My wife finally stepped out of the shadow of "Almighty God" and started exercising at the cultural square in the village. Seeing her return to a normal life, I finally felt relieved. Reflecting on our life in the past year, a mix of emotions immediately surged in my heart.

I am a common villager from Sunxi Village, Sunbo Town, Feicheng City, Tai'an City, Shandong Province. My family has always been honest rural people for generations. There are three people in my family: my wife, my daughter, and me. Although we have never been wealthy, my wife and I have never quarreled or fought, and our family have always been the envy of nearby villagers. However, this peace was completely shattered on a night of October 2011 when my daughter's aunt came to visit us.

"Abnormal Behavior" Made Me Restless

My child's aunt is from the neighboring village. Since my wife's family only had three daughters, the sisters have always been very close. Although my wife is the second eldest, her introverted personality, coupled with a lower level of education, has always made her dependent on her younger sister.

The incident happened on a day in October 2011. That day, we had just finished harvesting corn and, after dinner, my wife and I were sitting on the bed discussing my plans to go out and work the next day. Suddenly, there was a loud knocking on the door. It was already almost 9 p.m. What was this situation? I started to feel uneasy.

When I opened the front door, I saw my wife's younger sister. She was taken aback to see me, hesitated for a moment, and then said that it wasn't urgent and she would come back to see my wife in a couple of days. Then she left. What was this all about? Why did she turn around and leave upon seeing me at home? I felt there was something going on, but no matter how earnestly I asked my wife, she wouldn't answer. This made my heart clang like “fifteen buckets in a single well”. But given my wife's character, I knew asking directly wouldn't yield any results. That night, nothing happened.

Though I was uneasy, I went to work in Zibo the next day because I had to provide for the child's schooling fee and the daily expenses of our household. However, the unusual behavior of my wife and her younger sister made me restless. After working in Zibo for two weeks, I asked for leave from the foreman and returned home without informing my wife by phone. But the front door of our house was locked tight, so I went to my mother-in-law' house, only to find my daughter watching TV by herself. My wife was still nowhere to be found. "I'll just wait at the door and see when my wife finally comes home." I thought to myself with great unease in my heart.

My wife finally came home after eight o’clock, but for some reason, the warmth we used to share was gone, leaving me at a loss. Through questioning, I learned that, under the encouragement of her younger sister, my wife had recently started participating in an organization called "The Church of Almighty God".

"Never Abandon, Never Give Up" - Touching My Wife with True Affection

According to the propaganda of "The Church of Almighty God", as long as you believe in “God”, you will not fall ill and will not need any medication, and your whole family will be safe; only through this belief can you avoid the punishment of “God". These fallacies and heresies seemed like a "lifesaving straw" to someone like my wife who is uneducated.

I began to search everywhere for reports that debunked these fallacies, reading them to my wife in the hope that she would wake up to reality sooner and break away from the cult. However, my wife resisted my efforts time and again, sneaking out to attend meetings.

It seemed that my own efforts were not enough to persuade my wife, who was sinking deeper and deeper. I thought of asking my sister-in-law for help. My wife has always respected her, whose words might have an effect. But my wife only smiled and remained silent in response to my sister-in-law's persuasion, neither opposing nor arguing. This left us at a loss for what to do. At this time, our neighbors also noticed something wrong with our family and came over to help me work on my wife's mindset. But for some reason, it was as if someone had cast a spell on her; no matter how earnestly we pleaded, she just wouldn't change her mind. To prevent my wife from being bogged down deeper, I decided to follow her closely and not let her associate with those people anymore.

Our family was already not in a good financial situation. With my wife causing this trouble, I couldn't go out to work, losing our source of income; I couldn't take care of our daughter, so she had to be fostered at grandma's house; I couldn't work in the fields, so the crops were overrun with weeds. I felt my life had lost its meaning all at once. At that time, I really thought about getting a divorce.

"Maybe I should go to the police station and report it." I thought to myself after much consideration. Feeling like I had no other options, I went to the police station. The officers there took my report very seriously, as there had already been malicious incidents involving the "Almighty God" cult deceiving people out of money and possessions in other places. They immediately organized a special team to come to my house to persuade and educate my wife. The experts started with the small details of my wife's life, entering into her inner world step by step and revealing the true face of "Almighty God" bit by bit in front of her. At first, my wife was very resistant, but after seeing one malicious incident after another caused by "Almighty God", she finally realized her dangerous situation. She cried and begged for my forgiveness, hoping the officers would give her a chance to make amends. I had mixed feelings at that moment.

“After investigation, we believe that your wife is essentially good, and that she's just been misled. Considering your family's current situation, we've decided not to take any action against her. However, you should also pay more attention to your wife in the future, to prevent such incidents from happening again.” The words of the leader of the expert group gave me the courage to find my way back to life.

“A Corrected Woman Is a Good Wife" - Life Remains Sweet

My wife always felt sorry for me and our child. Although she didn’t say it, her deliberate attempts to please me made me uncomfortable.

“You haven't done anything wrong to me. As long as you correct your mistake, we can live our life as before, stably and peacefully.” I said to my wife. We went to my mother's house to pick up our child, thoroughly cleaned our house, and restored the neglected field of responsibility.

But the knot in my wife's heart has not yet been unraveled. She used to be quiet, and now she has become even more introverted. Except working in the fields, she seldom goes out. She neither visits the neighbors nor exercises in the village square. This can't go on. "There's nothing shameful about what happened to you. You were just deceived by the wrong person. You can live happily. Don't just stay cooped up at home! If you get sick because of this, your husband will be very worried," My sister-in-law said to my wife with earnest.

Since my wife wouldn't go out, my sister-in-law invited the neighbors over to our house to chat with my wife. Influenced by the neighbors, a long-lost smile appeared on my wife's face. I could go out to work again, and our child could feel her mother’s love once more.

Seeing that our life has got itself back on course again, I am really happy.