At nightfall, Auntie Zhao was sitting at the window, reading God’s words. A passage of God’s words attracted her attention, “Today, God has returned to the world to do His work. His first stop is the grand assemblage of dictatorial rulers: China, the staunch bastion of atheism. God has gained a group of people by His wisdom and power. During the period, He is hunted by China’s ruling party in every means and subjected to great suffering, with no place to rest His head and unable to find a shelter. Despite this, God still continues the work He intends to do: He utters His voice and spreads the gospel. None can fathom the almightiness of God. In China, a country that regards God as an enemy, God has never ceased His work. Instead, more people have accepted His work and word, for God does all He can to save each and every member of mankind. We trust that no country or power can stand in the way of what God wishes to achieve. Those that obstruct God’s work, resist the word of God, disturb and impair the plan of God shall ultimately be punished by God. He who defies the work of God shall be sent to hell; any country that defies the work of God shall be destroyed; any nation that rises up to oppose the work of God shall be wiped from this earth, and shall cease to exist” (“God Presides Over the Fate of All Mankind”).
In pondering these God’s words, Auntie Zhao had a mixed feeling of happiness and worries at that moment. She was happy because she had actually experienced that no power can stand in the way of what God wishes to achieve, just as God’s words said. Although the Chinese Communist Party does its utmost to hinder God’s work and persecute those who follow God, the work of God is ever spreading across the Mainland China just the same for more than twenty years and God has gained a group of people who are of one mind with God and prefer to die rather than forsake God. Now the gospel of God is spreading rapidly to many foreign countries, and God’s work is about to end in glory. It is really an exciting happy thing. But God has said, “Those that obstruct God’s work, resist the word of God, disturb and impair the plan of God shall ultimately be punished by God. He who defies the work of God shall be sent to hell …” From God’s words Auntie Zhao felt His wrath. In these years of experiencing God’s work, she had seen with her own eyes that those people who opposed and hindered the work of God all fell down in God’s wrath one by one. At this moment, what worried her most was her son, Wang Jun …
This day, Auntie Zhao, having prepared the dinner as usual, was waiting for her son and daughter in law to return from work for supper. But somehow, she then felt a little uneasy in mind. So she paced back and forth in drawing room, and then walked up to the terrace to look down. A few moments later, her daughter in law came back and asked, “Mom, haven’t Wang Jun come back yet? Doesn’t he work overtime again today?” Auntie Zhao answered her anxiously, “Yeah, I have been so worried. These few days I always heard him say that his superiors ordered them to arrest believers in God. By opposing God in this way, they will surely receive retribution sooner or later. Alas! Why does he not give me peace of mind?” Once she finished her words, with a bang, the door was opened suddenly and her grandson ran into the room, out of breath. Her daughter in law said to him surprisingly, “Why are you in such a fluster?” Looking at his mother and his grandma, the child stuttered, “Mom … Grandma, bad … bad news! Grandma Wang (a believer in Almighty God like Auntie Zhao) living in the house in front of ours was taken away in a police car.” Then, Auntie Zhao dared not believe it and said, with anxiety, “Your Grandma Wang is over 70 years old; and they arrest even her? Did you see it clearly?” She thought it over to herself: Did Xiaojun order his men to arrest Sister Wang? It was impossible! He has been obedient and sensible since he was young. Although now he is the chief of the police station, I have frequently exhorted him not to do anything to resist God or persecute religious belief and he nodded in agreement every time. But this time, did he really do such a foolish thing as to arrest Christians?” With this in mind, she couldn’t wait to speak to her daughter in law: “Xiaojuan, call Xiaojun right away, and ask him why he hasn’t come back yet and whether something really happened.” Finishing her words, her son opened the door and entered emotionally. Auntie Zhao anxiously said: “Xiaojun, you look preoccupied. Are you okay?” “Alas, Mom, take it easy,” said Wang Jun dejectedly. Then he threw his portfolio onto the sofa and started smoking. Auntie Zhao, her daughter in law, and her grandson all looked at each other and turned to watch Wang Jun. At the moment, with his head lowered, Wang Jun said: “Don’t look at me like this, okay? I have no other choice. Our director forced us to arrest the Christians at any cost; if I did not obeys been quite , I will be removed from my position as the chief of the police station.” Hearing his words, Auntie Zhao was wildly annoyed, coming forward and asking her son: “How dare you oppose God simply to keep your position? Now, let me ask you: Did you order your men to arrest your Auntie Wang? Yes or no?” Wang Jun said in resignation: “Mom, the Central Committee has issued many secret documents, requiring us to use all kinds of ways to monitor, trace, and even employ some people to report Christians, especially those who believe in Almighty God. It seems that they are spreading nets above and snares below. Mom, I always listened to you before, but this time you should listen to me. You cannot continue to believe in Almighty God no matter what. Now this is the CCP’s world, they only allow the ordinary people to believe in the CCP, but not allow them to believe in God, otherwise people will be punished by law. Mom, once the government discovers that you have believed in Eastern Lightning, I will be involved and our family won’t be able to have good days.”
Auntie Zhao never thought her son who had always been filial would actually prevent her from believing in God just for the sake of his official post and his future. She tried to stop her son from doing evil things, yet felt that she could do nothing at that time except to pray to God silently for His guidance, in the hope that God could awaken her son’s numb heart if he was actually chosen by Him. Staring at her son, Auntie Zhao said seriously: “I have no objection to you obeying the commands of your superiors, but I want you to discern right from wrong and know what you should do and should not do. Your superiors are hostile to God. Even though they ask you to oppose God so as to take you to hell with them, you will still obey them? Supposing you protect your position by submitting to your superiors but offend God, then it is a life-threatening thing and you will be punished both in this age and the age to come. God says: ‘He who defies the work of God shall be sent to hell; any country that defies the work of God shall be destroyed; any nation that rises up to oppose the work of God shall be wiped from this earth, and shall cease to exist.’ ‘If the head of a country does not worship God, then the fate of this country shall be a tragic one, and the country shall have no destination’ (‘God Presides Over the Fate of All Mankind’). God’s words are the truth and every sentence will be fulfilled. Which is light or heavy, you should weigh it yourself. Xiaojun, today mom tell you exactly that no matter how rampant the CCP is, I will never yield myself to such forces of evil and betray God. Hoping you can think about your road ahead cautiously.”
