It seemed pure coincidence that I was able to meet with this old man.

When I went to a little town to share the Gospel with a friend of mine, I heard there was a church in town. So I went. The church was located in a little zigzagging street. I didn't see any high-standing cross, nor did I hear lovely hymns. If my friend hadn't guided me, I would never have thought there was a church there. It looked more like one of those large classrooms in a middle school. What made it different was this classroom had a large tent attached to it. Obviously, the room was completely packed. Posted on the wall was a piece of white paper on which was a list of names. I picked a name on the first row and asked: "What did this brother do before?"

"An old Party Secretary," was the reply.

"Party Secretary?" I couldn't help looking at the name again. It was a common Chinese name. Then I turned and stared at my friend with confusion.

"After he believed in the Lord, he withdrew from the Party," he explained.

"How long had he been a Party member?" I asked.

"Fifty years or so! He joined the Party right after the Anti-Japanese War."

"How old is he?"

"In his seventies. He was the Party Secretary of the local district and head of a Party bureau. After he was retired, he was the Party Secretary of the community."

For the sake of believing in Jesus, an old cadre with more than fifty years of Party service asked to withdraw from the Party. And this was by no means common in the little town. Still recovering from the big shock, Party leaders tried hard to persuade him to change his mind. They asked him to maintain the good reputation and to consider the impact he might cause to others. They advised him not to be so stubborn in his belief so that he might still be able to get out of it. The old man wouldn't listen and he finally withdrew.

What kind of old man was this? Could he really be a brother in the Lord?

I decided to pay him a visit. My friend warned me that I might not be able to see him as he was often away from home to preach the Gospel ever since he believed. But I wanted to give it a try anyway.

On our way to the old man's home, I repeatedly tried to visualize the old man in my mind. Since he had been a high-ranking officer for a long time, he must have looked like an officer, serious and high-spirited. Maybe a tall guy, like one of those northerners.

When I saw him in person, I was dumbfounded. His appearance and his temperament placed him among the most common. He did not show any aspiration of a guy who withdrew from the Party because of religious belief. In everyday language, he was a typical little old man. The only thing that impressed me was his forever-happy kind of smile.

His house was both old and dark like one of those old warehouses. What was striking was I saw pieces of white paper sticking on all sides of the walls. On the paper were written lines of dark characters. These were hymns the old man copied for himself. He told us that he was getting old and his memory was deteriorating. He was trying to read and sing them every day so that he could memorize them.

Interior decoration with hymns? I had never seen this before.

The old man calmly told me how he believed in the Lord.

It was all God's grace. He started with these words.

My old wife started it first. She often went to church in the evenings. I didn't want her to go alone. You know. It was not safe for her. So I went with her. I don't really know how this got started, but Jesus really got into my heart. I really liked to go to church. And so, I believed.

It's really good to believe. The Lord is true God. The Lord is the truth. He will never lie to you.

I am a big sinner! I have been a cadre for so many years, and how could I possibly keep myself away from sins? But the Lord has compassion on me.

When you believe, you got to believe for real. You can't go to idols any more, nor can you stay in the Party any more. The leaders wanted me to think twice. To tell you the truth, I have already thought through ever since I believed in Jesus. Simple. I believe in Jesus.

The old man gave me a copy of the application for his withdrawal from the Party. The first page of the application carried a big red seal of the Party Committee. In the application, there was no mention of the fact that the old man withdrew because of his religious belief; instead, it stated that he quit because of his age and poor health.

The old man was quite healthy. He often went to the countryside and spread the Gospel among his old fellow workers. Many people were moved to see their former Party Secretary and former head of the Party bureau preaching the Gospel among them.

How wonderful our God is! He turned an old Communist Party member with over fifty years of service in the Party into a believer kneeling down before Him with all his heart.

In the twilight, I went through the withdrawal application of this old brother again and again. In the beginning, I was a bit disappointed about him because he didn't seem to have the kind of temperament I was looking for, nor did he utter any inspirational words like a typical Christian would. He only said that he believed in God and he would never worship anything other than Jesus Christ the true God. He said that he pursued salvation and eternal life of human souls. He said he voluntarily withdrew from the Party and he never regretted it.

From the plain and sincere words of the old man, I gradually felt his heart, simple, kind and faithful. At seventy years of age, he was able to give up his political privileges in socialist China and walk out of the atheist labyrinth and into the arms of God.

As far as the old man is concerned, what can possibly be more valuable than his meeting with God?