By Ma Jie, China

I was elected as a group leader in February of 2021, and not long after that, Sister Xin Yi spoke to me about the behavior of Liu Hua, the leader of her team. Xin Yi had noticed that Liu Hua wasn’t doing any real work and that she would suppress and exclude those whose views didn’t align with her own. When a brother exposed some of Liu Hua’s problems, she seized upon the slightest imperfection in his duty and made a big fuss of it, singling him out and excluding him whenever possible, which caused him to sink into negativity. There was one sister who disagreed with Liu Hua and refused to listen to her during a work discussion. Liu Hua held a grudge against her and would often attack her. Whenever that sister disagreed with Liu Hua and refused to go along with her ideas, Liu Hua would scold and berate her. She even once pointed at her and viciously said, “You have poor caliber and yet you’re still so meddlesome!” She relentlessly berated that sister to the point that she felt constrained and was afraid to do her duty alongside Liu Hua. Liu Hua had also attacked and sought revenge against other brothers and sisters who tried to give her suggestions or refused to follow her orders. She accused some of them of walking the path of an antichrist and punished others by deliberately not assigning them duties. These brothers and sisters really suffered as a result and felt oppressed. Her reckless suppression and punishment of those brothers and sisters had severely impacted the effectiveness of the church’s work. I was furious when I heard about Liu Hua’s behavior. After that, we spoke to those who were involved or knew about the situation and proved that all of these things were indeed true. Liu Hua had a sinister, malicious nature and a deep desire for status. She would hold a grudge and seek revenge on anyone who threatened her status and reputation by not bending to her will or agreeing with her, and would attack, exclude, and punish them. I read some of God’s words that say: “It is only evil people and antichrists who are possessed of such a vicious disposition. When a vicious person is faced with any kind of well-intentioned exhortation, accusation, teaching or help, their attitude is not to be grateful or accept it humbly, but instead to become enraged from shame, and to feel extreme hostility, hatred, and to even retaliate. … Of course, when they retaliate against another because of hatred, it is not because they have hatred toward or an old grudge against that person, but because that person has exposed their mistakes. This shows that the mere act of exposing an antichrist, regardless of who does so, and regardless of their relationship with the antichrist, can trigger their hatred and instigate their revenge. Regardless of who it is, whether they understand the truth, or whether they are a leader or worker or an ordinary member of God’s chosen people, as long as anyone exposes and prunes the antichrist, they will treat that person as an enemy. They will even openly say, ‘I’ll go hard on whoever prunes me. Whoever prunes me, exposes the skeletons in my closet, gets me expelled by the house of god, or robs me of my share of blessings, I’ll never leave them be’” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Nine (Part Eight)). “No matter what mistakes they have made or bad things they have done, those people with vicious dispositions will not allow anyone to expose them or prune them. Should someone expose and offend them, they will become enraged, retaliate, and never let the issue drop. They have no patience and tolerance for other people, and do not exercise forbearance toward them. What principle is their conduct based on? ‘I would rather betray than be betrayed.’ In other words, they do not tolerate being offended by anyone. Is this not the logic of evil people? This is exactly the logic of evil people. No one is allowed to offend them. To them, it is unacceptable for anyone to trigger them in even the slightest way, and they hate anyone who does so. They will keep going after that person and never let the matter go—that is how evil people are” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (14)). Through God’s words, I saw that evil people have particularly malicious natures and that they hate the truth and those who pursue it. They bear grudges against whoever offends them, and find opportunities to attack them and take their revenge, excluding and punishing that person until they become negative and defeated. Based on Liu Hua’s consistent behavior, it was clear that she would attack and exclude anyone who disagreed with her or threatened her interests. She would also distort the facts to judge and condemn people relentlessly until they became negative. I saw that Liu Hua had malicious humanity and that, in essence, she was an evil person who hated the truth and did not accept it. She needed to be expelled from the church. I knew that I couldn’t sit by and watch while an evil person like Liu Hua wreaked havoc in the church and had to quickly report this, so later we reported Liu Hua’s problems to our supervisor.

