From the bottom of the bottle to the pulpit in China

Sun Liujun first encountered God when he fell off his bicycle in a village in China.

After crashing to the ground he saw a red-edged book lying next to him. A book lover, the 16-year-old took what turned out to be a Bible home. This was the start of Liujun’s long journey to the pulpit. It was to be a bumpy ride.

Liujun soon realised that there were people in his village in rural China who also read this book. The behaviour of these people was starkly different from the rest of the villagers. Intrigued, he began attending church with his mother. Liujun saw his parents become Christians and rebuild their crumbling marriage.

Ways of the world

Liujun grew up and became a successful businessman. As his textile business prospered, he hosted more and more parties for business partners, clients and suppliers. Now he had little time for God. These lavish parties often revolved around heavy drinking and would sometimes even end up in drunken brawls. They were also expensive to host and Liujun found himself having financial difficulties that put a strain on his own marriage.

Liujun did not want this unhealthy lifestyle to destroy his life, health and marriage. But he did not know how to discontinue the drunken shenanigans which were prevalent in the business sector.

Liujun heeded his mother’s encouragement and began to attend church services again after years of absence.

The door opens

Upon his return to the church, he was warmly welcomed by the church leaders. Liujun soon found himself helping out by reading the Scriptures aloud during services as many of the attendees were illiterate. This progressed to him memorising and copying out Scriptures for others.

As he read more of the Bible he was humbled by God’s word. He marvelled at God’s wisdom through Solomon’s writings in the book of Proverbs. He began reading one chapter of the Bible each day.

Liujun soon realised that he should be one who ‘walks not in the counsel of the wicked’ (Psalms 1.1, ESV). He did not want to continue living in drunkenness and going to drinking parties (1 Peter 4.3). He felt the urge to break away from his old self.

Liujun continued to meditate on God’s law, day and night. Studying the Scriptures daily was instrumental in the renewal of his mind, leading to a thorough reconstruction in his beliefs, values and lifestyle. He had experienced God’s faithfulness and grace in the lives of his parents and now he felt the transformative power of God’s word for himself.

Today, Liujun is a lay preacher. He has served in his home church since 2002. The word of God has completely turned his life around. Liujun’s transformation is a living testimony to the power of Scripture.

It’s estimated that on average there is just one trained ordained pastor for every 6,700 Christians in China. Therefore, the church relies heavily on lay preachers like Liujun. This chronic lack of leadership is something that Bible Society supporters are helping to remedy. Thanks to the support of people such as yourself, every year Bible Society provides intensive biblical training to preachers as well as scholarships for Bible students to prepare them for their Bible teaching ministry.

More dedicated preachers like Liujun means more people being able to fully engage with their Bibles. If you want to support the training of preachers in China then please hit the blue button below to find out more.

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