By Lydia, India

I was born into a Christian family. My father is a pastor, and my mother also serves in the church. I believed in the Lord with them since I was little. My parents were very devout believers in the Lord and were also very friendly to others. Our family was very harmonious. My childhood friends all envied me for having a happy family, and I also felt quite lucky. As I grew up, I saw that the people around me often sinned, and I was also living in the bondage of sin. To protect my own interests, I would lie and act with impetuousness, and I would also be jealous of and hate others. I was very troubled. I didn’t even like this version of myself, so how could God like me? I often cried and confessed my sins to God, but afterward, I still sinned involuntarily. I was very worried—if I continued like this without repenting and changing, would I be able to enter the kingdom of heaven in the end? So I asked my dad, “I sin so often—will the Lord forgive me? What can I do to achieve true repentance?” My dad said, “Don’t worry. As long as we confess and repent to the Lord, He will forgive our sins. The Lord will not abandon us.” My dad’s answer could not resolve my confusion at all.

In March 2020, the pandemic became ever more serious, and all institutions were ordered to close. At that time, I was studying for a bachelor’s degree in nursing, and I also went home because my school was closed. In April, I received an invitation on Facebook from my friend Ella to attend an online gathering of The Church of Almighty God. After a period of investigation, I came to understand the truth of God’s incarnation, and found out that God has done three stages of work to save mankind, and that God’s work of judgment in the last days is to cleanse and transform people’s satanic dispositions, free them from the bondage of sin, and thoroughly save them. This was exactly the path to breaking free from sin that I had been looking for. The words expressed by Almighty God dispelled the confusion that had dogged me for years, and from my heart, I determined that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus. After that, I often attended gatherings. I could understand some truths from every gathering, and my heart was really supplied. Later, I shared hymns of God’s words from The Church of Almighty God on Facebook, and a pastor saw them. He then told my dad about my belief in Almighty God. My dad questioned me, “Are you attending online gatherings of The Church of Almighty God? Someone told me you have believed in a heresy. Do you know that? The way preached by The Church of Almighty God is not in accordance with the Bible. You are not allowed to believe in it anymore! How can my daughter disobey me and believe in another way?” My dad was very concerned about saving his own face, and even said, “My own daughter is unwilling to listen to my teachings. How can I continue to teach others?” I said, “Dad, you also know that we all live in sin and often sin involuntarily, and we can’t break free even if we want to. This is because the sinful nature within us has not been resolved. In the last days, Almighty God expresses the truth and does the work of judgment, precisely to resolve our sinful nature, to cleanse and save us from sin.” After hearing this, my dad said very angrily, “It is impossible for God to do new work! Although we have not yet been cleansed, if we pray and confess to the Lord, He will forgive us. There is no need for any work of judgment and cleansing at all.” I said to my dad, “Many prophecies in the scriptures mention that the Lord will do another stage of work when He returns. The Lord Jesus said: ‘I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come’ (John 16:12-13). ‘Sanctify them through Your truth: Your word is truth’ (John 17:17). This tells us that God comes in the last days to express the truth and cleanse people of their sins. Almighty God’s work of the last days completely fulfills these prophecies. The Lord is holy. ‘Without holiness no man shall see the Lord’ (Hebrews 12:14). We all live in sin now: We are selfish, greedy, arrogant, self-righteous, and often show ourselves off; we lie, cheat, vie for fame and gain, and so on. Without casting off these sins, we are simply not qualified to enter the kingdom of heaven!” But my dad wouldn’t listen to my words at all. To make me deny Almighty God, he told me all the baseless rumors that the CCP uses to smear The Church of Almighty God, and said with a sad face, “It’s all my fault. I didn’t take good care of you, and you were misled by them.” Hearing these words made me very sad, and I was a little affected. I silently prayed to God in my heart, begging Him to guide me. I thought about how, in the two months I had been believing in Almighty God, I had read many of God’s words and seen that the words of Almighty God are all the truth. They were guiding me to cast off my corrupt disposition and live out normal humanity. They also gave me some knowledge of God’s righteous disposition. I really yearned for God’s words in my heart, and every time I ate and drank God’s words, I could enjoy the presence of the Holy Spirit. My heart was supplied and had peace and joy. This was what I had personally experienced. I knew clearly that only the truths expressed by Almighty God could cleanse my corrupt disposition, and save me from the bondage of sin. No matter what my dad said, I had to persist in believing in Almighty God. I wanted to show my dad the words of Almighty God on my phone, but he wouldn’t let me take it out, and shouted at me, “If you want to know anything, read the Bible. If you don’t understand, come and ask me. Don’t listen to other teachings so thoughtlessly!” I was very dejected that my dad was clinging to the literal words of the Bible and not accepting the truth. At that time, my dad took my phone away, and I didn’t know if he would give it back to me, or if I could continue to attend online gatherings. I knew that being persecuted by my family was not an easy thing to experience, and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to stand firm because of my small stature. I silently prayed to God in my heart, begging Him to guide and protect me.