Yet, much to my surprise, just a few days later, I received a letter from our supervisor, Meng Ran, saying, “Liu Hua is competent and able to resolve some real issues. Although she does act upon her corrupt disposition at times, which leaves people feeling constrained, as long as she is willing to change, she should be given a chance to repent.” I just couldn’t understand this. Liu Hua had clearly been doing evil. This was not a one-off transgression, she consistently behaved like that. No matter how the brothers and sisters fellowshipped and advised her, she didn’t repent at all and she even suppressed and punished them. According to God’s words, Liu Hua was an evil person in essence, so why wouldn’t Meng Ran do anything about her? It seemed like Meng Ran was flagrantly protecting an evil person. At that time, some brothers and sisters reported some of Meng Ran’s evil deeds. A few years ago, Meng Ran had provoked dissension in the church, formed a faction, found things to use against the leaders and workers, and attacked them in order to grab a leadership position for herself. Her actions had disrupted the church life and she was asked to reflect in isolation accordingly. When this happened, Xin Yi had learned about Meng Ran’s behavior, and then fellowshipped and discerned it with the brothers and sisters. Because of this, Meng Ran bore a grudge against her. Later on, Meng Ran pretended to repent in order to gain back the trust of the brothers and sisters, and became a supervisor. After that, she went to work taking revenge against Xin Yi. One time, when Xin Yi pointed out certain deviations and issues in Liu Hua’s work, Liu Hua wouldn’t give in and got into an argument with her. Meng Ran knew that Liu Hua had issues in her duty, but she chose to side with her and isolate and suppress Xin Yi. This left Xin Yi feeling very repressed and miserable, and she fell seriously ill. Afterward, not only did Meng Ran not reflect on herself, she even took the opportunity to mock Xin Yi, and unfairly labeled her as an antichrist by misusing God’s words. She reprimanded Xin Yi harshly for walking the path of an antichrist and misled the other brothers and sisters into criticizing Xin Yi too. Based upon these actions, it was clear that Meng Ran had a vicious disposition.

Several days later, Meng Ran joined us at a gathering and defended Liu Hua, saying, “You can’t say that this is just Liu Hua’s problem, other people are at fault too. We should give her a chance to repent! She seems to be behaving quite well these days and has been very active in her duty….” When I tried to fellowship with Meng Ran about the principles for discerning evil people, she didn’t seem to listen to what I had said at all. This made us feel even more convinced that Meng Ran was consciously protecting Liu Hua. Meng Ran was a supervisor and she could clearly see that Liu Hua was an evil person, yet she didn’t do anything about it, and acted as her shield instead. What’s more, Meng Ran herself had a particularly malicious nature—she didn’t accept the truth, she continually disrupted and disturbed the church’s work, and she suppressed and punished the brothers and sisters. According to the principles, she was most likely an evil person too. Given the current situation, I knew that I should report this to my leader, and expose Meng Ran’s and Liu Hua’s actions to protect the church’s interests. But then it occurred to me that Meng Ran was a supervisor—she might suppress me like she had the others if I offended her by reporting her problems. I might be dismissed before these issues were even resolved. If Meng Ran found an excuse to stop me from doing my duty, how would I continue to pursue the truth and attain salvation? Realizing this, I sighed and thought, “Well, as the saying goes, ‘The bird that sticks its neck out is the one that gets shot.’ I should just let this go. The less trouble, the better. Protecting myself is what matters.” I started to feel like backing down and compromising, and I didn’t have the courage to practice the truth. But when I thought of the brothers and sisters being suppressed by Liu Hua and Meng Ran, and how they were living in constant suffering, I began to feel guilty. I went back and forth, unable to make up my mind—if I didn’t report this matter, I wouldn’t be protecting the church’s interests, but if I did report it, I might be stripped of my duty, and then I wouldn’t have good prospects or a good destination. At the time, I realized that there was something wrong with my state—wasn’t I acting like a coward? I lacked a sense of justice and I wasn’t showing consideration for God’s intentions. I couldn’t be so spineless and lacking in conscience, I had to make a stand to protect the church’s interests. But when it actually came time to report Liu Hua and Meng Ran, I felt timid and afraid, so I came before God and prayed, asking Him to guide me and give me faith and courage. After that, I recalled a passage of God’s words: “All of you say you are considerate of God’s burden and will defend the testimony of the church, but who among you has really been considerate of God’s burden? Ask yourself: Are you someone who has shown consideration for His burden? Can you practice righteousness for Him? Can you stand up and speak for Me? Can you steadfastly put the truth into practice? Are you bold enough to fight against all of Satan’s deeds? Would you be able to set your feelings aside and expose Satan for the sake of My truth? Can you allow My intentions to be satisfied in you? Have you offered up your heart in the most crucial of moments? Are you someone who follows My will? Ask yourself these questions, and think about them often” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 13). When I thought about God’s questions, I felt quite reproached. I often told others that we must be considerate of God’s burden and have a sense of justice, that we must practice the truth, expose and report antichrists and evil people in order to protect the church’s interests. But when something happened that threatened my own interests, I felt frightened and shrunk back. I had discerned that Liu Hua was an evil person, but when I saw that Meng Ran was protecting her, I felt intimidated by Meng Ran’s status and authority and I didn’t dare to hold to the principles. I worried that I’d be suppressed, stripped of my duty, and lose my opportunity to attain salvation, so I gave in to her status and authority. Wasn’t I compromising with Satan and bowing my head to it? I wasn’t protecting the church’s interests in my duty, I was only considering my own prospects and fate. At this key moment, I hadn’t prioritized the church’s interests, and I had stood idly by as evil people disrupted the church’s work and suppressed the brothers and sisters. Wasn’t I biting the hand that feeds? I was so selfish and despicable—where was my conscience and reason? As I considered all this, I became very remorseful and I knew that I had to make a stand and protect the church’s interests. I had to report Liu Hua’s and Meng Ran’s evildoing; I couldn’t let them continue to perpetrate evil in the church. After that, we reported Liu Hua and Meng Ran to our leader.

