Not every story from the frontlines of the mission field ends happily ever after. Yes, we rejoice that Auntie Zhang has gone to be with her Savior, but the lostness of her family brings us sadness.
“Just recently, we were walking to Auntie Zhang’s home to visit her after church,” Brother Yin, our local missionary who ministers in Bamboo region, told us. “We saw wreaths and black posters hanging on the outside of her home, announcing that someone had died.”
Our local missionaries found out that Auntie Zhang had passed away on the Friday, two days before. She died at age 56, and went to be with the Lord. After years of living in a cow pen, she is now standing in glory.
She is rejoicing, so we rejoice with her as well.
But her youngest son could not rejoice in his mother’s passing.
He had been struggling with drug addiction for many years, and was just released from prison six months ago. He was finally able to find a job at a factory outside his hometown. When he was informed that his mother had died, he came to see her body the next day, but could not bear the shame of hurting her emotionally years before.
Ten years ago, he and his father and two older brothers had left his mother to fend for herself when Auntie Zhang was diagnosed with a chronic sickness that many other women in their village have as well. There is a spirit of sickness in her village––a curse––and many families have left their wives and mothers in the same way that Auntie Zhang’s family left her years ago.
See our previous blog: Auntie Zhang: Christian Witness In A Cow Pen
When Auntie Zhang’s youngest son saw his mother’s body, the haunting memories of the pain he brought her came rushing back to him. He was overwhelmed with anger and sadness, and in his confusion he drank a vial of poison.
Auntie Zhang’s youngest son—the only member of the family who had returned to see her body—died there next to his mother on that cold, gray Saturday.
“There are many women in Auntie Zhang’s village who are sick and alone after their families have left them as well,” our local missionary told us. “We are planning to minister to them before it’s too late.”
God desires that none should perish, but that everyone has a chance to come to repentance.
Please pray for the ministry to chronically ill and lonely women that God is giving to our local missionaries after hearing the tragic story of Auntie Zhang’s life.