After a while, my dad again asked me to leave The Church of Almighty God. Seeing my silence, he became very angry, and asked me, “Are you going to obey my teachings, or follow those Chinese people who preach the return of the Lord Jesus?” I replied, “I will follow God.” Right after I said that, my father slapped me across the face. He asked me two more times, and both times my answer remained the same. Each time I answered, he slapped me. My younger brother said, “Sis, why are you so stubborn? Just listen to Dad, and keep our family as harmonious as it was before.” I didn’t say anything, and my dad went to another room in a rage. I recalled that the Lord Jesus said: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law” (Matthew 10:34–35). I knew that the Lord had returned, and that some people could recognize His voice and follow Him, while others who didn’t recognize Him would resist Him. Even though we were one family, we would be divided because of this. This was something I had to face. After two or three minutes, my dad called me into another room. Holding a long, thick stick, he interrogated me, saying, “Tell me! Who are you going to listen to?” I said, “I listen to God!” My father flew into a rage, jabbed at my shoulder with the tip of the stick, bruising my shoulder. My brother also shouted from the side, telling me not to believe in Almighty God. My dad said, “Right now, I am Satan! If you don’t listen to me, I’ll kill you!” At that moment, I was very surprised. I never thought that my father, whom I had once trusted and respected, a man who seemed so friendly and humble in his faith in the Lord, could say such things. He had been a believer for many years and was a great pastor who had preached in all kinds of places. He had been completely revealed in God’s work of the last days. When he heard the news of the Lord Jesus’ return, he had no heart to seek at all. In essence, he was a disbeliever! At first, I thought my dad would listen to me testify to God, but at that moment, I knew that although he was a pastor, he had no God-fearing heart at all. He was a false shepherd who served God yet resisted Him. He didn’t love the truth; what he cared about was his face. He only appeared devout on the surface, but deep down, he hated the truth. I said to my dad, “I will not give up the true way.” My dad was very angry and ordered me to delete the contact information of all my brothers and sisters from my phone. He also kept threatening me and started hitting me in the face. Seeing my dad like this, I felt very scared and a little weak. I had never thought I would suffer such persecution for believing in God. I didn’t know what else I would face. If I had to suffer more pain or face death in the future, could I still stand firm in my testimony? At that moment, I thought of the experiences of the brothers and sisters in China who suffered persecution by the CCP. They were able to stand firm in their testimony for God amid all kinds of torture. What did this little bit of persecution I was suffering amount to? God has graced me by bringing me before Him and supplying me with the truth. I should stand firm in my testimony. I couldn’t give up the true way just because of cowardice. Seeing my firm attitude, my dad suddenly hit my head hard with the stick. My brother, worried that my head would be cracked open, stepped forward to stop my dad, and shouted at me, “Do you want to die at Dad’s hands? Why are you so stubborn? Why can’t you just admit you’re wrong?” My dad grabbed my hair and pushed me around, continuing to jab my shoulder with the tip of the stick. He didn’t stop until my shoulder was black and blue with bruises. Seeing my dad like this, I felt a little weak in my heart.