What Auntie Zhao said gained the deep admiration of her daughter in law standing by, so she said approvingly: “Mom, to be honest, I really admire you believers of God for such great faith. From your unshakeable determination to believe in God, I can see that the God in whom you believe is really extraordinary.” Then, she turned her face to Wang Jun and rebuked him: “Wang Jun, what mom said is indeed for our own sake. You’ve worked for the CCP for years; in fact, you know clearly what the CCP is. We couldn’t possibly lose our lives only for an official post.” After hearing these words, Wang Jun felt a little shock in his heart, but was still a bit puzzled when thinking of the current situations and the CCP’s habitual practices of treating others who oppose it. He spoke to his mother: “Mom, I have already thought about these, but when seeing how the CCP tries to abolish The Church of Almighty God, I am afraid. They will never stop until they reach their goal.”
Seeing the distressed expression of her son, Auntie Zhao felt gnawingly sad. But she realized immediately that it was normal for her son to have these worries, because living in China, such an authoritarian state, how could anyone not be scared? However, she firmly believed that if God has chosen her son, He would definitely change his ideas. After making a prayer silently in her heart, she read a passage of God’s words to her son, “Not only have I made a new beginning in the dwelling place of the great red dragon, I have also embarked on new work in the universe. Soon the kingdoms of the earth will become My kingdom; soon the kingdoms of the earth will forever cease to exist because of My kingdom, because I have already achieved victory, because I have returned triumphant. The great red dragon has exhausted every conceivable means to disrupt My plan, hoping to erase My work on the earth, but can I grow disheartened on account of its deceitful stratagems? Can I be frightened into losing confidence by its threats? There has never been a single being in either heaven or earth that I do not hold in the palm of My hand; how much the more is this true of the great red dragon, this device that serves as a foil to Me? Is it not also an object to be manipulated with My hands?” (“The Twelfth Utterance” of God’s Utterances to the Entire Universe).
After reading God’s words, Auntie Zhao continued speaking to her son: “These words spoken by God have now become facts and the kingdoms of this world have been the kingdoms of God. Watch these videos.” Having spoken, she showed him some videos of The Church of Almighty God established in various countries of the world, and the videos on how the brothers and sisters underwent the CCP’s persecution and how they were protected by God. Additionally, she played a hymn of God’s word named “The Symbols of God’s Victory.” In the course of playing the videos, both Wang Jun and his wife all stared at the screen intently. At this point, Auntie Zhao said excitedly: “Frenziedly though the CCP government has been persecuting Christians, the gospel of God is still spreading. The Church of Almighty God has established branches in dozens of foreign countries and has increasingly expanded under the wild suppression of the CCP. Isn’t that a fact has been fulfilled by God already? God once said: ‘What I have said must be counted, what is counted must be completed, and this cannot be changed by anyone; this is absolute. Whether it be what I have said in the past or what I say in the future, all will come to be, and all of mankind will see this. This is the principle behind the work of My words’ (‘The First Utterance’ of God’s Utterances to the Entire Universe). Xiaojun, you shouldn’t be a short-sighted man. When you become in time a puppet of the CCP, it will be too late to regret then.” Wang Jun bowed his head and remained silent. His wife sat down beside him, patting him on the shoulder, and said: “Wang Jun, you have to think it over. Why is it that the Central Committee has given orders to arrest the followers of Eastern Lightning for years, but more and more people are believing in God and the gospel of The Church of Almighty God has even spread across the world’s major online platforms? Think again. Why do foreign countries support the freedom of belief? Because they believe in God for generations. You see, in China those being president always let people obey them; if the people do not obey them, they will kill the innocent. After New China was founded, Mao Zedong performed the Great Cultural Revolution, as a result of which many intellectuals were afflicted and the souls died a bitter death were countless. In 1989, the college students in Beijing, who asked the CCP to become democratic and oppose corruption, were brutally crushed under the tanks and shot, and the blood flowed like rivers. And so many wits escaped to foreign countries. Furthermore, the CCP used force to suppress those Xinjiang people who disobey them, and made pretenses to wantonly kill those people. … How many evil things has the CCP done! Today, they don’t punish evil and promote good, but fight justice instead. Haven’t you seen clearly the CCP’s true face?”
Thinking for a long time, Wang Jun said finally: “Mom, what you said is the fact and God’s words you read have authority. The CCP indeed fails to abolish The Church of Almighty God even though they have spared no efforts. And The Church of Almighty God is developing more and more rapidly. The CCP is afraid that if all people believe in God, they will lose their position within people’s hearts. That’s why they suppress The Church of Almighty God like crazy. But having come this far, we can see that they have all failed. As I know Ren Changxia, a Chief of the Public Security Bureau of Henan Province, suffered retribution on her way to arrest believers of God. I don’t want to walk the beaten path of hers indeed!” Hearing this, Auntie Zhao’s grandson ran hurriedly to Wang Jun and said: “Daddy, please don’t arrest believers in God anymore, I don’t wanna lose you.” Wang Jun hugged his son tightly, and said seriously: “Baby, Daddy will be a good person.” At this moment, Auntie Zhao’s scowl changed into a smile.
