Short Story: Visitation to pastor Kuan's party

Jesus and his angels chose to visit Pastor Kuan's Christmas party this Christmas. They arrived at his party but were not noticed by him or any of his guests. They were invisible to all the people in the party.

Pastor Kuan served Jesus since he was a teenager. He often went hungry because he was poor and in China, especially among the house churches in villages, everyone was poor and had not much to tithe to the pastor. Still, that did not deter pastor Kuan from his call to serve Jesus as a pastor. Pastor Kuan cared more about serving Jesus than any monetary or worldly benefits that he might receive.

Pastor Kuan loved the Lord with a passion and would travel from village to village, sharing the gospel with everyone he met. He would share not just the gospel but everything he had with the people he met. He loved the Lord but he also loved the people, whom he saw as hungry sheep, who needed to feed on the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ, and pastor Kuan was only too glad to share this bread with anybody who would show an interest to receive this free manna from heaven.

Pastor Kuan often went without food in His service to the bread of life. Even when he did have food, he would share the meagre amount of food he received with the starving population in the villages he visited. Pastor Kuan believed that as a pastor, he should not only care about the spiritual needs of his congregation but the physical needs as well. He was quick to share whatever little worldly possessions he had with his congregation and anyone who would ask from him.

Pastor Kuan was arrested several times for his service to Jesus and sent to prison many times. During his imprisonment, he not only never regretted his choice but rejoiced that he got to share the cup of suffering which Jesus partook for him when he went to die on the cross two thousand years ago. Pastor Kuan sang hymns in the prison and gladly witnessed to the other prisoners and prison guards whenever he could.

This Christmas, Pastor Kuan received an enormous amount of money from a member of his congregation and instead of spending it on himself, he chose to host a party for the poor, blind, crippled and lame. He opened his house to anyone and everyone who would attend.

So, Jesus was glad to visit this generous pastor this Christmas with his angels. Jesus was proud of the pastor and his good works and the angels were busy recording everybody the pastor invited to his party so that his good deeds might be recorded and he might receive one day, an abundant reward in heaven.

By inviting everyone to his party, regardless of their status, pastor Kuan had invited Jesus and his angels to his party, too. If only pastor Kuan was aware that the King of kings had chosen to visit his party, he would have more than rejoiced.

 

Short story: The bread that truly mattered...

Lu Xiao Cui sighed sadly as her stomach rumbled with hunger. Since her parents died and left her an orphan, she was forced to beg for food, and today, and yesterday, and many days ago, there was no one who was willing to give her anything, so she would have to go hungry. No one cared for an orphan, no one wanted to give her any food. Xiao Cui would have to starve again, tonight.
“Jesus, I am so hungry.” Xiao Cui said to her saviour, whom she accepted three years ago into her life after someone shared the gospel with her. That someone was someone who was willing to buy her a load of food after he learnt of her plight. He supplied her with one year of food at his house until he was forced to leave his home because of job requirements. That was the happiest year of Xiao Cui’s life since her parents left her an orphan. That man not only shared food with Xiao Cui, he also shared about the Bread of Life, Jesus, with her. Xiao Cui missed him deeply. She wished he was still around so that she did not have to go hungry.
Xiao Cui slept at the park; her stomach unfulfilled. She never woke from her sleep. She had starved to death because no one, not even the Christians bothered to share their food with her. That night, angels came to surround her and brought her soul to Jesus. Xiao Cui stared in wonder when she met face to face with her saviour.
“Jesus,” Xiao Cui cried as she saw the bread that satisfies all hunger.
“You will never be hungry, again.” Jesus smiled as the He embraced the girl. “All because you chose to feed on the best bread in the universe—Me.”
Xiao Cui smiled and silently thanked the man who shared the gospel with her. He had given her true riches beyond all measure. She would never go hungry again, because of her faith in the Bread that truly mattered.

Short Story: The only Wealth he needed!

Alex Huang was one poor man. When he died, there was not a single dollar to his account. He left behind no house, no stocks, no money. In the eyes of the world, he was not worth envying. No one mourned his death.
While he was alive, he often went without food for many, many days!

“Pastor Alex, why did you give your food to me? You need it more than me!” One of his parishioners cried in gratitude as Alex gave this impoverished parishioner food which he bought out of the meager tithes which his poor parishioners in the village of China had brought to him. Alex served a community of poor villagers, who had nothing monetary to give to the Lord, yet Alex never complained.

“You need it more than me! I have food from my Father in heaven which you knew nothing of!” Alex replied. His food was to do the will of the Father in heaven.

