My husband and I met each other at a house church in China. After graduating from university, we came to South Korea together. Since the church was increasingly desolate, we no longer went there. After my daughter was born, we both hoped she would build a foundation of faith while she was a child. So, we decided to attend meetings in a Presbyterian Church in South Korea near my house.
I got acquainted with a sister in the church. One day in January 2018, the sister led Sister Lin to my home. After a brief self-introduction, Sister Lin came straight to the point and testified that the Lord Jesus has returned and done a new and outstanding work, which is the work of judgment beginning from the house of God prophesied in the Book of 1 Peter. Hearing this, I thought: “Which denomination is this? She is bearing witness that the Lord has returned and done a new work.” While I was thinking about this, Sister Lin took out a book from her handbag and gave it to me; I saw its name The Scroll Opened by the Lamb, which reminded me that it was mentioned many times in the New Testament that the Lord Jesus was the Lamb and He became the sin offering for mankind. So, I was curious about what the book talked about. Sister Lin said: “The words in this book are not from people because we are unable to speak these words. It is only God in the flesh who can express these truths.” Subsequently, Sister Lin read for us a passage from the preface of the book. Then, she showed me some dance and song videos of The Church of Almighty God through her mobile phone.
After watching the videos, I felt that they were very good. However, from Sister Lin’s following fellowship, I learned that The Church of Almighty God is Eastern Lightning, and then I suddenly remembered that ten years ago my pastors warned us to guard against Eastern Lightning many times during gatherings. Thinking of this, I became alert instantly and couldn’t sit still. However, then I thought: “What Sister Lin is fellowshiping is in line with the Bible and is also enlightened; why am I so suspicious of her?” I then felt a bit confused and didn’t know what to do. At that moment, Sister Lin seemed to know what I was thinking and said to me with a smile: “In approaching the big event of the Lord’s return, we should have an attitude of seeking the truth and should not lightly listen to others. We need to investigate whether the words of Almighty God are the truth and God’s voice. Only then will we not miss the opportunity to welcome the Lord’s return.” Meanwhile, my husband also persuaded me to look into the way first. I felt what they said made sense, thinking: “The Lord’s return is indeed such a big event that I can’t treat it carelessly. If Almighty God is actually the Lord’s appearance but I blindly abandon Him like this, won’t I offend the Lord?” Thinking of this, my heart calmed down a little. When Sister Lin was about to leave, she repeatedly invited my husband and me to investigate the local church of Almighty God. Finally, she gave us a copy of the book The Scroll Opened by the Lamb, and asked us to read it first. At that time, I thought: “That’s right. If I don’t read the book, how can I discern whether it’s the work of the Lord’s return?” So, we accepted the book.
Afterward, my husband and I read the book whenever we had time. From Almighty God’s words, I understood many truths, such as the inside story of the Bible, the correct approach one should have to the Bible, the reason and the significance of God working in China and other such topics. The words of Almighty God are so bountiful that I understood the questions which had confused me for over ten years since I had started believing in the Lord. My husband and I were very excited and we decided to go to the local church of Almighty God and look into God’s work of the last days this weekend.
One day, my husband happened to see many negative news about The Church of Almighty God while he was browsing the web. Especially, after seeing the news of the CCP government condemning The Church of Almighty God as an organization of man and the May 28 Shandong Zhaoyuan Case, I became paralyzed as if a basin of cold water had been poured on my fervent heart. I thought to myself: “Why is there so much negative propaganda about The Church of Almighty God? If the facts are the same as what is being said online, we’d better not investigate the church.” Then I said to my husband: “This weekend we’d better not go to the local church of Almighty God. What if the words on the Internet are true? We need to be cautious.” Yet my husband shook his head and said: “How can you believe the words of the CCP government? Don’t you forget the CCP government has condemned all the house churches when we were in China? So, only after our actual investigation can we correctly decide whether the online words are rumors or facts. If we listen only to one side, we might miss the opportunity to welcome the Lord’s return. If so, we would regret it.” I felt his words made sense. I also thought that through reading Almighty God’s words during this period, I found that His words helped people to pursue the truth and walk the right path of life. But, when I thought of these negative news articles on the Internet, I was still very scared. Finally, I decided not to investigate. My husband couldn’t change my mind, so he had no choice but to invite Sister Lin to my house and ask her to fellowship with us.