Later, I read a passage of God’s words that gave me faith and strength. Almighty God says: “You must reach a place where, no matter what circumstances you encounter, your resolve to pursue and gain the truth cannot be changed. Only then will you be someone who truly loves and pursues the truth. If, when something befalls you and you encounter a little difficulty, you retreat, become negative and dejected, and give up on your resolve, this will not do. You must have the drive to put your life on the line, and say, ‘No matter what happens—even if it means that I will die, I will not give up on the truth or my goal to pursue the truth.’ Then no difficulty will be able to stop you. If you really encounter difficulties, and you are driven into a corner, God will act. In addition, you must have this understanding: ‘No matter what situations I encounter, they’ve all been arranged by God, and there are lessons within them I should learn. I may be weak, but I am not negative, and I am grateful to God for giving me the opportunity to learn lessons. I am grateful to God for setting up this situation for me. I cannot give up on my resolve to follow God and gain the truth. Were I to give up on it, that would be the same as conceding to Satan, ruining myself, and betraying God.’ This is the kind of resolve you must have. Whatever matters you encounter, they are all little episodes in the growth of your life. You must not let them change the direction you are advancing toward. When you meet with difficulties you can seek and wait, but the direction you are advancing toward must not change, is that not right? (It is.) No matter what others say, or how they treat you, and no matter how God treats you, your resolve must not change” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Only by Often Living Before God Can One Have a Normal Relationship With Him). I understood from God’s words that God hoped that I could persist in following Him. Even if no one supported me and everyone rejected me, I couldn’t betray God. I had to stand firm in my testimony. Before, when I heard brothers and sisters fellowship that adversities and trials are God’s blessings, I didn’t understand what that meant. But through this experience, I gained some understanding. Through my family’s persecution, I saw Satan’s ugliness and wickedness. Satan wanted to use my family to force me to betray God and lose my chance to attain salvation, but God always protected me, gave me faith, and guided me to overcome one difficulty after another. God allowed the persecution from my family to come upon me to perfect me, so that I could understand the truth and gain discernment. I felt that only God loves people most. I resolved to myself, “No matter how weak my flesh might be, I will never give up on pursuing the truth.” Later, I was able to get my phone back because I had to take a nursing exam online. But my parents, worried that I would continue to attend online gatherings of The Church of Almighty God, kept a close watch on me. I was often scolded, and my family spoke to me coldly and harshly. I felt very pained and weak, and often prayed to God to give me faith and strengthen my heart.

One day in November 2020, I was attending an online gathering, and my mom suddenly burst in, saying, “Someone knows you believe in Almighty God and is asking your dad about it.” My dad then called me into the kitchen and asked if I was still attending gatherings of The Church of Almighty God. I replied, “I am.” My dad said in a gentle tone, “My dear daughter, why are you still attending gatherings of The Church of Almighty God? I have warned you before, that is not the true way. I told my co-workers that you had already left The Church of Almighty God, but you’re still attending their gatherings. You disappoint me so much!” I tried to explain, but my dad spat in my face and punched me in the eye. My mom stepped in to stop him, and my dad tried to pull my hair, saying that if I didn’t follow him in believing in the Lord at church, he would kill me. I was very scared at that moment, and silently prayed to God in my heart. Seeing that I did not deny Almighty God, my dad tried another tactic. He said, “I’ve preached for so many years, and no one has ever said there was a problem with my sermons, but now my own daughter is opposing me. Since you won’t listen to my sermons and think others’ sermons are correct, I will resign as a pastor. Pack your things, we’re going back to our hometown tonight!” My mom and brothers all cried, begging me to change my mind. My dad was furious, not only warning and trying to beat me, but also angrily punching the wall. He said he would drive out that very night to end his life. I was terrified. If something really happened to my dad, I would feel that I had terribly failed him. Although I realized that this environment was a test of me, I was still very scared. My mother forced me to go apologize to my father, saying that if anything happened to him, it would be all my responsibility, and that she wouldn’t forgive me, and neither would my siblings. She also said I was very intransigent and did not consider their feelings. Seeing my family so hurt and upset, I felt very weak. Just then, I thought of God’s words describing the methods Satan uses to corrupt people: “The first is control and coercion. That is, Satan will do everything possible to take control of your heart. What does ‘coercion’ mean? It means using threatening and forceful tactics to make you obey it, making you think of the consequences if you do not obey. You are afraid and dare not defy it, so you give in” (The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique VI). I understood from God’s words that behind all this was Satan’s trickery. Satan uses various methods and means to control and coerce people, making them betray God. In my life, my family is very precious to me. If anything bad happened to them because of me, I would never be able to forgive myself. When my dad said he would drive off to end his life, and my mom said she wouldn’t forgive me, I felt that if I persisted in believing in Almighty God, my family would all berate me and kick me out of the house. This made me feel weak. But God’s words made me realize that Satan was using family affection to threaten me in an attempt to make me betray God. Once I obeyed my father and betrayed God, I would have no testimony. I made up my mind that I absolutely had to follow Almighty God, and that I couldn’t obey them.

