Xuesong Wang

I came to church in 2009 and was baptized in 2010. After that, I joined a small group and heard many testimonies about the purchase of our church building. Through the process of purchasing our church building, I believe God desires to gain us as His people, not just expand a physical place. We need to come before Him, surrender, and fully obey. By nature, I don’t easily submit, but my journey has been about obedience. When Brother Guohao asked me to join the intercessory prayer team, I agreed without hesitation, thankful for the opportunity.

I have come to truly realize that we must entrust everything into God’s hands and that everything begins with prayer. I’ve experienced spiritual growth and hope this building project brings spiritual transformation to us all.

I also have a small testimony regarding offering. After deciding to follow Christ, the first spiritual battle was tithing. I prayed to overcome it before my baptism. Thank the Lord — He helped me pass this test quickly and even joyfully, in a very special way. On a business trip, I saw a CNN program about the struggles that African-American families faced during the 2008 financial crisis. A couple’s income was cut in half after the husband lost his job. When the wife received the $2000 salary on her pay day, she still wrote a check for a $200 tithe. When asked why, she replied, “This $2,000 is from God. God only asks me to return a tenth — how could I be unwilling?” Hearing that deeply moved me. I realized everything I have is by God’s grace, not by my own merit. At that moment, I had no problem tithing.

The journey of faith has many lessons, not just tithing; sometimes God calls for more. The building of Bethel Hall may be another offering test for us: are we willing to fully lay ourselves down? It’s not easy, but through prayer, God will help us overcome. My personal understanding is that God, who has the power to accomplish it all by Himself, chose us to participate because through this project, He is shaping us, gaining us, and transforming us. This is God’s beautiful plan. Praise the Lord!

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Sister L

Two years ago, I came to this church looking for a home church. For about two or three months, I hadn’t settled anywhere, so I temporarily stopped tithing. Later, even after I decided to stay, I found that I could no longer go back. Somehow, tithing felt impossible again. I thought to myself, “It’s fine to give symbolically. After all, God cares about the heart, not the numbers.” People often say it takes 21 days to build a habit. But after three months without tithing, I had actually built a new habit — the habit of not giving. And I noticed something else: once I stopped tithing, I seemed to save more every month!

Until last May, when Brother Jeff shared a message on “How to know if you are serving Mammon.” One line pierced my heart: “Do I always hesitate or calculate carefully when it comes to giving to God?” The following Sunday, the pastor preached on a similar topic. Through these messages, I saw the greed in my own heart, and the Holy Spirit reminded me of my lack of faith. God brought to mind how He had always provided for me abundantly in times when I desperately needed money — how I never lacked anything. He reminded me of my college years, when I worked part-time and earned barely over a thousand dollars a month — yet I could tithe with full confidence. Now, my income is several times higher, yet I forgot that everything came from God, and instead I held tightly to what I had.

Jesus said, “Whoever is faithful in little will also be faithful in much.” I realized that if I wasn’t willing to obey in this “little” area now, I wouldn’t obey even if my income increased. If I allowed Mammon to rule my life while claiming Christ as Lord, I was only deceiving myself. So I prayed, repented, and decided to resume tithing. Unexpectedly, the next month I got into a car accident. In that moment, I could almost feel Satan laughing and challenging my faith in giving. I prayed, “Lord, I will not give Satan the chance to win. What I promised You, I will do.” Two days later, the friend who was in the car with me came to me and said she wanted to pay half of the repair cost, because she felt she was partly responsible. At that moment, I clearly knew that this was God’s hand. I literally shouted, “Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!”

This year, when I planned to resign without another job lined up, after tithing that month I prayed, “Lord, this may be my last tithe for a while. I won’t have income next month. Once I get a job again, I’ll resume tithing.” But God seemed determined not to let me repeat the same mistake. The very moment I submitted my resignation, He opened the door for another job immediately, with an even higher salary. God’s provision never lacked! In the past year since resuming tithing, I have never experienced financial lack. Instead, I noticed my savings did not decrease because of giving. Now, I am even able to give beyond the tithe and learn generosity. I thank the Lord that someone like me, who once clung tightly to money, has now learned to open my hands, and has closed the door where blessings used to leak away.

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Brother W

Last year, as the church building project advanced, along with the difficulties and challenges we encountered, and through the sincere sharing of brothers and sisters in my small group, I came to understand more deeply that “building” is not merely the stacking of bricks and stones; it is the participation and response of every believer in their spiritual life. What the church is building is not only a sanctuary, but it is also preparing the next generation of spiritual leaders. I remember Pastor Yu saying in a Sunday message: “If a person has not yet passed the test of offering, his spiritual journey has in fact not truly begun.” That sentence pierced my heart like a needle. At that moment, I felt ashamed — I had believed in the Lord for many years, yet had never practiced stable, consistent giving. Right then, I resolved to learn obedience and discipline in the area of offering.

At first, some brothers and sisters suggested I give by check because there is no service fee. So I followed their advice: every payday, I would write a check and put it in the offering box before our Friday small group meeting. It went smoothly at first, but soon challenges arrived. Sometimes I forgot to prepare or bring the check, delaying the offering, and when that delay coincided with a large credit card bill, a thought would arise: Should I reduce my offering amount? Or postpone the offering just this once? Those hesitations and struggles — were they not the whispers of Mammon? Quietly tempting my heart, causing me to waver between calculation and faith. During that time, I clearly saw that I was still not simple in my offering, nor could I give with complete joy and surrender.

