• Bro. Zhanxiang Liu •
Still Enjoying the Service of the Brother Even Today
Early in the 1940s, brother Zhanxiang Liu came to remote and backwater Hualien, as a forerunner opening the way. I was saved in Keelung in 1952, and came to Hualien the next year. At the time, there’s no many saints in the Church in Hualien, around twenty, eight are veterans, money was really tight, sometimes not enough to afford electricity. It was only after his wife, sister Liu became the school nurse of Hualien Girl High School, the situation improves a little. With the arrival of sister Meiying Yuan-Zhou in Hualien, the baptism of sister Yuan-Yuan Dong-Zhang, Mrs. Peng, the wife of the president of the court in Hualien, along with Qi husband and wife of the electricity company getting saved, brother Hanqing Zhang and his wife coming in from denominations… then the attendance of Lord’s day meeting increased to around thirty.
Did Not Dishearten Nor Backsliding as a Result,
but Continuing to be Strong and Courageous
Brother Liu lead us to propagate out. During Lord’s Day, sister Yuan, sister Dong and I would ride our bikes together to either visit saints or preach the gospel. Once sister Dong got into a car accident and her legs broken, but we did not lose heart and backslide, instead continued on strong and courageous.
Meeting the Top Cash Payment for Land Purchase,
the Lord Prepares
In 1953, we were meeting in a straw house, later rented the county-owned land on Mingli road No. 3. The county government was willing to sell the land to us for four hundred thousand TD. Brother Tian-Zhang Xie, who was the general director of the county government haggled the price down to about 368 thousand TD. But brothers and sisters average on a monthly income of about a hundred to two hundred. Brother Liu exhorted us to pray, pray and pray. Everyone tried their best and put in everything; the veteran brothers even put up all of their living expenses from the government. The last payment seems like it cannot be met. At the time, brother Zheng-Ou Zhou serves as the church’s treasurer, we husband and wife fellowshipped, offered up our engagement ring and 50 silver coins, pawned our fanciest wool overcoat, and finally got enough for the last payment. Gu-tai Ding, Qi-zheng Tseng, Qi-chuang Lee these elders asked if the bank is calling us to make enough money for the last payment?
The Land Measured for the Church in Hualien
Is in a Beautiful Place
Thank the Lord, the land He measured for the Church in Hualien, is in a beautiful place; our inheritance is truly great. For the next few decades, the meeting hall went from several wooden houses, went thru several renovations and expansions to become the way it is today. Brother Liu’s leading and service that year on the matter of buying and building the meeting hall, allowed brothers and sisters to enjoy. And still continue to enjoy today.
The Church in Hualien
Sister Dai-Xuan Zhou-Liu
May 9, 2016