That night, my dad took my phone again, and my mom slept with me to watch over me. They also said they would send me back to college as soon as possible, because there, I wouldn’t be allowed to use my phone and would hardly be allowed out, so it would be very difficult for me to attend gatherings or meet with my brothers and sisters. Lying in bed, I couldn’t stop crying. I prayed to God, asking Him to give me strength and courage. I knew that if I wanted to keep believing in God and doing my duty, my only choice was to leave home. Otherwise, they would definitely send me back to school to restrict my belief in God. But I was just a girl; where could I go? I had no money, so how would I live in the future? But if I stayed at home, they wouldn’t let me follow God. What should I do? During those few days, I couldn’t sleep, and my heart was in turmoil. Sometimes I thought that as I was the eldest daughter I should have been responsible for helping my parents care for my younger siblings. I was undergoing professional training at school and I’d be able to find a job after graduation. My parents had placed so much hope in me. How could I give up my studies? But as a created being, God had graced me with the opportunity to do my duty in His house. This was God’s exaltation, and even more so, it was the responsibility I should fulfill. How was I to choose between my studies and my faith? Thinking it over and over, I felt very conflicted and pained. At that time, I thought of a passage of God’s words: “Awaken, brothers! Awaken, sisters! My day will not be delayed; time is life, and to reclaim lost time is to save life! The time is not far off! If you fail the college entrance examination, you can study for it again and again. However, My day will not be further delayed. Remember! Remember! These are My kind words of exhortation. The end of the world has unfolded before your very eyes, and the great catastrophes will soon arrive. Which is more important: your life, or your sleep, your food and drink and clothing? The time has come for you to weigh these things! Doubt no longer! You’re too afraid to take these things seriously, aren’t you?” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 30). I knew from God’s words that the disasters have already begun. In 2016, there was a 6.7-magnitude earthquake where I lived, and in 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic broke out. The disasters are getting bigger and bigger. God’s hidden arrival to do the work of saving humanity is about to end, and time is now extremely limited. If I continued to complete my studies, it would delay my pursuit of the truth and my life growth, so I didn’t want to continue my schooling. I knew I would face many difficulties in the future, but I believed God would open up a way for me.

During that time, I would sometimes use my younger sister’s phone to log into my Facebook account to check messages. Brothers and sisters often sent me the words of Almighty God to help me. I saw God’s words: “Those whom God refers to as ‘overcomers’ are people who can still stand firm in their witness, maintain their faith and their loyalty to God, and no matter what, keep a pure heart before God and maintain their genuine love for God, while under the influence of Satan and while being laid siege to by Satan—that is, while they are amid the forces of darkness. In this way, they have stood firm in their witness before God. Such people are those whom God refers to as ‘overcomers.’ If your pursuit is excellent when God blesses you, but you retreat without His blessings, is this purity? Since you are certain that this way is true, you must follow it until the end; you must maintain your loyalty to God. Since you have seen that God Himself has come to the earth to perfect you, you should give your heart entirely to Him. If you can still follow Him no matter what He does, even if He determines an unfavorable outcome for you at the very end, this is maintaining your purity before God. Offering a holy spiritual body and a pure virgin to God means keeping a sincere heart before God. For mankind, sincerity is purity, and the ability to be sincere toward God is maintaining purity. This is what you should put into practice” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. You Should Maintain Your Loyalty to God). I understood from God’s words that those whom God intends to make into overcomers are those who can give their true hearts to God during trials. The greater the trials these people experience, the stronger their God-loving heart becomes. I saw that God uses trials to perfect people. Thinking about it, this really is true. Every time I experienced persecution, my faith in God became a little firmer. This repeated persecution was God practically setting up environments according to my stature to perfect my faith and enable my stature to grow. I thanked God from my heart. God’s words gave me the faith and courage to uphold the true way. I