"She will be like a tree planted in the stream next to the fruit, the leaves are not dry. Everything she did was fine.”  (Psalm 1: 3).

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters, May peace be with you. We two, Charles and Maria, have been at this church since 2008. One of the biggest blessings to us is to know Elder Johnny and Sister Juana. Elder Johnny, not only familiar with the Bible, eager to serve, loves God, and loves people. And more importantly, God uses Johnny’s humble and obedient spirit, to inspire us and to lead us. What we see in Johnny is a model of "good and faithful servant". On the other hand, Sister Juana, tacit most times, is very knowledgeable and understanding. She maintains calm, but assertive and perseverance under chaotic situations.  She was the backbone of Johnny, and was the strong pillar of both Wang and Ruan families.

Sister Juana accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior in her early days, when she was attending a junior high Christian school in Manila. In those early days, she used the traditional Chinese calligraphic brush painting to write the words of Jesus Christ: "Drive the boat to the deep, cast the net to catch fishes - life, energy and endless resources are found there".  This was her self-encouragement, and had been the compass of her life.

 

During the past two months, through many visits, we gained a deeper understanding of Sister Juana. She is adept with both Pen and Sword (能文能武). On the Pen side, God gave her excellent writing talent. When she was still in high school in Manila, she was already an important writer for the local Chinese newspaper. She published numerous essays, poems and short novels every month. Zhaoming, Ruan Jing, Jing Hai, Sadi, Yejiang (Coconut River) Ruan Zhao, Yejiang Ruanxia, and Yejiang Yaming are all her commonly used pen names. On the Sword side, Sister Juana was a master badminton player. Once, in an inter-school competition, she won three trophies: First place in Singles, First place in Doubles, and the Second place in Mixed. Later, in senior high school days, in order to pursue the military training and shooting courses, she courageously gave up the British high school, transferred to the Chinese high school, operated by Kuomintang. This also laid her life a firm and steady character.

 

Sister Juana’s life attitude was firm and optimistic. In the final illness, she never said a word of frustration or discouragement. She was always humorous and told jokes to encourage people, to remind us that in any adversity, we must believe in God, to rely on the Lord to win. In the end, we would like to recite two essays written by her in 1951 when she was only 19 years old.  These essays will give us a better understanding of our beloved Sister Juana.

 

Spring song: "When Satan fails. The rock hard snows melting. Cold winter. Chased away in the sound of firecrackers. In our battlefield of life. Sadness has been overcome. Although. We, each far apart. Let us upright chest. Head up, toward the sky with courage. Raise the flag of battle. Ignite the fire of life. Sing the song of Spring. Set foot on the journey. "

 

Postscript to Spring song: "You see rice sprout turning green. You see peaches bearing abundantly. If not (the good Lord) cares nights and days. How the good fruits will come?"

 

Let all glories be to the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.