When the leader received our letter, she said that she would come to take care of the issue as soon as possible, but she ended up getting held up by some other matters. The days kept going by and I became impatient. I began to feel uneasy and wondered to myself, “Why is it taking so long for the leader to come and fix these issues? If she goes to inquire about the situation with other people first and Meng Ran finds out that we reported her, will Meng Ran punish us?” Just as I was feeling particularly tormented, I suddenly recalled a passage of God’s words: “When confronting real-life problems, how should you know and understand God’s authority and His sovereignty? When you are faced with these problems and do not know how to understand, handle, and experience them, what attitude should you adopt to demonstrate your intention to submit, your desire to submit, and the reality of your submission to God’s sovereignty and arrangements? First you must learn to wait; then you must learn to seek; then you must learn to submit” (The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique III). As I pondered over God’s words, I felt ashamed. I thought that when I reported the issue, it would be dealt with very quickly, so I started to worry when the leader’s arrival kept getting delayed. I lived in a state of anxiety, thinking only of protecting myself without the slightest bit of true faith in God. By reading God’s words, I understood that all things occur due to God’s sovereignty and arrangements. When we experience things, we must have faith in God’s sovereignty and learn to wait and submit. After realizing this, I prayed to God, entrusting this matter to Him and looking up to Him. To my surprise, soon after, Liu Hua was forced to resign for a number of reasons, including her inability to do real work. After that, the brothers and sisters were freed from her suppression and could do their duties normally. I saw that everything was in God’s hands, that it was all the result of His sovereignty and arrangements, and my faith grew stronger. But although Liu Hua had resigned, her evildoing still hadn’t been classified and handled, and Meng Ran’s issues still hadn’t been resolved. I knew we should keep reporting this until these problems were solved once and for all.

Several days later, Xia Yu, our leader, came to look into the situation and we informed her about the details of Liu Hua’s and Meng Ran’s evildoing. And yet, when we discussed Meng Ran’s behavior, we were shocked to find that Xia Yu didn’t agree with dismissing her. She claimed that Meng Ran was quite competent and even said, “Do you think it’s easy to cultivate a supervisor? We spent nearly two years cultivating Meng Ran. If we dismiss her just because you ask us to, where are we supposed to find her replacement? You think it’s easy doing our work?” Hearing this, I thought, “You’re only considering Meng Ran’s surface-level competence and failing to take into account her humanity and her nature essence. If you don’t discern and handle people based on their essence, where are the principles in that?” After that, Xia Yu said that she needed to look into the matter further and the gathering was promptly concluded. Later, we fellowshipped with Meng Ran twice more, but not only would she not accept it, she even pruned us. I saw that Meng Ran consistently refused to accept being pruned, and that she was averse to and hated the truth—she was showing herself to be an evil person. Yet, when we reported the situation to our leader, we were once again completely shocked by her response. Xia Yu wrote to us saying that Liu Hua had indeed done some evil deeds, but she was showing willingness to repent. Xia Yu said that she didn’t think Liu Hua was an evil person in essence, but that she simply had a very corrupt disposition. She told us that Liu Hua should be given another chance to repent. The letter also stated that although Meng Ran showed some behaviors of an evil person, these were just revelations of her corrupt disposition. At the end of the letter, Xia Yu urged us to reflect on and gain knowledge of ourselves, treat people fairly, and do more to help others. After reading the letter, I was stunned, and I felt repressed and dejected. If Xia Yu didn’t agree to do something about Liu Hua and Meng Ran, they would be free to continue tyrannizing the church, punishing and suppressing the brothers and sisters, and disrupting the church’s work. Wasn’t Xia Yu condoning the evildoing of evil people? I thought that since Xia Yu was a leader, she would help us take care of these evil people and protect the brothers and sisters. I never imagined that she would approach the issue in this way. It was very upsetting to see nothing being done about Liu Hua and Meng Ran, and I didn’t know what to do next. I was in a difficult position—I didn’t want to be involved in this matter anymore, but I felt uneasy and that I should persist in reporting it to the upper levels. But things were getting more and more complicated; I couldn’t afford to offend a supervisor, much less a leader. If I kept reporting these issues, would I end up facing the consequences? Them making life hard for me would be the least of my worries—they might even strip me of my duty, suppress, and expel me. How would I attain salvation then? The more I thought about it, the more worried, frightened, repressed, and agonized I felt. I realized that my state was wrong and hurriedly prayed to God, asking Him to guide me to practice the truth.

