[Published works from the 2007 Literary Ministry, Spiritual Training and Creation In-depth Camp] 2: Along the way
Occasionally, I talked about my personal interests and hobbies with family and friends, and I thought that "reading" is my favorite in life. When I was a child, my mother called me a "nerd" because I always read a novel whenever possible. At that time, due to various political movements, there were not many books to read, and many books were labeled as "poisonous weeds" and banned.
When I was a child, I often spent time in the library of my mother's workplace. The aunt in the library saw that I loved novels so much and there were so few novels to read, so she quietly brought them to me from the back of the library when no one was around. Some "poisonous weeds" told me not to let others know.
I am so happy and so grateful to this aunt. These banned books were much more beautiful than the books that were allowed to be read in the world at that time. They were full of human touch and were not just some revolutionary slogans. But these books are extremely difficult to obtain and can only be read secretly. After the Cultural Revolution, many world famous works that were classified as "poisonous weeds" began to be reprinted and reprinted, suddenly opening up a new world of novels. I remember that one summer vacation, I borrowed dozens of novels from the school library, including "Gone with the Wind", "Jane Eyre", "Butterfly Dream", "Old Man Goriot", "Don Quixote" and so on. I spent the whole summer immersed in books and barely left the house.
When I came to the United States, especially after I had children, because I was busy and because my English was not good enough, reading English novels was too strenuous, so I gave up my hobby of "reading novels". It wasn’t until I started working that I sometimes had to travel for business. I found some free time on planes and in hotels, and started to buy some English novels and read them.
Only in but not out
However, the real start of "returning to the old business" was due to children.
As my son grew up, he began to read a series of children's novels. In order to fulfill my responsibility as a mother, I read the first book of each series of novels for my son. One was to understand whether the content of the story was appropriate, and the other was to have a common language with his son, so he developed a love for science fiction novels. Later, when her daughter grew up to seven or eight years old, she also became a "bookworm" (as she called herself), and pestered her mother to read her books and explore a fairy tale world full of unicorns, owls and other animals. Along with the growth of my children and their novel world, I resumed my hobby of reading.
Although I love reading very much, I have been afraid of writing essays since I was a child. I always grind until the end when I have to hand it in. When reading novels, you only pay attention to the plot and don't think about the writing skills and methods at all. For many years, I have been a "only in, never out" guy. I read the story in one gulp, and then it was rotten in my stomach. After a while, I forgot about it. In my mind, writing is very difficult and definitely not something I like to do. It’s amazing that today, I am devoted to the work of text translation. This cannot but be said to be God’s guidance along the way and God’s grace.
Gospel Dynamics
For a long time, I have often prayed and asked God to use me as a vessel to do something for the kingdom of God, so that I can continue to do it for a long time until I grow old. But I didn’t know what it was, so I kept putting it in prayer. In early 2006, a sister suffered from a serious heart attack and almost lost her life to death. Thank God, she received timely treatment and was saved from the brink of death.
When I visited her, she recommended a book to me called "90 Minutes in Heaven"1. I was very interested in this book. I hurried to the bookstore to buy it and read it in one sitting. This book gave me a great shock and allowed me to see a true story of visiting heaven in person. The protagonist of the story is a pastor not far from Houston, where I live, and the incident occurred in a place I have been to before. The book tells the story of this pastor who died after a car accident, entered heaven, saw the glory of heaven with his own eyes, was shocked by the beautiful music of heaven, and returned to earth ninety minutes later. Reading this book, I felt a strong desire in my heart. I really hope that my family in China can also read this book. I hope that they can also see that heaven is so real, especially my mother-in-law and me. 's parents.
My father-in-law passed away suddenly in 2004, and in 2005 he returned to China to pick up my mother-in-law and come to the United States to live with us for a while. Seeing my mother-in-law so sad in front of my father-in-law’s grave, I once prayed to God that my mother-in-law would not die like my father-in-law. I asked God to have mercy and accept my mother-in-law as the daughter of God. When she passed away, he would take her to heaven. Home.
