Persevering Through Adversity
In May of 2022, members of several villages accepted Almighty God’s work in the last days. But not soon after that, many newcomers stopped coming to gatherings. After looking into it we learned that armed soldiers were doing night patrols and would arrest anyone holding gatherings.
In other areas, some brothers and sisters had already been fined, arrested and incarcerated for their faith. The newcomers in those villages were so scared that they didn’t dare attend gatherings. It was then that my leader assigned Isa and me to go support the newcomers. At that time, Isa and I were watering newcomers separately.
One night before I had returned home, Isa suddenly called me and said our host sister was afraid of being fined or jailed and was telling us to move out. I thought, “Where can we possibly find a host family at this hour?” Later on, we ended up trying Sister Yana, but Yana and her son were scared of being arrested and didn’t dare host us, so we were left homeless in the middle of the night. I felt so sad and wronged. It was raining that night, Isa and I didn’t know where to go and we wanted to leave that place, but there were still so many newcomers that needed watering and support. If we left there and the newcomers didn’t receive watering, they’d be even less likely to stand strong on their own and we would be shirking our responsibility.
Realizing this, I decided to stay and see if anyone else would be willing to host us. Later, a newcomer was willing to let us stay at his house, but we could only stay there one night. At the time I cried, thinking, “I can only stay there one night and then I will be homeless. I want to work but face great obstacles; we aren’t familiar with the area, and if the government finds out we are spreading the gospel we’ll be arrested and persecuted.” I felt discouraged and wanted to quit. When my supervisor heard that I wanted to leave, she said, “Newcomers do not understand the truth and live in timidity and fear—they need watering and support. We can’t quit on the newcomers, see if you can find a way to stay. We must learn to rely on God, He will prepare a place for you.” Her advice made me realize that I should rely more on God during this difficult time. So I prayed to God, asking Him to open a way for us.
Through this experience, I learned that one’s attitude in one’s duty is very important. When we submit and care for God’s will, we see that no matter how hard our work is, as long as we cooperate sincerely, God’s guidance will become apparent. Despite revealing corruption, being negative and weak and wanting to quit, through the guidance and supply of God’s words, I didn’t give up on spreading the gospel and didn’t leave behind regret.
