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Students pray in the early morning before classes start, and again at night before going to bed. |
They all thought he was crazy, but decided to give it their best effort. On the appointed day 400 workers, mostly men, gathered. They began each day with early morning prayers, worked hard all day long, and conducted an evangelistic worship service each night. Many of the men were not believers and volunteered on the construction project for the sake of their believing wives. Most of them accepted the Lord in these meetings.
Miraculously, on the 52nd day the entire building complex was finished. They had constructed dormitories, classrooms, kitchen, and a worship hall that would accommodate 1000 believers—all on $20,000.
Then Bro. X did something very bold. He invited the Communist officials of his town to the opening ceremony. They were amazed.
"You built all this in 52 days?" they asked. "It would have taken us at least a year."
"You built all this with US$20,000?" another asked. "If we Communists had built this, it would have cost ten times as much."
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After 52 days believers gathered inside this edifice that would seat 1000 worshippers. Leaders of the congregation are shown here. |
However, the head of the Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB) maintained a stiff position and permission to conduct a Bible school was not automatically given. So Bro. X got permission to run a garment factory. The workers manufactured garments five hours a day—and then studied the Bible for another eight hours!
Eventually permission to operate as a Bible school was granted. Today that school operates a two-year training program. Students gather for morning prayers before 6 a.m. Classes run all day until 10 p.m.
"But the students don't go to bed," Dr. Sun said. "They go off and pray. The teachers have to make them go to bed."
The first class of 30 students graduated in 1995. Many of them began conducting training sessions in their home villages. Today they operate Bible training institutes scattered throughout the top two-thirds of the province. Most of these receive “trickle down” assistance from Christian Aid through Bro. X.—although only the headquarters school is counted in the 132 Bible schools Christian Aid assists.