prayed to God, asking God to help me, to enable me to submit to God and stand firm in my testimony for Him, and not to complain about God no matter what pain I might face in the future. One evening, I remembered Peter’s experiences, which we had fellowshipped about previously in a gathering. When he was 18, Peter forsook his parents, family, and worldly prospects to walk the path of believing in God. Later, when he heard the Lord’s call, he followed the Lord, disregarding anything else. This made me think a lot. I knew Almighty God to be the true God, the Lord Jesus who has returned, but I had not paid any price for following God. I couldn’t follow God single-mindedly. I felt really ashamed. Thinking of this, my heart brightened, and I felt that God was guiding me to make a choice. I had to persist in following God and doing my duty. So, I used my sister’s phone to contact brothers and sisters, telling them I wanted to give up my studies and follow God, and that if my parents tried to stop me again, I would run away from home. A sister fellowshipped with me, saying, “You’re a girl, and your family will worry if you run away like that. It’s perfectly natural and justified for us to follow God. You can explain things clearly to your parents, telling them you are choosing to follow God. If they still try to stop you, then you will have to choose the path in life that you should walk.” I felt what the sister said was right, and began to think about how to state my position to my dad.

Unexpectedly, over the next few days, my parents’ attitude toward me suddenly became very good. They told me how they had worked so hard to take care of me ever since I was born. My dad often said, “My dear daughter, do you know how much we love you? You had asthma as a child, and at night, you had trouble breathing. Your mother and I would hold you on our laps and feed you medicine. At night, we would take turns holding you, helping you change your sleeping position. If we hadn’t taken care of you like that, how could you have recovered? We scrimped and saved to give you the best education so that you could stand out above the rest in the future. All our money was spent on you. You can’t forget our kindness!” Hearing my parents’ words, my heart ached, and I felt indebted to them. Later, in a gathering, I opened up in fellowship about my state. A sister read me a passage of Almighty God’s words: “Our lives and souls all come from God and were created by Him—they do not come from our parents, and certainly not from nature, but were given to us by God; it is just that our flesh was born of our parents, and our children were born of us, however, their fates are entirely in God’s hands. That we can believe in God is an opportunity given by Him; it is ordained by Him and is His grace. There is therefore no need for you to fulfill your obligation or responsibility to anyone else; you should only fulfill the duty to God that you ought to fulfill as a created being. This is what people must do above anything else, it is the main thing and primary affair that people most ought to complete in their lives. If you do not fulfill your duty well, you are not a created being that is up to standard. In the eyes of others, you may be a good wife and loving mother, an excellent housewife, a filial child, and an upstanding member of society, but before God you are one who rebels against Him, one who has not fulfilled their obligation or duty at all, one who accepted yet did not complete God’s commission, one who gave up halfway. Can someone like this gain God’s approval? People like this are worthless” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Only by Knowing One’s Own Wrong Views Can One Truly Transform). After reading God’s words, I realized it was wrong for me to believe that my parents had given so much for me and were the ones who cared about me the most and that choosing to follow God would mean I was indebted to them. In fact, it is God who bestowed all this on me. My life and everything I need to grow were bestowed on me by God. That my parents raised me was also down to God’s sovereignty and arrangements. It is God to whom I am indebted, not my parents. I thought about how my parents said they had given me all the good things to enjoy and a good education, and that they loved me very much. In fact, they were only good to me on the surface. When faced with the great matter of the Lord’s return, they had always tried to stop me from accepting the true way. How was this love? They said such things to tempt me to betray God! I thanked the guidance of God’s words for allowing me to see through Satan’s schemes. Later, I spent a whole night writing a letter to my dad, in which I once again testified to him about Almighty God’s work. I also wrote about how I felt about not being able to read the words of Almighty God, and expressed my firm resolve to follow Almighty God. At the end of the letter, I wrote, “The prophecies of the Lord’s return