The following day Sister Lin came. I told her all my misgivings caused by the negative propaganda on the Internet. She said: “Sister, regarding whether or not The Church of Almighty God is man’s organization, let’s read a passage of Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life. ‘However, the CCP, in order to deceive and cheat Chinese people, distorts the fact and confounds black and white. It alleges that God’s church is man’s organization and that the normal church life is illegally disturbing the social order, which is the habitual statement and strategy by which the CCP resists God and brutally persecutes God’s church. The Church of Almighty God is not man’s organization but God’s church. Each new stage of God’s work brings the establishment of the church. The Church of Almighty God came into being as the result of the appearance and work of God incarnate in the last days. It is composed of those who accept Almighty God’s word and work in the last days. And it was established by Christ of the last days—Almighty God Himself, and it is also shepherded and led by Him personally. It wasn’t founded by any man. What comes from man is organization; what comes from God is not organization but church.’
“From this passage of fellowship, we can see that if it is from man, it is a human organization; but if it comes from God, it is a church. The Bible also says, what comes from God shall increase, what comes from man shall decrease. Since 1991 when Almighty God formally began to do His work, the CCP government has never stopped suppressing and persecuting The Church of Almighty God. However, the gospel of God’s kingdom has still spread spectacularly. In only over 20 years, the gospel has spread not only across all of Mainland China but to many other countries around the world. Now branches of The Church of Almighty God have been established in many foreign countries. This is completely the result achieved by God’s work. If it is a human organization, they would long ago have vanished under the CCP’s brutal persecution. Sister, as long as we quiet our hearts to seek, it’s easy for us to distinguish that the rumors of the CCP slandering and condemning The Church of Almighty God are all deceptive lies and are CCP’s base means to block us from investigating the true way.” Later, according to my confusion of the May 28 Shandong Zhaoyuan Case, Sister Lin played for me a video, The Truth Exposed Behind the May 28 Zhaoyuan Case. In the video, a passage of commentary said: “Before implementing crackdown and massacre each time, the CCP invariably had to concoct false accusations, and create a series of public opinions as basis to establish the so-called legal foundation. The purpose was to deceive the public and pave the way for the ensuing suppression and massacre. In order to suppress and ban The Church of Almighty God and completely ban all house churches, the CCP played the same old trick once again and concocted the May 28 Zhaoyuan case as the basis of public opinions. This is exactly the CCP’s plot and intention in engineering this case. This is apparent to any discerning person. Unsurprisingly, after the occurrence of the Zhaoyuan case, the CCP promptly launched a comprehensive, escalating and more brutal operation of repression and persecution against The Church of Almighty God.” After this, I suddenly saw the light. I realized that the CCP was the invisible hand behind the May 28 Zhaoyuan case. Through the sister’s patient fellowship, I came to discern the rumors on the Internet and the base intentions of the CCP discrediting, smearing and framing The Church of Almighty God. Therefore, I decided to continue investigating the work of Almighty God of the last days with my husband and we made an appointment to go to the local church of Almighty God.
Through Sister Lin’s fellowship, I had some discernment about the lies made up by the CCP. However on the way to the local church of Almighty God, I still couldn’t help thinking about those terrible lies and I felt anxious in my heart. My husband understood what I was thinking about and he said to me with a smile: “You are quite suspicious. Sister Lin already knows where our house is. If she wants to kidnap us, is it necessary for her to wait until we investigate their church?” Hearing my husband’s words, I thought: “That’s right. If the rumors are true, they wouldn’t have asked us to go to their church.”
