Church in Xiangshan Holds Funeral Service for Their Beloved Pastor

 Translated By Richard Zou

A funeral service for a pastor who had served in Jiangsu and Zhejiang was held in his hometown Xiangshan, Ningbo.

On December 7, 2022, Pastor Huang Fangzheng's funeral service was held at Daqitou Church in Xiangshan County, Ningbo. He was born in Tianyanghu Village, Dingtang Town in 1923, and returned to his heavenly home on December 3, 2022.

During the funeral service, Pastor Gao Jianwei, president of Ningbo TSPM, gave a sermon entitled "The Best Service" based on 2 Timothy 4:1-8, telling that Pastor Huang has fought a good fight, finished his race, kept the faith, and been crowned with righteousness.

Condolence messages were sent by Nanjing CC&TSPM and Nanjing Daosheng Church where he had worked, and Zhejiang Theological Seminary where he had taught. Pastor Shan Weixiang, vice president and general secretary of CCC, sent a condolence letter. At the age of 92, pastor Huang wrote down his life experiences and testified God's love with the title, "Rainbow After Storm".

Pastor Huang Fangzheng was the third son of Mr. Huang Detang, a missionary volunteer. He was influenced by his father's faith since he was a child. His mother died at the age of 12.

In 1944, shortly after he got married, the Japanese soldiers found that he had no calluses on his hands, so he was sentenced as a spy and could have been shot or buried alive at any time. He earnestly prayed with tears and made a vow to God that if he escaped danger, he would dedicate himself to preaching for the Lord. His father and church members also prayed for him. By God's protection, he was rescued on January 3, 1945. He resigned from his teaching position and went to preach in West District.

In 1946, the church sent him to Huazhong Theological Seminary in Wuchang for further study. After graduating in 1948, he was appointed to pastor at the Meixu Church in Zhenhai, Ningbo, by the Methodist Ningbo Diocese.

When the Cultural Revolution swept across the country in 1966, he was condemned as a social outcast with problems in past, and his family of seven was relocated to a deep mountain valley with only 18 other families. As a result of living in caves and eating bad food, his children were unable to attend school, lacked nutrition, and suffered sequelae.

The Gang of Four fell from power in 1976, and his grievances were redressed. After returning to Xiangshan, he built churches, trained young people, pastored believers, and implemented religious policies.

In 1985, Pastor Cai Wenhao invited him to teach at the newly established Zhejiang Theological Seminary. Later, he pastored St. Paul's Church and Daosheng Church in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, and was elected as the vice president of Nanjing TSPM. He still spent time every year caring for the church in Xiangshan, his hometown. In 1990, Dancheng Church hired him as a consultant.

In 1997, in order to unite different denominations, Xiangshan Church was preparing to establish a Christian Council and invited him to be the first chairman. Following the mode of  Nanjing church, he established six ministry groups to promote the work of the church and train young co-workers. In 2001, he retired and only worked as a consultant for the Xiangshan CC&TSPM, but he still insisted on doing pastoral work. In his 90s, he even preached in rural churches and presided over communion services.

In 1997, he was elected as a member of the Xiangshan Political Consultative Conference, actively participated in the discussion of community affairs, and helped raise 25000 yuan from Nanjing Amity Foundation for the Datang Water Project. In his spare time, he created paintings with scriptures and spread the gospel through calligraphy and painting.

In 2011, he asked his eldest daughter to invest millions of yuan to build the House of Servants of God, which had been one of his dreams for years.

Enjoying a long life, Pastor Huang was in good health. On December 3, 2022, he was called to his heavenly home at 4:40 pm. His life is depicted in this elegiac couplet: blessed by God, you escaped from danger and served the Lord with all your heart; rehabilitated from persecution, you honored God and benefited others like a rainbow after a storm. His labors in the Lord will not be in vain, and his work will be rewarded.