Humble and Yielding, Pleasant to All—the Lord Is Near
After I graduated from the Full-Time Training in 2014, I served full-time in New Jersey. We were required to attend all seven conferences a year, and only thus did I have opportunity to fellowship with Brother Yucheng. On several occasions during the summer training, I was charged by Brother Fulin (福臨) to go to the church in Cerritos to pick up the outlines, with verses attached, that the saints from Taiwan had brought. Each time I saw Brother Yucheng personally presiding over the distribution; and when he heard that I was from the church in Franklin, he would always show some special care.
The times when I really had more opportunity to fellowship with the brother were two private encounters during the New Spring Chinese-speaking conference in 2018, which left a deep impression on me and which I will never forget all my life. One was at the love feast in the restaurant at the Taipei Arena: while everyone was fellowshipping on one hand and enjoying the rich love feast on the other, I suddenly noticed that one man alone was standing at the very front, watching over the whole scene, his eyes gentle, a smile on his face. That was Brother Yucheng. The young sisters from Lesotho who sat at my table also noticed him, and at once could not help but want to go take a photo with this attractive patriarch. As the small-group leader of these seven African sisters who were studying in mainland China, I immediately rushed out and stood in front of them, saying, "Let me first get his consent." With trepidation I went forward to ask, and to my surprise the brother gladly agreed, and so we joyfully took what is now a very precious photo. Once this precedent was set, the brothers and sisters all rushed up and surrounded Brother Yucheng asking to take photos. The brother smiled so broadly that his mouth would not close; he let everyone arrange him as they pleased, all the while asking after everyone—his amiability was truly off the charts!
After the conference, at the entreaty of a brother who had been my childhood companion, I stayed in Taipei for several days. The brother arranged for me to stay at a guesthouse on Xinyi Road near Yongkang Street in Taipei. I looked online and found that the Xinyi branch of the pastry shop I wanted to visit was a forty-minute walk away. Along the way I would pass the military dependents' village where I had grown up (now turned into a park), and pass the Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University where I had often played ball as a child; but most importantly, I would also pass the Christian Faith Building, inside which there was an exhibition of the church's history—one of the purposes of this trip. No sooner had I entered the Christian Faith Building than I saw a familiar figure coming down from the elevator carrying a Bible bag—it was indeed Brother Yucheng. When he saw me, he actually greeted me first, telling me he had finished work and was going home, and asking what I had come for. I told him I wanted to go to the fourth floor to see the exhibition, and afterward wanted to go to a nearby pastry shop to buy some pastries. After hearing this, he said that he too liked the snacks at that shop, only that he could not eat much of them, and he kindly told me to go downstairs, turn left, cross the traffic light, and walk five minutes, and I would be there—a shop with sea-blue décor, very easy to find. At that moment I truly felt overwhelmed by such favor: that such a responsible one of the church, meeting a little brother after work, would yet, like an elder brother, inquire so carefully, make sure all was well, and only then go home with his mind at rest. Once again I came to appreciate that Brother Yucheng was humble and yielding and pleasant to all—truly a pattern to us.
No wonder he said, "Today, that we are able to serve the Lord—what a glory it is! What a value it is! Though the road we have walked may have had some bumps along the way, yet the Lord bears responsibility for us." Thank the Lord! He was one who truly treasured this "glory" and "value" that come from the Lord, and only thus could he serve people so humbly. In our service we truly fall far short; he is indeed our very best pattern.