As we were approaching the church, from a distance we saw Sister Lin and some other brothers and sisters waiting for us at the gate. Because we were late, they had stood outside for more than half an hour on a very cold day. My husband and I felt really bad about this. Their friendliness and warmth made me feel not only very moved but ashamed for my misgivings about them. Before entering the church building, I saw five large characters above the gate reading The Church of Almighty God. The building of the church openly stands on the street welcoming anyone who is willing to investigate the true way. Obviously, this is a formal church, which is utterly unlike what was described online. After I entered, I saw that all the brothers and sisters were dignified and decent and that they all greeted us warmly. Afterward, some brothers and sisters introduced us to the website of The Church of Almighty God where there are the words of Almighty God, annals of the work arrangements of The Church of Almighty God, dance and song videos, gospel movies and life experience articles written by brothers and sisters. All the contents are open to people from around the world who love the truth to seek and investigate. I thought: “Apart from The Church of Almighty God, none of the denominations in the world dares to openly testify that the Lord Jesus has returned. The way that is not afraid of the investigation of the entire human race can’t possibly be false.” So, I began to think well of The Church of Almighty God. At lunchtime, the brothers and sisters treated us very well. Because we went there with our daughter, they brought out plenty of toys for her to play with. Seeing this, I believed that the way they lived was not fake. The church had nothing in common with the violent organization described by the online rumors. After I actually investigated The Church of Almighty God, my previous misgivings disappeared gradually and my husband and I decided to attend meetings in The Church of Almighty God.
During that period, my husband was taking his annual leave. So, we entrusted my child to my mother’s care and almost every day, we went to the local church of Almighty God to attend meetings. At each meeting, what the brothers and sisters fellowshiped about was the words of Almighty God. The purpose of these fellowships was to help us know God and His work. They also shared with us their experiences and testimonies of how they practiced God’s words. Moreover, they prayed in the name of Almighty God, which was contrary to the online claim that says that the One who the people of The Church of Almighty God believed in and worshiped was a human being.
Afterward, my husband’s vacation was over and I was also very busy. In order to help us participate in gatherings regularly, some brothers and sisters went to my home to have meetings with us. Every time either two sisters or two sisters and one brother came to my home; I had never seen two people of different sexes came here. Later, in a meeting, I learned that the ten administrative decrees of The Church of Almighty God stipulate that it is absolutely prohibited for two members of the opposite sex to work together. The fourth administrative decree stipulates that: “Man has a corrupt disposition and is moreover possessed of emotions. As such, it is absolutely prohibited for two members of the opposite sex to work together unaccompanied when serving God. Any who are discovered doing so will be expelled, without exception.” I couldn’t help but think of the online rumors saying that the people of The Church of Almighty God had unclear boundaries between men and women. Those rumors are purely nonsense.
Through our practical investigation of The Church of Almighty God and contacting the brothers and sisters those days, the rumors made up by the CCP government all collapsed on themselves. I couldn’t resist feeling self-accusation for the fact that I once believed those lies and refused to investigate God’s work. Meanwhile, I felt very indignant: “The rumors on the Internet are really harmful to people! Now who knows how many people like me, because of believing the rumors, dare not to seek and investigate God’s work of the last days or to come to The Church of Almighty God.”
After going through a period of investigation, my husband and I accepted the work of Almighty God of the last days. One month later, a good friend of mine who went to church with us during our university days, came to South Korea to visit me. I couldn’t wait to tell her the good news that the Lord Jesus has returned. However, to my surprise, after hearing this, she immediately stood up and angrily said to us: “How can you believe in Eastern Lightning? Don’t you know now all of the leaders of every denomination are condemning Eastern Lightning?” My husband replied: “We’ve read a lot of Almighty God’s words and investigated many times and we can confirm that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus—” Not until he finished his words did my friend interrupt him and fired questions at us: “How many years have you two believed in the Lord? Do you understand the Bible? Haven’t the pastors and elders believed in the Lord longer than you have? Don’t they understand the Bible more than you do? If Eastern Lightning is the true way, why do they not accept it?” After she left, I still couldn’t understand: “My friend has believed in the Lord since she was a child and she has lots of knowledge of the Bible. Logically, that the Lord Jesus has returned should be a piece of good news for her. Why does she not investigate the work of God in the last days? In addition, these pastors and elders believe in the Lord and have worked and preached for many years. Why do they also not investigate Almighty God’s work of the last days?” A succession of questions occupied my mind.
