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The story of
Sister Ruth and her
'Songs of
Caanan'.
Many
remarkable stories have come out of China in the last few
decades, and the story of Lu Xiaornin (Sister Ruth) is without
doubt one of most
encouraging and inspiring.
Xiaomin was born into a Chinese Muslim community, the largest in
the whole country, in 1970. Her family had no connection at all
with Christianity, and she
showed no special aptitude or unusual intelligence at
school. Her schooling was badly interrupted by sickness, and the
only book that she had access to at home was a Chinese
dictionary. After she had
left school Xiaomin helped with her family's agricultural
chores, and it was during this time that an aunt, who had
formerly been a Muslim, told her about Jesus Christ. The young
girl accepted the gospel message, and joined a house Church
fellowship nearby. When she was 20 years old, Xiaomin attended a
Christian gathering held in a field near her home, where she
heard about the Holy Spirit from other Christians who had had
been taught by Dennis
Balcombe several years earlier.
Some time later Xiaomin experienced a beautiful
and wholly original song
coming into her mind
while at home. This was strange, as neither she nor any member
of her family had ever studied music. She sang the song to a
young friend, who in turn sang it to her parents living in the
same village. This friend's parents had become Christians also,
and they immediately recognised the song as something that could
only have come through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
However, others in the local Church were sceptical as they knew
that the girl had not even finished her schooling
properly.
As God had indeed given Xiaomin this gift, he
ensured that the songs would eventually be heard. A young
Christian turned up in the village
with
a tape recorder, while another write out the words and melodies
of each song properly notated. It was not long before all the
Churches in the area were singing the songs, and whenever
visiting preachers passed through the area, they learned the
songs also and spread them wherever they went across China.
Xiaomin's songs were refreshingly different as
many of the lyrics fitted
precisely the conditions that prevailed in so many lives
in China, and it was even reported that, in some places, people
had
been healed when they had been sung.
Xiaomin's output of songs was enormous - she
averaged a new song every
two to three days, and knowledge of her songs
rapidly spread across China.
One meeting that she
was attending in Henan Province was interrupted by a police
raid, and she and others were jailed for 67 days after having
been beaten. During the time in jail she composed a further 14
songs, and some
non-Christian women who had been in her cell with her became
Christians
also.
By
the time the year 2000 had been reached, Xiaotnin had composed
an impressive total of about 732 songs. Many of these have now
been professionally recorded. Some of these recordings were
organised using a Russian orchestra and choir by Yaun Zhiming, a
well-known Chinese intellectual who had been exiled from China
and now lived in America. Other recordings were put together by
Timothy Su, who is a Christian and one of China's top
conductors, using a professional Bejing orchestra and
choir. This collection has
become known as the 'Songs of Canaan'.
The
Three Self Church of China, in their magazine Tian Feng
in 1999, criticised some of her songs, especially one of them
(song number 195) whose lyrics went" 'Lord, have mercy on China;
hold back your anger", because the sentiments expressed do not
fit with the Three Self's idea of
manipulating Christianity
to serve Socialism's ideas.
Although Xiaomin is now famous in China, her life is not without
difficulties. Her 9-year-old son is persecuted at school because
of his Christianity, and Xiaomin encourages him with Christ's
words in his Sermon on the Mount about bearing persecution for
the sake of righteousness
(Matthew 5).
Xiaomin feels that God wants her to travel
elsewhere in the world to spread
the Gospel, and has
revealed that she has had a vision three times of preaching to
the black people of Africa. She, like all Christians with great
faith, is looking forward to greater things still...
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茹思姐姐的故事和她的
CAANAN
之歌
最近十年来，
很多精彩的故事从中国传出来。而茹思姐姐的故事无疑是最感动和激励人的一个。
1970年，晓明出生在中国最大的一个回族社区。她的家庭和基督教没有任何联系，而她在学校里也没有显示出特别的抱负或特殊的才能。后来她的学业因疾病而被迫中断了，在家里她唯一拥有的书是一本新华字典。休学在家后，她帮家里作农活。在此期间，她遇到了一位曾是回族的阿姨，这位阿姨告诉了她关于基督耶稣的事情。年轻的晓明开始接受了神的召唤，
参加了家庭教会的学习。当她二十岁时，她参加了她家附近田里的契团活动。在那儿，她从一位几年前受教于丹尼思·贝堪保的基督徒那里学到了圣经。
不久后，晓明在家时突然感受到一首美丽的圣灵的歌。奇怪的是，她和她的家人谁也没有学过音乐。她给她的朋友唱这首歌，然后她的朋友又唱给在同一个村子她自己的父母听。她朋友的父母他们马上就意识到这首歌就是圣经的启示，而且成了基督徒。然而，附近的教会的人们都知道这个女孩根本就没有上过几天学。
上帝给了晓明这个礼物，因为他知道人们将会听到这些歌。
一个年轻的基督徒带着录音机来到了她家，另一个基督徒记下来准确的歌词和曲调。不久，附近所有的教堂都开始学唱这些歌。路过的传教士又把这些歌传唱到的其他地方。晓明的歌被各地的人们增添着新的内容传唱，因为它们像抒情歌曲一样描述了他们的真实生活，甚至还有报导说，在一些地方，人们因唱这些歌而治愈了疾病。
晓明创作了大量的歌，她平均两三天就创作一首歌，
而且她的歌很快就传遍了中国。在河南省她参加的一次聚会被警察突袭，
她和其他人挨了打并被关了六十七天。
在监狱里面她又创作了十四首歌曲，
那些不是基督徒的同监妇女也信了教。
到2000年时，
晓明已经创作了七百三十二首歌曲。她的很多歌现在已被专业人士录制。其中一些歌曲是由被中国驱逐现定居美国的著名音乐人严志铭安排请俄国的乐队和合唱团录制的；另一些则由中国著名指挥家,
基督徒逖莫士·苏请北京乐团和合唱团录制。
这些录制好的歌被称为‘CANAAN
之歌’。
1999
年，
中国的三自教堂在他们的‘天风’杂志中批评了晓明的一些歌曲，
特别是第一百九十五首，其中有曲调唱到‘主啊，怜悯中国吧，请不要生气。’因为它所表达的东西不符合三自教堂在教徒中所宣扬的社会主义的思想。
虽然现在晓明在中国很出名，但她的生活也有困难。
她的儿子由于是基督徒而在学校里被排挤。
晓明用圣经里的话‘为真理而忍受迫害’去鼓励他。
晓明感到上帝希望她去世界的其他地方传播教义，
她说她已三次看到同样的情景，
那就是她在一群非洲黑人中讲道。她就像所有有着坚定信仰的基督徒一样，期盼着主的更大的召唤。
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