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Trials, Tribulations, and the Formation of a Ministry

From the series Pastor Hsi—Conqueror of Demons


Be sure to read part one and two of this series, “Introduction and the Early Life of a Conqueror of Demons,” and “From Confucian Scholar to a Servant of Christ”, and watch out for the rest of entries, which give readers insight into the life and faith of this remarkable man. 

Maturing in Grace

Hsi’s wife, Liang, gave birth to a son, but the son died young, and she never had another child. Hsi told his wife that he would not divorce her or take a concubine, and her impression of Christianity changed greatly. Hsi invited his impoverished stepmother home and promised to take care of her until her death. He had a bad relationship with his brothers. He took the initiative to repair the relationship, and they finally reconciled. He led family worship at home every day, and people from the village often came.

Opium cultivation in Shanxi brought huge profits to the locals, with income five times that of wheat cultivation. Hsi continued to grow and sell opium in the first summer after his conversion. But when the truth affected his life more, he realized the problem. Although his income would be greatly affected, he did not hesitate to terminate the opium business and stop tobacco cultivation.

In the first one or two years after Hsi believed in Jesus, everyone laughed at him and thought that he would soon be in trouble. However, they saw a radiant Mr. Hsi. His family relationships were healthy, and his property was well taken care of. Many people were attracted to Christ because of his good deeds and eventually believed in the Lord. The villagers elected him as the village chief. He accepted the position on the condition that he would not offer sacrifices to idols. He served as the village chief for three years and kept all the affairs in the village in order. Later, he declined everyone’s request to be re-elected because of his evangelical work and affairs.

Most believers were poor and often persecuted. Many people could still make ends meet before they believed in the Lord, but after they believed in the Lord, they were despised by unbelieving employers or relatives and lost their jobs, or the nature of their previous jobs made their Christian consciences uneasy, and they could not continue. Some were exploited and deceived, and others were driven out of their homes. Farmers stopped growing opium, and merchants did business honestly, which would bring losses. Hsi and his wife did their best to help and share the burdens of others. Hsi prayed for the patients, prescribed and delivered medicine for them, took addicts home to care for them, and helped them win their freedom. His wife even sold her dowry to help them. The joy of giving overflowed in their hearts.

The First Refuge

In 1881, Hsi started a medical mission station, apart from foreign supervision, in Deng Village, five miles away from his home. He practiced medicine in the front and held meetings in the back, naming it “fuying tang” (Gospel Hall). Hsi served as a doctor, preacher, and boss, and his home was often crowded with people seeking help. Two years after Hsi believed in Christ, the missionary in charge of the local evangelism wrote:

A man from Brother Hsi’s village was here at the meeting yesterday, well-dressed and healthy-looking. He prayed in beautiful Chinese that we all might learn what it is to die with Christ, to be buried with him, and with him even now to rise and live the resurrection life. A few months ago, that man was ragged, dirty, and miserable; a heavy opium smoker. He used to consume nearly an ounce of poison daily. Hsi took him by the hand, had him in his own house, treated him like a brother, brought opium medicine to cure his craving, cared for him, and led him to Christ. He is now perfectly free from the opium habit and is Hsi’s right-hand man at all his prayer meetings and services.1

When David Hill and his colleagues arrived in Shanxi in 1878, there was not a single Christian among millions of people. But by 1883, two gospel stations had been established in the two major towns of Taiyuan and Pingyang, as well as two small churches, dozens of Christians, and many people waiting to be baptized. The quarterly meeting held in Pingyang in April 1883 was particularly significant to Hsi because his wife, mother-in-law, and stepmother were all baptized. There were very few women among the early believers.

The Middle Eden

Hsi’s home was called “Zhongleyuan” (The Middle Eden) and was the pharmaceutical center of the refuges. Some poor and unemployed people who quit opium and believed in the Lord stayed there. He had a principle: “If any would not work, neither should he eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). His home was a small workshop. Grinding flour, making steamed buns, fetching water, spinning, weaving, sewing, carpentry, and making pills were all done at his home. He expanded several rooms and the kitchen and turned a granary into a gathering place. Most household affairs were handled by Hsi’s wife and his sister-in-law, while he was responsible for the daily gatherings. Spiritual matters were his top priority. Making medicine was also very important. When he made each batch, he would start with prayer and fasting. The day he made medicine was a day of 24-hour fasting. By the evening, when he was too tired to stand, he would stay alone for a few minutes to pray: “Lord, this is your work, please give me strength.” After praying, he was full of energy. He would choose a sunny day to make medicine so that the pills would dry quickly. He used high-quality Chinese herbs, weighing and checking the quality first, then grinding and crushing them, mixing them into a large pile of reddish-brown powder according to the proportions. The final stage was usually handled by Hsi himself, who added the right amount of water to the powder to adjust it to a specific viscosity, and then rolled them in a basket to form solid pills. He made hundreds of pills every day, and sometimes thousands.

The Hsi family was completely self-sufficient. Their biggest expense was entertaining guests, especially on Sundays. His farm had no cash income. The profit mainly came from making medicine. But he did not make medicine for profit. He only sold the pills to his patients and charged a small fee. Hsi did not love money and did not seek financial returns for his own benefit. If the patient could not pay, he would charge a portion or give them away for free. If someone refused to pay with no reasonable excuse, he would pray to God. He refused to accept any offerings that were not of pure motives or given reluctantly.

As the number of worshippers grew, the hymns they used could no longer meet the needs of the people, so Hsi started to write his own praises and prayers. The lessons he learned in joy or trials, in failure or mercy, all flowed out from his pen and became beautiful poems.

How the Work Spread

The refuges were started one after another, with the first branch in Subao. By 1884, there were eight or ten refuges. From Dengcun in the south to Zhaocheng in the north, believers regularly attended worship in villages and towns in between. But Hsi thought this was just the beginning.

In 1885, four of “the Cambridge Seven”—Stanley P. Smith, W. W. Cassels, M. Beauchamp, and D. E. Hoste—came to the gospel station in Pingyang Prefecture, and the ministry in southern Shanxi flourished. In 1886, J. W. Stevenson, deputy director of the China Inland Mission, and Hudson Taylor, the director, came to Shanxi and held public worship in Hung Tung (洪洞). After prayer and much consideration, the pastoral group led by Hudson Taylor first called Hsi to come forward and ordained him as a pastor, responsible for the pastoral work in Pingyang, Hung Tung (洪洞), and Daning. Then they ordained Brother Song as the pastor of the Pingyang Church and 16 deacons in various villages.

Conclusion: The growth of Pastor Hsi’s ministry was not without challenges, but through faith and perseverance, he established a refuge for the suffering and began a ministry that would grow beyond his expectations. In the next installment, we will explore the significant spiritual battles he faced, both within the church and in his personal life, as he continued his mission to serve the Lord.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published on ChurchChina.org and translated by the author. ChinaSource edited it into a series of posts and published it with permission.

Endnotes

  1. Mrs. Howard Taylor, Pastor Hsi, 53.
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Image credit: Screenshot from “Pastor Hsi—O Missionário que Mudou a China—Amado Líder Chinê” via YouTube.

Paige

Paige (pseudonym) is a seasoned professional with 18 years of experience in the Chinese publishing industry. Currently, she serves as an educator in a local Christian homeschool organization, where she is dedicated to nurturing the next generation.View Full Bio


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