In the following days, my friend ceaselessly called me and urged me to see the pastor of the church in China. On the phone she also told me about how the pastor condemned The Church of Almighty God. Furthermore, when the pastors and elders from the church in South Korea learnt that we had believed in Almighty God they constantly called us and asked to meet with us. They also repeatedly warned us not to read the book of Eastern Lightning, saying that the preaching of The Church of Almighty God was very profound, and that we were easily deceived because our stature was small and we didn’t understand the Bible very well. Due to their continuing objections, I could not make up my own mind and started thinking repeatedly, “During this period, I have understood many truths through reading Almighty God’s words and I also confirm within my heart that Almighty God is really the Lord Jesus’ appearance. However, why do the pastors and elders not accept but condemn and resist Almighty God along with the CCP government? Is my faith wrong?” The more I thought about it, the more troubled I felt. Without realizing it, I was a little shaken again. In the following week, I did not want to read God’s words nor did I attend meetings. I was at loose ends, just watching TV at home all day long. My husband worried about me very much when he saw me like this. So, he persuaded me to seek fellowship with the brothers and sisters to resolve my issues. However, I tried to avoid them and did not want to see them.
Later, after repeated exhortations from my husband, I decided to find the brothers and sisters to help me figure out my issues. When I saw them, I poured out all my confusion to them. One brother read a passage of the Bible to me: “Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and dig a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to farmers, and went into a far country: And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the farmers, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the farmers took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did to them likewise. But last of all he sent to them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the farmers saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him” (Matthew 21:33-39).
He fellowshiped: “This parable of the evil farmers told by the Lord Jesus was aimed at the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees who served God in the temple in the Age of Law. At that time, God had entrusted them to shepherd the sheep, but when the Lord Jesus came to do His work, they condemned and resisted Him and blocked believers from following Him. Likewise, in the last days, when God returns in the flesh to save mankind and to find His sheep, the leaders of the religious world are unwilling to give the sheep back to God. The history of the Pharisees resisting the Lord Jesus two thousand years ago is repeating itself. Although these leaders of the religious world are familiar with the Bible, they don’t have a heart that fears God at all. They’re afraid that if believers all believe in Almighty God, no one will follow them anymore or donate money to them. So in order to protect their status and their livelihood, under the banner of being loyal to the Lord and protecting His flock, they have manufactured all kinds of vicious rumors to resist and condemn God’s work of the last days and they do whatever they can to prevent believers from investigating the true way and returning to God. What they are doing is the same as the treatment of the Pharisees toward the Lord Jesus. They are exactly the evil servants revealed by the work of God in the last days. Let’s have a look at how the words of Almighty God expose them. Almighty God says: ‘There are those who read the Bible in grand churches and recite it all day long, yet not one among them understands the purpose of God’s work. Not one among them is able to know God; still less can any one among them accord with God’s will. They are all worthless, vile people, each standing on high to lecture God. They willfully oppose God even as they carry His banner. Claiming faith in God, still they eat the flesh and drink the blood of man. All such people are devils that devour the soul of man, head demons that deliberately get in the way of those trying to step onto the right path, and stumbling blocks impeding those who seek God. They may appear of “sound constitution,” but how are their followers to know that they are none other than antichrists who lead people to stand against God? How are their followers to know that they are living devils dedicated to the devouring of human souls?’ The substance of the religious leaders is clearly revealed by Almighty God’s words. They are definitely not true believers of the Lord but contemporary Pharisees who block people from investigating the true way and antichrists who lead people to resist God. We need to see through their essence lest we become subject to their confusion.”