First time translation
Thank God, after my mother-in-law came to the United States, she accepted the Lord Jesus and was baptized. Just not sure how much she knew about the reality of heaven. My mother-in-law is also a book lover. I really hope she can read this book and know the reality of heaven more clearly. But neither my mother-in-law nor my parents knew English, so they came up with the idea of translating this book into Chinese so that people in China could see that heaven is real.
I started trying to translate and started to understand how to translate. I called and emailed the publisher to ask if I could translate this book. After months of hard work, it was discovered that the translation copyright of this book already belonged to someone else.
Although the translation work was not completed this time, I am very grateful to God. I have never thought about using words to serve God. This experience is God reminding me, asking me to use translation to work for Him? Is this God’s answer to my prayer?
I’m not very clear, but I know that if this is God’s will, then He will definitely make a way, and only His will can this thing be done, because writing is not my specialty, I am just a vessel, without God, I Nothing can be done. So, I put the matter of translation in prayer, and always reminded myself that I must never force it. If it is God’s will, God will definitely make a way.
KRC camp
Fortunately, I met Sister Gao Lili at a lecture in the church. She recommended to me the KRC Cultural Practice Camp held in Pennsylvania. In 2006, I went to Teacher Su Wen'an's writing training camp and learned how to be a writer and the basic training of writing writers. I also had the opportunity to talk to Sister Li about her desire to translate.
In early 2007, Sister Li Li asked me if I would try to translate Ma Zhengyuan's new book "The Blueprint of the Kingdom of God" (the Chinese translation is published by Aixiuyuan). I told her she would give it a try. Reading "Blueprint for the Kingdom of God", I felt my blood boiling all over. Zhengyuan's message was so great and so refreshing, it seemed to speak to my heart.
I thank God for not only giving me the opportunity to serve Him, but also for feeding my spiritual life and giving me spiritual food through this book. What’s even more amazing is that I was teaching “Acts” in Sunday school at the time, and one of the main messages of this book was to restore the church in the era of Acts. God’s arrangement was so ingenious.
Finished by God
The translation schedule was very tight, and the book of about 250 pages had to be completed in less than five months. Sister Lili told me that I must find someone to pray for this matter. I asked our group and my prayer partners to pray for this translation work. Before I start translating every day, I pray to God to give me power and words. Although I don’t know Ma Zhengyuan, the wonderful thing is that during the translation process, my heart seemed to rise and fall with his passion, and I experienced God together. He seems to be very familiar with him, not strange at all.
Even though I have God’s guidance, I still often lack confidence and worry that my Chinese level is too poor and that my translation will not convey the meaning and I will not be able to fully express the author’s original intention. I was worried that it would not be completed as scheduled, especially when it was only half completed by mid-April. I was really anxious. I said to God: "This is your work. I am just a vessel. I will try my best, but I must be responsible."
Because it seems to humans that it is almost impossible to complete the project on time, but God is a God who works miracles, and he actually completed it on time. Later, Sister Li told me that at her place, a group of co-workers prayed for this translation work. I understand, and I understand even more clearly that I am not doing this translation work alone, but the Lord’s team is doing it together. This team includes Sister Li’s co-workers, brothers and sisters from our group, and my prayer partners.
Looking back on my journey to translation ministry, I really see God’s wonderful guidance along the way. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that God would lead me, a person who has been afraid of writing since childhood, to the path of literary ministry. Thank you God for giving me the opportunity to do translation ministry for Him and allowing me to continue my hobby of "reading", not only to "enter" but also to "exit". I am even more grateful to God for walking with me every moment when I was translating, allowing me to experience His presence. Yes,“Not only in words, but also in power and the Holy Spirit.”Although I am not good at writing, I can still work for God by relying on God’s power and Holy Spirit. And because I am not a good at writing, I know that everything depends on God, not people.
Note 1:90 Minutes in Heaven, co-authored by Don Piper & Cecil Murphey, the Chinese translation is "90 Minutes in Heaven", Jiji Publishing House, Taipei, 2007)