One day, I came across a passage of God’s words that said: “What is the attitude that people should have in terms of how to treat a leader or worker? If what a leader or worker does is right and in line with the truth, then you can obey them; if what they do is wrong and not in line with the truth, then you should not obey them and you can expose them, oppose them and raise a different opinion. If they are unable to do actual work or do evil deeds that cause a disturbance to church work, and are revealed to be a false leader, a false worker, or an antichrist, then you can discern, expose and report them. However, some of God’s chosen people do not understand the truth and are particularly cowardly; they fear being suppressed and tormented by false leaders and antichrists, so they don’t dare uphold principles. They say, ‘If the leader kicks me out, I’m finished; if he has everyone expose or forsake me, then I will no longer be able to believe in God. If I’m expelled from the church, then God will not want me and will not save me. And won’t my faith have been for nothing?’ Is such thinking not ridiculous? Do such people have true faith in God? Would a false leader or antichrist be representing God when they expel you? When a false leader or antichrist torments and expels you, this is the work of Satan, and has nothing to do with God; when people are cleared out or expelled from the church, this is only in line with God’s intentions when there is a joint decision between the church and all of God’s chosen people, and when the clearing out or expulsion is wholly in line with the work arrangements of God’s house and the truth principles of God’s words. How could being expelled by a false leader or antichrist mean you cannot be saved? This is the persecution of Satan and the antichrist, and does not mean that you will not be saved by God. Whether or not you can be saved depends on God. No human being is qualified to decide whether you can be saved by God. You must be clear about this. And to treat your expulsion by a false leader or antichrist as being expelled by God—is this not misinterpreting God? It is. And this is not only misinterpreting God, but also rebelling against God. It is also kind of blasphemous against God. And is misinterpreting God in this way not ignorant and foolish? When a false leader or antichrist expels you, why do you not seek the truth? Why don’t you seek out somebody who understands the truth in order to gain some discernment? And why do you not report this to the higher-ups? This proves that you do not believe that the truth reigns supreme in the house of God, it shows that you do not have true faith in God, that you are not someone who truly believes in God. If you trust in the almightiness of God, why do you fear the retaliation of a false leader or antichrist? Can they determine your fate? If you are capable of discernment, and detect that their actions are at odds with the truth, why not fellowship with God’s chosen people who understand the truth? You have a mouth, so why do you dare not speak up? Why are you so afraid of a false leader or antichrist? This proves that you are a coward, a good-for-nothing, a lackey of Satan. … If you believe in God, but instead of submitting to God, you give in to and take shelter in God’s enemies—the antichrists—and the result is that you are manipulated and abused by these antichrists, then you have brought this upon yourself. Do you not deserve it? If you treat the antichrist as your master, as your leader, as a shoulder to lean on, then you are taking refuge in Satan, you are following Satan, which means you have gone astray, and taken the wrong path, and set foot upon the road of no return. What attitude should you have toward antichrists? You should expose them, and do battle with them. If there’s only one or two of you and you’re too weak to face the antichrists alone, you should join forces with several people who understand the truth to report and expose these antichrists, and should keep going until they are cleared out” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Three: They Exclude and Attack Those Who Pursue the Truth). God’s words exposed my incorrect viewpoints. When it came to reporting these evil people, I had failed to uphold the principles, practice the truth, and protect the church’s interests time and time again, because I was afraid that the leaders and workers would suppress me, give me a hard time, or even condemn and expel me, and thus deprive me of the opportunity to attain salvation. As a result, I just turned a blind eye to their actions, and didn’t dare to uphold the principles and keep reporting and exposing them. I often talked about how the truth and Christ reign in God’s house, but when faced with an actual situation, I lacked true knowledge and faith in God, and didn’t believe that God rules over all things and governs our fates. I viewed the status and power of evil people as very significant, and I feared them. In fact, no matter how much