This is a very special devotion that comes from a dear Christian couple inside China. The youngest daughter is a vibrant and spirit-filled Christian. Please feel free to share this testimony for the glory of God.
Names have been changed to protect identity.
How My Husband Came to Faith:
I was born in the 1980s, and my husband, Peter, is one year older than me. We were high school classmates, but he dropped out before graduation to join the army.
After I graduated from university and he was discharged from the military, we got together, moved to South China for work, and later got married. We had our eldest daughter, Molly, and eventually returned to North China.
Before Molly was three, we were both atheists.
That winter, it was freezing in North China, and we had no heating at home. A Christian lady who lived upstairs told us about a daycare near our area that was free of charge, and she welcomed children to play.
So Molly joined her little friends and started going there. It really was free, and they even provided meals! At the entrance, there was a sign that said, “Emmanuel.”
Molly came home happy every day.
After about a month, the teachers invited us for a talk. They asked if we had any religious beliefs. I said no. They then said, “If you don’t, you might consider visiting a nearby church on Sundays, to learn more.”
One day, I decided to walk into the church in our area. A year later, in 2013, when I was thirty, I was baptized.
The Early Struggles
When I first came to faith, I invited Peter to attend church with Molly. Sometimes, when I sang the hymns in the church, I was so moved and cried. Peter told Molly, “Mommy is crazy—she cries while singing! People who believe in God must be insane.”
At that time, we had been married for about five or six years. Our small family still relied on help from my parents and Peter’s parents. Conflicts between our three families arose constantly, just like in a TV drama.
I was a proud person. From the moment we met, Peter had always pampered me and given in to my wishes.
But when the conflicts increased, and I realized he no longer obeyed me as he used to, I felt heartbroken, disappointed, and even thought about leaving. I once ran away from home, considering divorce.
Then, one day, I heard a pastor say, “Wives, submit to your husbands…”
I had read this verse many times before, but that day, God opened my ears and told me, “You submit first.”
From then on, whenever we had an argument, I reminded myself of these words and tried to hold my tongue.
Why only hold my tongue? Because I still wasn’t convinced by him in my heart.
I remember one year when he received his year-end bonus, I suggested we donate ¥10,000 to the church. He refused. I didn’t argue, but I still felt sad and disappointed.
Even though I managed our family finances, I knew God had told me: You submit first.
The Turning Point
In 2015, we had our younger daughter, Yiyi. Around that time, Peter partnered with others in business, and our financial situation improved. We moved into a larger home with heating.
Then, the pandemic came.
His business partners and suppliers ran into trouble, and profits turned into losses.
In the winter of 2022, Peter told me one day, “Living is meaningless. I want to die.”
He later reassured me that he was joking, but I knew him too well—he had never made such jokes before. No one jokes about killing himself, right?
Being stuck at home, he started reflecting on the meaning of life.
He had never been someone who enjoyed reading. He wasn’t a good student in school and had enlisted in the army early on. The only books he had ever bought were Jin Yong (Louis Cha) who was a renowned Chinese writer famous for his wuxia (martial arts) novels, which have greatly influenced Chinese literature and popular culture.) His complete works, fill an entire shelf.
But that winter, he started reading Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji).
After reading part of it, he said he felt utterly hopeless—history was nothing but a cycle, repeating over and over again.
Then, he bought Cui Yongyuan’s book, saying, “There’s so much history we never knew.”
One day that winter, I was driving with him and casually turned on the audio of Streams in the Desert. As we listened, he suddenly became deeply moved, almost to tears, and said, “It’s so good to believe in God!”
I can’t recall exactly which passage we heard that day, but I still remember his words.
From that moment, his life began to change.
He started reading the Bible and found sermons online by pastors like Wang Yi and Hong Yujian. Since we had moved to a new home, I had drifted away from the Three-Self church where I was baptized, and we had not committed to a new church.
So Peter relied solely on online sermons, taking daily notes—he filled several notebooks with reflections.
Meanwhile, I joined an online English Spoken Story Bible Class focused on biblical stories. Every time I learned some new stories, I would share it with Peter, asking him the discussion questions from the class. Our teacher always said there were no “standard answers.” Likewise, I didn’t give Peter any set answers—we often discussed the stores of the Bible into the midnight.
At the same time, Yiyi, who was seven, began studying an online children’s Bible course with CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship). She started learning about God and asking me questions about the Bible.
Our eldest daughter, Molly, was in middle school. She frequently told us about classmates who were struggling with depression, self-harm, and even suicide.
This made us realize how crucial it was to raise our children in faith.
A New Chapter in Faith
I suggested that Peter lead our family Bible study. He gladly agreed and prepared his teaching notes in advance each week.
At first, some of his interpretations weren’t entirely accurate, but there were no fundamental errors. I rarely corrected him. Over time, his insights and reflections began to inspire me.
Yiyi actively participated, asking questions and sharing thoughts. But Molly always remained silent. We assumed it was due to the pressure of her studies.
In the fall of 2024, with the help of fellow believers, we found a house church with a Sunday school. After attending for two months, Peter had several deep conversations with the pastor, and we decided to commit to this church.
Just before Christmas, Peter and Yiyi were baptized together.
Molly was accepted into a top-ranked high school in our province, but she spent less and less time with us. She spoke little, and the light in her eyes seemed to fade. On Sundays, she said she was too tired to go to church.
One day, during a family Bible study, she suddenly asked:
“The Bible says God created the world, but books say we evolved. How do you explain that?”
This year, Molly agreed to stop attending her Public high school. With the help of our church family, we are trying to enroll her in a Christian high school.
During a virtual interview, a teacher asked Molly, “Do you believe in the only true God?”
She softly replied, “Mm.”
Hearing that simple response, I was deeply moved.
It reminded me of Peter’s words two years ago: “It’s so good to believe in God!”
Last week, our church pastor invited us to his home for dinner. After the meal, Molly didn’t stay to chat. Instead, she went to the balcony and quietly sat in the sun.
Peter said, “I am largely responsible for Molly’s problem of Faith. When she was little, her mom went to church, and I told her believers were crazy. Now that I believe, she probably thinks I’ve betrayed her, that I’m no longer on her side.”
A few days ago, I was going to buy a bilingual Chinese-English Bible, and I asked Molly if she wanted one. She shook her head.
I said, “But if you go to the Christian school, you need a Bible for class.” She hesitated, and then agreed.
Now, Molly has her first Bible.
A month ago, Peter enrolled in a two-year Master’s program in Biblical Counseling, studying theology half a day while continuing his work. He wrote a lot in the “How did you come to Christ?” section of his Application Form.
One of his answers is: “My wife is a believer, and I saw the transformation in her life.”
He joked, “I never even finished high school, but now, in Christ, I’ll have a higher degree than you!”
That’s good.
Because now, I truly respect and submit to this husband of mine.
“Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct. “ 1 Peter 3:1-2 ESV
