By Wuzhi
In the spring of 2006, I was stripped of my position as leader and sent back home because I was considered a “yes-man” and had been disturbing and disrupting the work of the church. For the first few days after I got back, I languished in a constant state of pain, thinking: “I never imagined that after years of serving as a leader I would be replaced on account of being a ‘yes-man.’ This is the end for me; I will be held up as a bad example in the church. How will those who know me think of me? How can I face them?” The more I thought about it, the more negative I became, until I finally lost all faith to continue pursuing the truth. However, when I thought of all the sacrifices I had made in these past few years and of how much I’d expended myself, I couldn’t bring myself to quit, and I thought: “If I completely write myself off and abandon myself to vice, won’t all my suffering be for nothing? Won’t people then think even less of me? I can’t let that happen! I’ve got to stand up for myself and not let others look down their noses at me. Now, no matter how much I suffer, or how wronged I feel, I’ve got to buck up—I can’t quit halfway! As long as I remember the lessons of failure and focus on pursuing the truth, then maybe one day I can become a leader again.” With these thoughts in mind, suddenly all the negativity and sadness faded and I felt a renewed energy in my pursuit of the truth.