have already been fulfilled. Almighty God is the Lord Jesus returned. I have fellowshipped a lot with you, but you refuse to listen and even persecute and obstruct me. I now request that you give me freedom of belief and that you allow me to attend gatherings. If you continue to obstruct me, then one day I will leave home. We live in a democratic country, yet you have taken away my right to freedom of belief. I am determined to follow Almighty God always; you cannot stop me.” I then showed the letter to my dad. After reading it, my dad said to me, “I forbid you from believing in Almighty God anymore. I have warned you three times. Why do you still insist on believing? Why do you bring this up again and again? Why do you still want to join their church?” I said to my dad, “I’ve already told you what needs to be said. No matter what, I will not give up following Almighty God!” My dad was silent for a moment, then said, “I had you study so that you could help me in various ways, but your knowledge now surpasses mine, and not only do you not help me, but you even say my teachings are wrong. How can I preach to others anymore? How can I be a pastor? If you love Dad, you must do as I say. The Bible says children must obey their parents. Only by obeying me can you prove that the way you believe in is correct.” I knew my father was afraid that my following Almighty God would affect his status as a pastor and damage his reputation among the believers. I said, “I am very fortunate to have been born into a Christian family and to have known since childhood that there is a God. But not all of your teachings are correct. I will obey the correct things you say, but I cannot obey the incorrect things you say. I have accepted God’s work in the last days and welcomed the return of the Lord Jesus. By obstructing me, you prevent me from hearing God’s voice and submitting to God. How can I listen to you?” Seeing that I would not compromise, my dad continued, “I will not force you. You can choose your own path. But you must know that if you listen to me, we can live together in harmony. If you choose to follow Almighty God, our family will be broken, because we follow different ways. That means we will have to take our separate roads from now on!” I was a little scared, and thought, “If I were separated from my family, where would I go? How would I live on my own?” But I knew that even if I lost everything, I could not betray God. So I once again firmly said to my dad, “I want to follow Almighty God and walk the correct path!”

After this, I went to stay at a friend’s house in another area. Although my friend didn’t believe in God, she could understand me when she heard my experience of persecution. Later, I sought help from a human rights organization. The staff, after hearing my statement, told me that if my family interfered with my freedom of belief, they could file a lawsuit and issue a warning to my parents. Then, they took me to a shelter. Here, I had what I needed to survive, but I couldn’t live church life or read God’s words, and my heart was still very pained. Later, I used someone else’s phone to contact the brothers and sisters. Sister Sylvia told me that my parents, in order to find me, had colluded with the police, who had arrested three brothers and sisters who had been in contact with me. I was shocked. I never thought the police would do such a thing. So I went to the human rights organization for help. Unexpectedly, that afternoon, my parents brought many police officers to the location of the human rights organization. My mom cried and begged me to come home, telling me they would not interfere with my faith. We then reached an agreement, and the human rights organization had my mom sign the agreement. The police tricked me, saying they had already released the brothers and sisters. But when I got to the police station, the brothers and sisters were still locked up in the detention center, and had been brutally beaten. One sister had even been beaten unconscious. I told the police why I had left home, and how my family had persecuted me, and I explained that India is a democratic country where freedom of belief is protected by law, and that my parents’ repeated attempts to force me to give up my faith were not in accordance with Indian law. A male police officer yelled at me fiercely, “What faith? Just stop it! You betrayed your parents for your faith. No matter what, you must obey your parents!” I was terrified by the police officer’s shouting. Before, I only knew that the CCP government resisted God. Now I saw that many police officers here also resisted and hated God. Finally, the police chief said, “We need to reach an agreement. You will return home and live with your parents, and your parents can no longer persecute you or prevent you from believing in God. According to Articles 25-28 of the Indian Constitution, Indians have the freedom of religious belief. You must all remember this.” My mom agreed.