The words of God and the fellowship of the brother made my heart feel much brighter. I clearly saw that present-day pastors of the religious world are just like the evil farmers. The Lord entrusted them to shepherd and look after the sheep, but when the Lord Jesus returned and wanted to get back these sheep, they became afraid that if their believers all follow Almighty God, no one will listen to their preaching or donate money to them. So, they try to usurp the Lord’s sheep for themselves and prevent believers from investigating the true way. All they have been doing is protect their own interests. They are really very despicable! It is I myself who am to blame because without discernment, I was deceived by them. I even didn’t want to contact the brothers and sisters from The Church of Almighty God. I was really too ignorant.
After that, the brother read a passage of Almighty God’s words: “In the nation of the great red dragon, I have carried out a stage of work unfathomable to human beings, causing them to sway in the wind, after which many quietly drift away with the blowing of the wind. Truly, this is the ‘threshing floor’ I am about to clear; it is what I yearn for and it is also My plan. For many wicked ones have crept in while I am at work, but I am in no hurry to drive them away. Rather, I shall disperse them when the time is right. Only after that shall I be the fountain of life, allowing those who truly love Me to receive from Me the fruit of the fig tree and the fragrance of the lily. In the land where Satan sojourns, the land of dust, there remains no pure gold, only sand, and so, meeting with these circumstances, I do such a stage of work. You should know that what I gain is pure, refined gold, not sand. How can the wicked remain in My house?”
He then fellowshiped: “In the last days, God becomes flesh and works in China, allowing the antichrist forces in religious circles and the CCP government to disturb and obstruct His work. God’s wisdom is present here. On the one hand, through their persecution, rumors and attacks, we can see through the CCP’s evil and reactionary substance of resisting God and the hypocritical and truth-hating antichrist essence of the religious leaders. On the other hand, these things can also reveal different kinds of people, such as unbelievers, true believers and fake believers, sheep and goats, wheat and tares, good servants and evil servants, wise virgins and foolish virgins, and so on. The rumors can only bind the tares but not the wheat. That’s because all the people who belong to God will surely return before God. Those who, under the persecution of the CCP government and religious leaders, are able to see through the rumors and still have faith in following God are wise virgins and in the end, they have the hope of being made overcomers by God, and becoming the pillars in God’s kingdom. This exactly fulfills the prophecy of the Book of Revelation: ‘Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out’” (Revelation 3:12).
After hearing his fellowship, I felt brighter and brighter inside. It turned out that the persecution of the CCP government and the disturbance of the antichrist forces in religious circles are used by God for perfecting and revealing people. Therein lies God’s wisdom. I felt it very fortunate for me to obtain God’s mercy. Although I was deceived by the rumors because I had no discernment, God still arranged for some brothers and sisters to patiently fellowship the truth with me time and time again. Through this, I finally could distinguish the lies made up by the CCP, and see clearly the sinister motives of the CCP government and the religious leaders that use rumors to deceive and devour people. All of this was God’s grace for me. I thanked God for His salvation from the bottom of my heart.
Afterward, as long as I had time, I would go to The Church of Almighty God to attend meetings. Through God’s words, I came to understand more and more truths. When I encountered something at odds with my conceptions, I no longer guard against it or resist it like before. Instead, I take the initiative to seek fellowship with some brothers and sisters. By reading God’s words, I understand God wishes more people to accept His salvation. Now, a number of brothers and sisters from the denominations have been deceived by the CCP’s rumors or confused and controlled by the antichrists of the religious world. For this reason I want to preach the gospel to them. I hope to use my personal experience to help them to see through Satan’s tricks soon, to break free from the bondage of the rumors and to return before Almighty God, Christ of the last days, and accept His salvation. All the glory be to God!