探访林丽宏等
——回中国之旅随感之一
“我凡事给你们作榜样，叫你们知道，应当这样扶助软弱的人；又当记念主耶稣的话，说：‘施比受更为有福。’”（徒20:35）
“只是愿意我们记念穷人，这也是我本来热心去行的。”（加2:10）
感谢主的丰富恩典，在2025年暑假，为我预备了一个月的回国机会。临行前，我特别请弟兄姊妹为旅程代祷，其中一项祷告是：“愿我在旅途中，能遇见主所预备的人。”5月29日，当飞机即将抵达哈尔滨的那一刻，我心中祷告寻求主：“主啊，在这座城市，我该去见谁？”那一刻，一个名字清晰地浮现在我脑海中——林丽宏。
当天上午10:30，我和我母亲以及我女儿天心一起抵达哈尔滨机场。主的预备实在奇妙——我外甥在外地读研究生，原本没有计划当天回老家，但临时决定买票，也于上午11:30抵达同一机场。我们没有事先沟通，但神却奇妙地将我们的脚步安排在一起。对于九年未回国、对本地早已陌生的我而言，有熟门熟路的外甥做向导，真是再方便不过了。
下午两点，我们一同前往探访丽宏姊妹。
我认识林丽宏已经22年了。她比我年长两岁，出生时便没有双腿，行动全靠轮椅。2004年夏天，我在金陵协和神学院攻读研究生一年级时，曾和同校的徐建民弟兄（他当时是本科一年级）一同在暑期去探访她。徐弟兄曾在黑龙江哈尔滨万宝镇圣经学校就读三年，每个主日都把她背到自行车上，然后推着自行车带她去参加主日崇拜，风雨无阻。他毕业之后，圣经学校一批又一批神学生轮流肩负接送她去教会的任务。
那是我第一次见到丽宏。她苦难的命运，以及她坚定与宁静的生命，使我当晚彻夜难眠。她的经历让我联想到神子民共同的遭遇：“你使人坐车轧我们的头；我们经过水火，你却使我们到丰富之地”（诗篇66:12）。
丽宏的人生常让我想到一句西方谚语：“一个小女孩总是抱怨自己没有一双新鞋，直到有一天她遇见了一个没有脚的人。”丽红的生命深深教导我：不要为自己的境遇怨天尤人，而要心存感恩，知足常乐（提前6:6）。
当年她与她母亲同住，几年前她母亲离世后，她一个人生活在大哥家的八楼公寓。如今再次见面，她依旧平静安详。当我们走进她的小屋，她睁着大大的眼睛，闪闪发光，满是惊喜，也带着些许泪光。她仍坐在轮椅上，却能自如地在屋中穿梭。我问她：“你还祷告和读经吗？”她坚定而平静地回答：“每天都有。”
我又问：“还参加聚会吗？”她叹了口气说：“附近没有合适的教会，我只能偶尔参加网上微信群里的学习。”
我关切地问：“那些我们熟悉的老朋友们还来看你吗？”她轻声道：“很少联系了，只有几位偶尔来过。”
她把屋子收拾得整整齐齐。至于生活起居，她说：“我自己做饭，偶尔也叫外卖。当我们下楼时，门口有一道小门槛（或小台阶），轮椅不容易通过。我需要等到有人路过时请人帮我一下，才能过去。所以，我也很少出门。”
我们短短相聚一个小时，但这段宝贵的时间不仅触动了我，也影响了天心与外甥。这次探访让我们更深体会“施比受更为有福”的真理，也在下一代心中播种了关愛与怜恤的种子。
几天后，我在鹤岗老家，又与几位曾在黑龙江圣经学校毕业的学生重聚。我们的相聚唤起了他们拾回往事的夙愿。他们立刻决定一起重返母校，顺道再去探望丽宏姊妹，回顾当年主的恩典。
6月6日至7日，我转往南京，也特别去探望了曾在神学院时期常常照顾学生的两位阿姨。那时每逢新学期，她们总会带着牙膏、毛巾等生活用品来关怀神学生们。如今，一位阿姨刚动完心脏手术正在康复中，另一位则在照顾住院的丈夫。我和我的另一位同学为她们献上祷告，求主的怜悯与医治常与她们相伴。
回首这一路的探访之旅，我深深体会：许多曾在我生命中默默播种的信徒，是主特别赐下的恩典。他们虽然无名，却被神和人所纪念。他们用实际的愛心温暖了我，影响了我，使我学习了珍惜、感恩与回应。“受人滴水之恩，当以涌泉相报。”感恩，是属灵生命成熟的标志之一；探访，则是愛心的实践和恩典传递的工具之一。当我再一次注视丽红姊妹期许的眼神、再一次留意南京阿姨们脸上的微笑，再一次给她们一个温暖的拥抱时，我知道，这是主的安排，也是我们生命中一份无法抹去的托付。这份托付虽然简单，却不轻浮；虽然不会在人心中荡起巨大波澜，却可泛起一丝盼望的涟漪。那丝涟漪来自于约翰所说：“我们愛，因为神先愛我们”（约一4：19）的真实与厚重。
Visiting Lin Lihong & Others:
Reflections from My Homecoming Trip, Part One
“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35)
“All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.” (Galatians 2:10)
I give thanks for the Lord’s abundant grace: in the summer of 2025, He prepared a month-long opportunity for me to return to China. Before departure, I especially asked brothers and sisters to pray—one key request being: “Lord, may I meet those You have prepared for me along this journey.” On May 29, as the plane was about to land in Harbin, I prayed in my heart: “Lord, whom should I go visit in this city?” In that moment, a familiar name came clearly to mind—Lin Lihong.
