Daily Devotion

“Zhao Maijia (born Zhao Chongyi, 1919–2007) set out west alone in the spring of 1948 and, by way of Dunhuang and Hami, reached Shule, becoming the first Han Chinese missionary to preach the gospel in southern Xinjiang; the following year he founded a church there. In 1953 he married the woman evangelist He Enzheng, and the two served together in southern Xinjiang. During the Cultural Revolution he was brutally denounced in Yarkand (Shache), while He Enzheng took their two sons out of Xinjiang for two years. He served in Xinjiang for nearly sixty years and died on March 7, 2007.”

Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity (BDCC) · "Zhao Maijia," Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity (bdcconline.net)

Scripture

Proverbs 19:14 House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.

Reflection

True grace is often not found in comfortable external circumstances, but in the divine companion and presence that God bestows. Zhao Maijia and He Enzheng served side by side in southern Xinjiang, upholding each other through hardship, just as Proverbs says, a prudent spouse is a special gift from the Lord. We often seek security in material wealth and comfort, overlooking that companions and members of the body who walk, pray, and suffer together with us are the most precious treasures on our heavenly journey. With the Lord's presence, even the humblest place becomes a holy temple.