status and authority false leaders, antichrists, and evil people attain, they still cannot control our destinies or decide if we attain salvation. No matter how savage they become, they cannot surpass God’s authority. Even if I was suppressed by evil people and couldn’t do my duty temporarily, that didn’t mean I’d lose my chance of being saved. God scrutinizes all things—so as long as I pursue and practice the truth, I can ultimately still attain God’s salvation. What’s more, these evil people cannot gain a solid footing in the church and they will all eventually be exposed and eliminated. But I had mistakenly believed that a leader controlled my prospects and destiny, and that as soon as I offended her, I would lose my duty and any chance of attaining salvation. How foolish and muddled I was! In what way did I have true faith in God? At that point, I reflected on why I hadn’t been able to practice the truth in this matter, and what the source of my issue was.

Later on, I came across this passage of God’s words: “Satan corrupts people through the education and influence of national governments and of the famous and great. Their devilish words have become man’s life and nature. ‘Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost’ is a well-known satanic saying that has been instilled into everyone, and this has become man’s life. There are other words of philosophies for worldly dealings that are also like this. Satan uses each nation’s traditional culture to educate, mislead, and corrupt people, causing mankind to fall into and be engulfed by a boundless abyss of destruction, and in the end, people are destroyed by God because they serve Satan and resist God. … There are still many satanic poisons in people’s lives, conduct, and behavior. For example, their philosophies for worldly dealings, their ways of doing things, and their maxims are all filled with the poisons of the great red dragon, and these all come from Satan. Thus, all things that flow through people’s bones and blood are of Satan. All of those officials, those who hold power, and those who are accomplished have their own paths and secrets to success. Are such secrets not perfectly representative of their nature? They have done such big things in the world, and no one can see through the schemes and intrigues that lay behind them. This shows just how insidious and venomous their nature is. Mankind has been profoundly corrupted by Satan. Satan’s venom flows through the blood of every person, and it can be said that man’s nature is corrupt, wicked, antagonistic, and in opposition to God, filled by and immersed in the philosophies and poisons of Satan. It has become, entirely, the nature essence of Satan. This is why people resist God and stand in opposition to God. Man can easily come to know themselves if their nature can be dissected in this way” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. How to Know Man’s Nature). Through the exposure of God’s words, I discovered the root cause of my inability to practice the truth: I had been too deeply corrupted by Satan. From a young age, I had been educated in school and conditioned by society, which had instilled me with many of Satan’s poisons, such as: “Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost,” “The less trouble, the better,” “Let things drift if they do not affect one personally,” and “Sensible people are good at self-protection, seeking only to avoid making mistakes.” Because I was living according to these satanic poisons, I always protected my own interests and considered my prospects and destiny first when things befell me, instead of thinking of the church’s interests. I had recognized that Liu Hua and Meng Ran were evil people, that they had obstructed and damaged the church’s work, and that the brothers and sisters had suffered unspeakably due to their suppression, but I chose to avoid and ignore the situation in order to protect my own interests. I wasn’t protecting the church’s work. It is God’s intention that all antichrists, evil people, and disbelievers are cleared out of the church, so that the brothers and sisters can live a normal church life, pursue the truth, and do their duties. Yet, I was timid and overcautious, and didn’t dare take a stand and expose those evil people, even after I saw them suppressing others and disrupting the church’s work, just so I could protect my own interests. Wasn’t I standing on the side of Satan and condoning these evil people as they tyrannized the church? Wasn’t I acting as their accomplice? I nominally believed in and followed God, but in reality, I was protecting Satan and standing on the side of evil people. At a crucial moment, I turned my back on the church and had only protected myself, instead of considering the church’s interests. I realized that I had been so deceitful and selfish. God’s kingdom wants those who are honest and have a sense of justice. Deceitful, selfish people who only protect their own interests are of Satan and God will not save them.

