalf of Christ." "We hope that others will see our behavior, desire to understand our faith, and then believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Redeemer and Lord of life. And serve the Lord Jesus all your life.”
Life counseling is mainly targeted at young people. They may not necessarily need help financially, but they need psychological counseling and soul guidance. The money-oriented trend positions the standard of success in money and status, leaving young people confused in finding the meaning of life. Life coaching is to discuss healthy life with young people through special lectures and summer camps, so as to establish a correct outlook on life.
"Brotherhood Road" provides a platform for Christians who are interested in participating in cultural exchange and life counseling ministries in mainland China. In June 2012, 60 people participated in the ministry of "Pok Oi Road" and held a "Successful Life Lecture" for high school graduates.
Witness collectively and walk with God
"The Lord has shown you, O man, what is good. What does He require of you? To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)
The "Path of Fraternity" for more than ten years has been the way for Li Wanbing to learn the lessons of faith in relying on God. To do God's work, sometimes you don't do it only when you have money, but you do it with faith. In May 2008, Li Wanbing was at the Amsterdam Airport in Europe. Before boarding the plane, he learned about the earthquake in Wenchuan, Sichuan. After returning to the United States, he was moved by God and immediately raised funds for student aid and building housing. In contact with domestic churches in China, more than 30 private houses and several churches were built.
When doing God's work, sometimes you will encounter troubles and ups and downs. In 2009, during the H1N1 swine flu epidemic, schools that had agreed to accept the American team in advance made temporary changes and did not allow the American team to go. Everything had to be rearranged and ended up going to a different school with better results. Imperfect and frustrating things reveal God’s perfect love. God is in control of everything.
Today, "Boai Road" has spread God's love and Christ's salvation in western regions such as Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, Guizhou, Gansu and Shaanxi. They serve by faith, look to God's grace, and use concrete methods to bring the gospel to unbelievers, including Buddhists and Muslims.
Over the past 13 years, "Charity Road" has provided educational donations to more than 4,000 poor children. For a donor family, adopting a child and learning to love others is a blessing to the whole family. At the same time, many people support the "Way of Charity" by praying or participating in short-term missions. This ministry is no longer “one-man”, but a ministry that involves many Christians and is promoted in various places. Today, the platform supporting the ministry of "Charity Road" has expanded to France, Belgium, Singapore and Italy.
Faith Reflection
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
As China's national power grows stronger, government buildings are extravagant and luxurious, even in some poor counties. Building schools and providing student aid should be the government’s responsibility. Will foreign Christians’ funding to build schools or provide student aid be regarded as political achievements by local governments, indirectly helping the responsible politicians to cover up the truth? Someone also wrote to Li Wanbing, saying that China is a country led by the Communist Party. Isn't helping China just helping the Communist Party?
"The government should be responsible, especially in remote areas. But what God moved me was not to change the government, but to change people. God gives different people different burdens. The burden God gave me is to avoid politics and focus on leading the world. For people to be reconciled to God, Communists also need the gospel.”
▲Children and their families participated in the 2011 Pok Oi Road New Year Reunion and experienced God’s love.
In his opinion, if you look at things from a worldly perspective, you will easily become resentful, which actually goes against the principles of the Bible, because the salvation of Jesus is for everyone. If we look at things from the perspective of the kingdom of God and face China, we must do what Christ calls us to do. "Everyone needs the gospel, and corrupt officials also need the gospel. Only by letting go of worldly concepts can we do the work of God. The real kingdom of heaven is not the United States today, but the kingdom where God is king."
▲In 2011, Li Wanbing and his wife and their two younger children, from left: Li Daihua, the third child, and Li Daihui, the fourth child.
As for whether the work of "Pok Oi Road" is classified as a performance by the government, he has an open mind and will neither argue nor object.
"Government officials ask us Christians to help those in need, which in itself can be regarded as their performance. There are indeed many unreasonable things in China, but God has not given me the burden of changing government operations. But for poor children , If government officials don’t care, and we Christians don’t care, those children will suffer. On the contrary, if the people around them see that the officials are not doing anything, and Christians go to help them, they will have a new understanding of Christianity.”
He added: "The Spirit of God always reminds me that my mission is to reconcile people with God. I am an ambassador for Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven, not the United States."
Li Wanbing believed in the Lord at the end of 1994. A year later, he accepted God’s call and began to serve God full-time. Since 1996, he has been engaged in campus gospel ministry, pioneering and pastoring churches, and engaging in discipleship training. When it comes to church and discipleship training, Li Wanbing shows the frankness of Sichuan people and his concern and worry about taking the family of God as his own responsibility.
He believes that many Christians today pay too much attention to "words" when preaching the gospel and neglect "teaching by example". Church teaching and discipleship training are to lead Christians from being self-centered to being God-centered. Glorifying God should be the purpose of our lives. As Christians, it is not enough to talk about love within the high walls of the church. We must go out of the high walls, live out the love of Christ, and help those in need. Let them not only hear the gospel from us, but also see the beauty of Christ’s faith, hope, and love, and be willing to know and follow God.
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After putting down the phone, Dr. Li Wanbing's Mandarin with a slight Sichuan accent still lingered in my ears. His unwavering confidence in the ministry of "Charity Road", his reflections and insights on the church, and his appeal and expectations for North American Christians...
Children are the inheritance of a family, the hope of a nation, and the future of society. Aiding a poor child's education with love can change his or her life and the destiny of a family. Use love to help some young people find the true meaning of life and live out the true color of life. Every Christian can contribute to the future of a child, a family, a nation, and a society. The moonlight is so beautiful in the night sky after the rain. However, there is a scene that is more beautiful than the moonlight: the helping hand of love from this side of the ocean is connecting the hands of the other side, sharing the beauty of the moon thousands of miles away, walking on the "road of fraternity".
Reporter profile Li Mei, pseudonym Ziyu. Now living in Houston, she and her husband have been together through thick and thin for thirty years, raising two sons and one daughter. civil engineer. In my spare time, I like to read and write. Reading opens the mind, writing expands thoughts, and writing glorifies God and benefits people.