That morning at 10:30, my mother, my daughter Tiffany, and I arrived at Harbin airport. God’s providence was remarkable—my nephew, now studying graduate school away from home, hadn’t planned to travel back that day. But on a sudden decision, he bought a ticket and arrived at the same airport at 11:30. Without prior coordination, our paths crossed through God’s divine orchestration. For someone like me, who hadn’t returned to China in nine years and had almost no familiarity with this place, having my nephew as a guide was truly a blessing.
At 2 pm, we made our way to visit Sister Lihong.
I have known Lin Lihong for 22 years. She is two years older than I am, born without legs, relying entirely on a wheelchair. In the summer of 2004, when I was in my first year of graduate studies at Nanjing Union Theological Seminary, I went with Brother Xu Jianmin (then an undergrad) to visit her at the Harbin Wanbao Bible School. Xu once studied for three years at the Bible School in Wanbao Town, Harbin, Heilongjiang. Every Sunday, he would carry her onto a bicycle and then push the bike to take her to the Sunday worship service, regardless of what the weather was. After he graduated, one group of Bible school students after another took turns carrying on the responsibility of bringing her to church.
That was my first time meeting Lihong. Her suffering circumstances and her steadfast, calm faith moved me deeply, keeping me awake that night. Her life reminded me of the Lord’s people in Scripture: “You let men ride over my heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.” (Psa 66:12)
Her life also recalls a Western proverb in my mind: “A little girl kept complaining she didn’t have a new pair of shoes until one day she met someone with no feet at all.” Lihong’s life taught me never to pity myself—but to live with gratitude and contentment—for godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Tim 6:6).
Back then, she lived with her mother. A few years ago, her mother passed away, and since then she’s been living alone in her older brother’s eighth-floor apartment. When I met her again this time, she remained peaceful and serene. As we entered her small apartment, her eyes were wide, bright with surprise, and there were tears in them. She still sat in her wheelchair yet moved freely about the room. I asked, “Do you still pray and read the Bible?” She replied firmly and calmly, “Every single day.”
I asked again, “Do you still attend gatherings?” She let out a sigh and said, “There’s no suitable church nearby. I can only occasionally join some Bible studies in a WeChat group.”
I continued, “Do the friends we used to know still come to see you?” She replied softly, “Not often—only a few come now and then.”
She had her place clean and tidy. When I asked about daily life, she said, “I cook for myself sometimes and get food delivery occasionally. But when I go downstair, there’s a little threshold (or step) at the doorway. The wheelchair can’t go over it easily. I have to wait for someone to pass by to help me. That’s why I rarely go out.”
Our visit lasted a mere hour, yet those sixty minutes were precious—not only did they impact me, but they also touched Tianxin and my nephew. That visitation helped us grasp more deeply what it means that “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” It planted seeds of compassion and care in the next generation from a young age in my daughter and my nephew’s life.
A few days later, back in my hometown of Hegang, I reunited with several graduates of the Harbin Bible School. Our time together stirred up their longing for the past—and they immediately decided to return to the old Wanbao school campus together and pay a second visit to Lihong, remembering God’s gracious work in those days.
From June 6 to 7, I traveled to Nanjing and made a special effort to visit two dear senior sisters who supported seminary students during my seminary years. At the start of each semester, they would often bring toothpaste, towels, and other small necessities to show their care for the students. Now, one has recently had open-heart surgery and is in recovery, while the other cares for her husband who is hospitalized. My classmate and I prayed fervently for their healing and for the Lord’s mercy to be with them.
Looking back on these visits, I deeply realize: the many saints who once sowed quietly into my life are gifts from the Lord. Though unnamed, they are remembered by God and cherished by people. Their love, expressed in everyday actions, warmed my heart and taught me to cherish, to be grateful, and to respond. Gratitude is a sign of spiritual maturity; visiting others is a way to practice love and pass along divine grace. This time when I observed Sister Lihong’s expectant eyes, when I saw the tender smiles on the faces of the Nanjing senior sisters, and when I give them a warm hug, I know—this is God’s arrangement. It is a burden and a responsibility laid upon my heart, one that cannot be erased. This burden may appear simple, yet it is not trivial. It may not stir great waves among people—but it can produce gentle ripples of hope in lonely hearts. Those ripples come from the truth and depth of John’s words: “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).