After that, I came across the following passage of God’s words: “Antichrists have extremely vicious dispositions. If you try to prune them or expose them, they will hate you and sink their teeth into you as if they were venomous snakes. You won’t be able to swing or shake them off no matter how hard you try. When you encounter such antichrists, do you feel afraid? Some people do get scared and say, ‘I don’t dare prune them. They are so fierce, like venomous snakes, and if they wrap their coils around me, I’m finished.’ What kind of people are these? They are too small of stature, they aren’t good for anything, they aren’t Christ’s good soldiers, and they cannot bear witness to God. So, what should you do when you encounter such antichrists? If they threaten you or try to take your life, would you be afraid? In such situations, you must quickly unite with your brothers and sisters and stand up, investigate, gather evidence, and expose the antichrist until they are cleared out of the church. This is thoroughly resolving the problem. … God’s chosen people should always bear God’s commission in mind. Cleansing evil people and antichrists away is the most crucial fight in the battle against Satan. If this fight is won, it will become an overcomer’s testimony. Battling against Satans and devils is an experiential testimony that God’s chosen people should have. It’s a truth reality that overcomers must possess. God has bestowed so much truth upon people, has led you for such a long time, and has provided so much for you, for the purpose of you bearing witness and safeguarding the work of the church. It turns out, when evil people and antichrists do evil deeds and disturb the work of the church, you become timid and withdraw, fleeing with your arms over your head—you are a good-for-nothing. You cannot overcome Satans, you have not borne witness, and God detests you. In this critical moment, you must stand up and wage war against Satans, expose the evil deeds of antichrists, condemn and curse them, giving them no place to hide and cleansing them away from the church. Only this can be counted as gaining victory over Satans and ending their fate. You are one of God’s chosen people, a follower of God. You cannot be afraid of challenges; you must act according to the truth principles. This is what it means to be an overcomer. If you are afraid of challenges and make compromises because you fear retaliation from evil people or antichrists, then you are not a follower of God, and you are not one of God’s chosen people. You are a good-for-nothing, inferior even to service-doers” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Nine (Part Eight)). God’s words instilled me with faith and strength. I had to stop being afraid of Satan’s forces of darkness, I had to stop protecting myself and being useless. I needed to make a stand to expose the evil people in the church and protect the church’s interests—that was my duty and responsibility. God’s words also showed me a path of practice: The powers of one person alone are limited, but I could band together with other brothers and sisters who had a sense of justice to report and expose those evil people, and thereby protect our church life, stop the brothers and sisters from being disrupted by Satan’s forces, and make sure that the evil people were addressed in a proper manner. Even if I was suppressed and punished, I wouldn’t give in to Satan’s forces. After that, I stopped being constrained by Satan’s dark influence, and I no longer considered my own prospects and destiny. I joined together with other brothers and sisters and reported Meng Ran’s issues to another leader. After looking into the situation, the leader dismissed Meng Ran. I was ecstatic when I saw Meng Ran finally being dismissed and filled with gratitude toward God. After that, we helped the leader take stock of all of Liu Hua’s and Meng Ran’s evildoing. They both were subsequently classified as evil people and expelled, while Xia Yu was dismissed for being a false leader because she had failed to do real work and tolerated evil people running amok doing bad things in the church. Free from the disruption of those evil people, peaceful tranquility returned to our church life, and the brothers and sisters were able to go about their duties normally. Soon after that, every project in the church started to yield results.

Through this experience, I came to see that all things are subject to God’s sovereignty and arrangements, and I also witnessed God’s righteousness. Satan’s evil forces cannot gain solid footing in God’s house—those that ought to be exposed are all eventually exposed and eliminated. Looking back on how Meng Ran obstructed us when we reported and exposed Liu Hua, and how Xia Yu attempted to block us from reporting Meng Ran—I hadn’t understood why God would allow that to happen at the time, but now I see that through Liu Hua, God exposed an evil person and a false leader who were more deeply concealed, one after the other. Through this, I gained discernment and learned valuable lessons. God is truly wise! Though the process of reporting them was full of twists and turns, God’s words guided me every step of the way, and instilled me with knowledge of God’s wisdom and almightiness. I saw that the truth and righteousness truly reign in God’s house. This gave me even deeper faith in God and helped me gain an understanding of my selfish, deceitful nature. I never could have learned any of this in a comfortable environment. Thanks be to God!