From grieving to rejoicing
The Amity Printing Company (APC) was set up in 1987 in Nanjing, east central China, as a joint venture between United Bible Societies and the Amity Foundation. Ruth Li, Assistant to Kua Wee Seng, UBS Asia Opportunity Program Coordinator, gathered testimonies from current and former staff of APC.

NANJING, China — Ms Lu Qian started working for Amity Press in the late 1980s, when it was being set up. In 1990 she got married to a colleague.

Both she and her husband were led to the Lord in 1994 by Brother Ke, a Christian manager at APC.
Photo: Lu Qian and her husband worked at Amity Press and were led to the Lord by Br. Ke. The sudden death of her husband shook her faith but God showed his love in the comfort of Christian friends. Photo: Asia Opportunity (PRC04DJ-6.JPG)
Lu Qian and her husband worked at Amity Press and were led to the Lord by Br. Ke. The sudden death of her husband shook her faith but God showed his love in the comfort of Christian friends. Photo: Asia Opportunity (PRC04DJ-6.JPG)

“After my conversion,” she says, “whenever I faced any work stress or difficulties, conflicts with others or relationship problems, I would turn to the Lord for comfort and strength.”

Tragically, in November 1997 her husband was killed in an accident and she was left alone to look after their six-year-old son. Her grief was deep and she could not be consoled.

The loss of her husband was too great a blow for her and she cried out to God, “Why did you let such a tragedy happen to me when I believed in you? Why is my life such a torture?…”

Faith restored

For four or five years, her faith was shaky and she was full of doubts. But she was grateful to God for not giving up on her, and little by little her faith returned.

Now Lu Qian says she has fully recovered. Her faith in God has been restored and her commitment to him is total.

What brought her back was the love that God seemed to show her through the Christians around her. When her grief and loneliness were at their worst, Brother Ke and his family were among the many friends who helped her.

She also drew comfort from the then Board Chairman of APC, the Rev Chow Lien Hwa. At the company function last January, Mr Chow encouraged and affirmed each member of staff as being important to the company. Lu Qian, who had been feeling useless, was greatly encouraged by the message. She could not stop crying – but this time her tears were tears of joy.

“I could feel the love of God encompassing me,” she said. “His peace and joy filled my heart. I could feel that God’s love was not just encompassing me, it was encompassing all the workers in the company. God loves everybody.” (WR 389/27 - 12.04/01.05)