Later, I discovered that Zelle had added a recurring transfer feature. I could set it to transfer every two weeks to exactly match my pay cycle, with no service fee. I immediately set it up. From then on, the offering no longer passed through my hands; instead, it flowed directly from my account to the church. And although I saw a smaller paycheck each cycle, my heart felt a special peace. In that moment, I understood that everything already belongs to God. It returns to where it always belonged.

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Sister E

The moment I heard that the church was going to build God’s house, I immediately told the children: “God is building His home — and we are all going to build it together!” Children are very straightforward. Right away, they went to their drawers and pulled out the money they had saved over many days. Their little hands clutched their red-envelope money tightly, hearts aching with reluctance. Their sentences were exactly what adults secretly think too: “But I still want to buy…” and “Then I’ll only have…” They simply said out loud what grown-ups keep in our hearts! Yes, we all want to follow — and we all struggle. Because the path of giving is real; this spiritual discipline goes straight to the heart.

For the next few nights, our bedtime stories changed to Nehemiah rebuilding the wall, the boy with the five loaves and two fish, and conversations about storing up treasures in heaven. During that time, I saw how soft, how pure children’s hearts are. They turned around quickly. When they carefully counted their money, gently tucked the bills into the offering envelope, and in crooked handwriting wrote: “For Jesus to build His house” my heart was deeply moved. We too may feel pain or wrestle inside for many reasons. But in that moment when we choose to give — out of love for the Lord, with a willing heart, taking a step of discipleship. I believe the Lord looks at each of us with His infinite, loving eyes. So now, whenever it’s time to give, I think of the Lord’s eyes. And the moment I do, the struggle disappears — leaving only endless love and gratitude.

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Brother W

Before we had finalized most of our wedding details, we had already decided to dedicate all the honeymoon funds gifted to us to the Bethel church building project. This decision was not difficult for us, because the burden for the church building had already been planted deeply in our hearts long ago. When we were thinking about how we wanted to give, this option naturally came to mind. Of course, the decision was also easy partly because at that time we didn’t yet know how much we would actually receive. But we felt that since these gifts represented the blessings and love of our family and friends, we were willing to let those blessings become part of the building of God’s house so that this money could become a blessing to even more people.

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Bro. Dajun

Every year when I attend CTC, I am deeply moved by the brothers’ and sisters’ love for the Lord and for the church. This year was no exception. Many CTC students usually listen online to our church messages, and they know that SVCA is currently building a church facility. One after another, people began to give offerings specifically for the building fund. To let everyone know the progress, on the last day of CTC, we had a video update about the building project.

Not long after, I received a photo from our finance co-worker — it was a pearl necklace and a note. The note read: “Offering for SVCA church building. May the Lord be pleased and use it.” When I saw that photo, I was deeply moved. I thought: in the first few days of the conference, this sister had probably already given all the cash she had, and she had nothing left to offer. Then, as she looked down and saw the pearl necklace around her neck, the Holy Spirit touched her heart — she took off the necklace and offered it to the Lord, for the building of His church. We often say, “I’m willing to offer my five loaves and two fish to the Lord.” Yet what we call “five loaves and two fish” is often just a portion of what we have. But the boy’s five loaves and two fish were everything he had at that moment. And this sister’s offering was the same — a complete offering, giving all that she had to the Lord. This testimony reminds us once again: There is no cost too high but only glory we cannot yet see. Have you seen the glory of God at work among us?

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Sister P

The moment that moved me the most at LDC was when Brother Ernest stood on stage and said, “I don’t know if I will be able to come again next year.” The look he exchanged with Pastor Yu spoke thousands of unspoken words. It was the look that says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race.” Their whole lives have truly been lives burnt for the Lord. I believe when they meet the Lord, they will surely rejoice, for they are worthy to hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” But what about me? When I stand before the Lord, what will He say to me? When He asks what I have done with the talents He entrusted to me, will I have an answer?

Last year, during the LDC alter call, I did not go forward. As I watched the seats around me empty, my heart remained hardened. Brother Ernest spoke about the true meaning of worship — to offer and obey — and he shared a testimony from a brother who said, “I want to hold my hands loosely, so God will not have to pry anything out of them.” In that moment, I was deeply touched — and ashamed. I often try to grasp even things that I don’t have. When I hold on tightly, how can God work in me?

This time, the Lord gave me a small reminder about tithing. Since changing jobs, my income decreased while my rent increased, so I quietly changed tithing from pretax to post-tax, and had felt uneasy about it. This gentle prompting came again, and immediately excuses rose in my heart. But this time I chose not to make excuses. I chose to learn to open my tightly-clenched hands. I also thought about who I was two years ago. I only wanted God to heal my brokenness, but I did not want to be broken by God. I thought, “God has so many vessels, He doesn’t need me.” But this year I understand: if in this life I cannot be used by God, that would truly be a loss. So this year, when the calling came, I went forward immediately and asked the Lord to use my life. Thank the Lord! Only He knows how long I have wandered — and it is only by His grace that I have come to this point today.