On the third day after returning from the police station, my cousins, in collusion with my parents, tricked me into returning to my hometown and going to a church there. They had the pastor there pray for me to cast out my so-called “demons.” I tried to resist going, but I was no match for them. So, I carefully observed what they were going to do. They sang together, sounding as if they were very sad, closing their eyes, raising their hands, and shedding tears. A girl fainted, and they carried her to a bench, saying she had passed away but would wake up. They believed the girl would bring some news from heaven. Then they began to speak nonsense, saying I had been misled. From their actions, I saw how these religious people fool others, and also understood that God had allowed me to experience these things so I could grow in discernment, see clearly Satan’s wickedness, and see clearly how these religious people trick and mislead others. In just a few hours, they had deceived many of the people present. I silently said to myself, “No matter what they say, no matter what happens, I must stand firm in my position.” In the end, even when they all ganged up on me, I was not affected. Seeing that my faith in Almighty God was still firm, my family did something even more unbelievable. The next morning, my cousins and parents forcibly took me to a place where witchcraft was practiced. This was something I had never imagined—my parents, of all people, who had believed in the Lord Jesus for so many years, doing such a thing! I had heard before that when a sorcerer casts a spell on someone, that person might go mad. I was a little scared in my heart. But then I remembered a movie called A New Life Out of Tortures on the website of The Church of Almighty God. In the movie, the police drugged a sister to force her to betray God, attempting to make her mentally deranged. But the sister relied on God’s words to overcome the ravages and torture of the police, and ultimately stood firm in her testimony, shaming Satan. Thinking of this, I gained some courage. I sent a text message to Sister Sylvia, telling her everything that had happened. She told me to rely on God and also sent me some of God’s words. A passage of God’s words gave me strength, and gave me more faith to face what was to come. Almighty God says: “When God chooses a person and leads them from Satan’s power into His house, does Satan dare lay out any conditions for God? It doesn’t dare lay out any conditions, nor does it dare say anything. If God says, ‘This person is Mine, you are no longer permitted to touch them,’ then Satan obediently surrenders that person. This person’s food, clothing, lodging, transportation, and every move are under God’s care and eyes, and without God’s permission, Satan will not dare to touch that person again. What does this imply? It means that the person lives completely under God’s care and protection, with neither interference nor encroachment from outside forces, and that their day-to-day joy, sorrow, and pain are all under the scrutiny of God’s eyes, and under His care and protection” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Only in Performing the Duty of a Created Being Well Is There Value in Living). I understood from God’s words that Satan is also in God’s hands, and that without God’s permission, Satan dares to do nothing. I was no longer afraid of any way my family might try to scare me, or any tactics they might use to force me to betray God. Seeing that they, as Christians, could go and worship evil spirits, and that after believing in the Lord for so many years, they could do things that betrayed and shamed God, I felt particularly disappointed in them. Just because I had accepted Almighty God, they resorted to these methods to disturb me and force me to betray the true way. They hated the truth so much! I said to my mom, “Why are you doing this? Don’t you know this is witchcraft, that it’s Satan and evil spirits? You are believers in the Lord, yet, to stop me from accepting God’s new work, you have actually turned to Satan and evil spirits!” My mom said, “We’re doing this for your own good. Our prayers to God couldn’t change you, but Satan can help with this. We’re not here to worship them.” Seeing their true colors made me feel very sad. They were no different from disbelievers. What I didn’t expect was that the sorcerer, knowing my family’s purpose in bringing me there, said to me, “My dear, pray to the God you believe in. There is only one God, and the God you believe in is the right One.” I was very happy, and I truly saw God’s protection. God governs everything. After all their attempts, my parents saw they couldn’t do anything with me, so they agreed to no longer restrict my attendance at gatherings, to stop interfering with my faith, and to stop caring about whether I went to school or not. On January 12, 2021, I was finally able to openly attend gatherings online at home. Although sometimes my parents would still scold me and try to persuade me to go back to school to finish my studies when they saw me attending gatherings, I was no longer affected. Later, I left home and began doing my duty full-time in the church.

Having gone through this experience, I truly felt that everything is in God’s hands. God used these difficult circumstances to perfect my faith and to also allow me to grow in my discernment of my family and religious people. My family has believed in the Lord for generations, and many are pastors. I used to think that they sincerely served God and loved God, but God’s work in the last days revealed them all. Now I see clearly their essence of hating the truth. They don’t sincerely believe in God at all. They resist God. It’s the leadership and guidance of God’s words that has enabled me to stand firm amid the attacks from all sides by my family. Thanks be to God! I will never regret following Almighty God.