The Church in Zhejiang held a memorial service for the pastor who served in Jiangsu

Translated By Richard Zou

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

On December 7, 2022, Pastor Huang Fangzheng's memorial 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 memorial service, Pastor Gao Jianwei, chairman of the Ningbo Three-Self Patriotic Association, gave a sermon titled "The Best Service" based on verses 1 to 8 of 2 Timothy, stating about Pastor Huang, "he has fought a good fight,  finished his course, kept the faith, and he has been crowned with righteousness and glory."

Condolence messages were sent by Nanjing Christian Council and Nanjing Daosheng Church where he worked, and Zhejiang Theological Seminary where he taught. Pastor Shan Weixiang, vice president and chief executive of the China Christian Council, 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 a storm".

Pastor Huang Fangzheng is the third son of Mr. Huang Detang, a missionary volunteer. He was influenced by his father's faith since he was a child, and 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 spies and might be shot or buried alive at any time. He prayed to God earnestly and 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 preached in West District in gratitude.

The church selected him and sent him to Huazhong Theological Seminary in Wuchang for further study in 1946. Following graduation in 1948, he was appointed pastor at the Meixu Church in Zhenhai, Ningbo, by the Ningbo Methodist Church Diocese.

As the Cultural Revolution swept the country in 1966, he was condemned as a social outcast with complicated family relations, and his family of seven was relocated to a deep mountain valley with only 18 other families. As a result of cave dwellings and 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 vindicated. 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-chairman of the Nanjing Three-Self Patriotic Association. But every year he spends time caring about the church in Xiangshan, his hometown. In 1990, Dancheng Church hired him as a consultant.

In 1997, to unite different denominations, Xiangshan Church was preparing to establish a Christian Association and invited him to be the first president. Following the style of the Nanjing church, he established six ministry groups to promote the work of the church and train young co-workers. In 2001, he retired to serve as a consultant to the Xiangshan Christian Council, but he still insisted on 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 attracted 35000$ from the Nanjing Amity Foundation for the Datang Water Project. In his spare time, he created paintings with scriptures written in them and spread the gospel through calligraphy and painting.

In 2011, he asked his eldest daughter to invest over 140,000 dollars to build the House of Servants of God, which had been on his dream list for years.

Despite being over a century old, Pastor Huang was still 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 rainstorm. We believe that his labors in the Lord will not be in vain, and his work will be rewarded. (==when summary)