“A drizzling rain falls like tears on the Mourning Day; The mourner's heart is going to break on his way.” For ordinary families, Tomb Sweeping Festval is a chance for them to worship ancestors, but for the family of Zhou Xiaojian, the Tomb Sweeping Festval is a nightmare and brings them limitless pain.
Zhou Xiaojian was born in Yuyang District, Yulin City of Shannxi Province in 1979. He had a sister who was four years younger than him. When his sister was 6 years old, they played behind their house and his sister fell off a cliff. After that, Zhou Xiaojian was the only child of the family. His parents placed all their hopes on him and gave him all their love. Zhou Xiaojian grew up with the care of his parents.
Unfortunately, Zhou was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 17, after graduation from junior middle school. He became weaker and weaker. His parents worried about him greatly and sold their pigs and cows to treat him. After being hospitalized for over 30 days, his disease was brought under control. The family couldn’t afford hospitalization any longer, so Zhou asked his doctor to prescribe some medicines and went back home. The doctor gave him some western medicine and asked him to take it strictly according to instruction so as to manage his condition.
After returning home, Zhou took his medicine on time every day and got better and better. He became stronger. One day, Li came to visit Zhou from a nearby village. Seeing that Zhou was taking medicine, he asked about Zhou’s disease. Hearing that Zhou couldn’t recover, his family couldn’t afford hospitalization, and he had to take medicine, Li said, “Only silly people take medicines. Haven’t you heard that all medicines are poisonous? It’s not good for you to take much medicine. It will make you ill. I have a therapy to cure you without having to take medicines.” Hearing that Zhou could be cured without spending money, Zhou’s parents were very happy. They killed the only hen in their house and made lunch for Li.
After the lunch was ready, Zhou’s parents asked Li to eat.
However, Li was not in a hurry. He put his palms together devoutly, closed his eyes and mumbled. He thanked the three redemption Christ for giving them such delicious food and invited Christ to cure Zhou. Knowing that Li was praying for their son, Zhou’s parents were much excited, thanked Li and put more food on Li’s plate. During lunch, Li said mysteriously that God had replied to his prayer. God said that Zhou’s disease was not serious. As long as you follow me to be God’s loyal believers and pray before meals and bed every day, God will cure Zhou.
Hearing this, Zhou no longer took his medication. Instead, he prayed with his parents every day and took part in church gatherings every week to listen to others talking about their experiences. Zhou and his parents were enchanted. Li said that as God’s believers, one should not only believe in the omnipotence of God but also advocate it, so that more people believe in God and He can save more brothers and sisters in suffering. Hearing this, Zhou went around with other church members to see people who had met difficulties or lived in poverty. They would give help and speak well of the three redemption Christ. One year passed and the number of sisters and brothers grew rapidly. Many of them joined the church due to the efforts of Zhou.
One day in February 1997, Zhou, Li and other believers were doing missionary work in a mountainous area of an adjacent town. Zhou couldn’t walk anymore and his feet felt like lead. He had to stop and take a rest. When he rolled up his trousers, he was frightened. His two legs had become shiny because of edema. His ankles festered. These were obvious symptoms of late period diabetes. Seeing this, Li complained that Zhou was too young to be loyal to God, which caused the relapse and aggravation of diabetes. Li asked two believers to continue their missionary work. He sent Zhou home with the other two believers. That night, he asked other believers to come to Zhou’s house to pray for him.
After a dozen days of praying, Zhou’s condition didn’t improve. Instead, his disease became serious. With more and more festers on his legs and body, he couldn’t even get out of bed. Before the Tomb Sweeping Festival, Zhou died amidst the prayer of believers and his family, at the age of 19.