While he was alive, he often went to prison for the Lord.

“Why do you keep being arrested for illegal activities?” The chief police asked, a perplexed look in his face.

“Preaching may be illegal in your and our country’s eyes, but I will gladly preach and go to jail for the Lord rather than betray His trust in me!” Alex replied.

Alex Huang was one poor man. When he died, there was not a single dollar to his account. He left behind no house, no stocks, no money. In the eyes of the world, he was not worth envying. Yet, the Lord Jesus Christ mourned his death.

I had lost one good servant. The Lord cried. That, to Alex, was the only wealth he needed.

Short Story: In his mother's footsteps...

"Run."'

That was the last word Wang Wei heard his mother say. Wang Wei never saw his mother again. She was taken away by the Communists. Sometimes. he wondered what life would be like if his mother had never believed in Christ. He would definitely still be with her and they would not be persecuted for her Christian faith. 

 Oh, how he hated her Jesus for what He made them go through!

And now his girlfriend was also beginning to believe in Christ. He had to stop her from believing in Jesus or he would lose her, too!

But Shan Shan refused to stop attending the underground church. She even wanted to bring him along.

"Don't talk to me about Jesus!" Wang Wei would say to her. "Jesus took my mum away from me! Is He going to take you away from me, too?"

"But you got to listen to this preacher! He really knows what He is talking about!" Shan Shan exclaimed.

Shan Shan accepted Christ and was soon baptized. Despite his anger at her being a Christian, Wang Wei noticed a change in her life. She no longer smoked and was more patient than he ever remembered. Whenever they quarrelled now, she was the one to give in and apologized and she no longer raised her voice at him. Why was there such a change in her? What was so special about Jesus? Why did Shan Shan and his mother dedicate their lives to Him?

Curiosity got the better of Wang Wei, and he followed Shan Shan to the underground church one day. During the worship session, Wang Wei broke down into tears for it was there he encountered a love that was deeper than the mother's love he lost. One day, the communists came for his wife and him.

And Wang Wei was proud to follow his mother's footsteps…

Short Story: Theory 3-- My Grandmother

Her lungs burns like they are on fire. She struggles to gasp for her breath while the worried faces of family, relatives and friends express concern for what is happening to her.

“Is… is he here?” The old lady gazes into the eyes of her beautiful daughter.

“I… I will call him.” Her teary eyes daughter replies. She proceeds to dial a number to contact her one and only son, the favorite grandson of the dying old lady before her.

“Ruth, don’t.” The old lady choked up her answer in pain. “Jonah ought to put the work of God first before… cough… before me.”

My name is Jonah Wong. I am an evangelist from the country of China. I was born in Beijing, to a small Christian family, in the midst of a country that is communist and atheistic in nature. Today, many people ask me for the success to my evangelism ministry. They want to know the secret of my power, the secret of my success with God. They come up with all kinds of theories for my success.

Theory one declares that it is due to the way I speak before people. I have mastered my voice to such a level, that I am able to psychologically brainwash the people to believe in everything I say. Theory two states that it is because of my godly character, which explains why God chooses to use me. I am honest, righteous, brave and yielding to the leading of the Holy Spirit of God. I have my own theory, theory three, of why I am so successful.

The crowd of the Indian population that overflows from the stadium is a sight for me to behold. The number of people who turns up surprises me. It will be one successful harvest for the Lord, today.

“Dear Lord, give me the strength to minister to the hungry souls that are looking for you. May they see and notice you and not me.” It is my custom to pray before I go up to preach. My handphone rings just when I finish my simple prayer.

“I am sorry… I cannot answer your call, now, mum, I am about to minister on stage to millions of people.”

“Jonah, this is urgent. Your grandmother is dead.”

“What!” The shock is great.

“Your grandmother is dead. Respiration failure. A hole in her lungs.”

“I will… go back this very minute.” My grandmother loves me the best. If it is not for her, I will not be who I am today. How can I bring myself to preach to a crowd of million people when my own grandmother, the person who means the most to me in my life, has just died?

“No, Jonah, don’t. Your grandmother told me before she went back to Jesus to tell you this, ‘Ruth, when I am gone, I know Jonah will surely want to come back to see me for the last time. Before he does so, please tell this, my dear child, to him, In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.’ Jonah, Granny wanted you to preach the Word of God and not abandoned the responsibility which God had entrusted to you.”

That night, India experiences her greatest revival in history. They think that I am responsible for the revival that comes to their country. I just want to cry. Alone by myself. Away from the crowd. In my hotel room. In memory of an unsung hero. My grandmother.