1900, when Chen Chonggui 16 years old, he was officially baptized as a Christian and went to Wuchang Wesleyan College and High School. The college was founded in 1885 by W. A. T. Barber, a British Methodist missionary, and is famous for cultivating English talents. Their students all have good prospects after graduation, or continue their studies, or serve the post office, customs or foreign companies. 1904, Chen Chonggui graduated from Bowen, but gave up the opportunity to find a job and went to teach in a Bible school. Although he was involved in missionary work at that time, according to himself, he was not very clear about Christian beliefs at that time.
1906 10 Wuchang church invited pastor Li Shuqing from Jiangsu to preach for three days. Chen Chonggui listened to his sermon and went to see him in person. After listening to his advice, I was greatly moved, so I experienced the experience of repentance and rebirth, and my life path changed accordingly. From then on, he felt that he was eager to read the Bible and had a strong ability to preach, so he decided to be a full-time preacher. /kloc-in the winter of 0/907, after reading Biography of George Müller, he finally decided to give up everything and devote himself to full-time missionary work.
1909, the Swedish mission established a theological seminary in Jingzhou, Hubei. Chen Chonggui was employed to teach in this theological seminary, shouldering the dual responsibilities of teaching and administration. 1920, he left school for further study at Wheaton College in Illinois, USA, enriching himself in Bible and theology. 1922 returned to China after studying abroad and still taught at Jingzhou Theological Seminary.
In 1925, Chen Chonggui left Jingzhou Theological Seminary where he had served for 16 years (1909- 1925). At the invitation of Feng Yuxiang, a Christian general, he went north to Zhangjiakou to serve as a chaplain in Feng Yuxiang's army, which was extremely rare in China at that time. Chen Chonggui is responsible for arranging Sunday worship, preaching the gospel to soldiers and explaining Christian teachings. He also established the YMCA in the army, leading officers and men to live a good religious life and integrating the spirit of Christian fraternity, sacrifice, unity and service into the army life. Many officers and men were baptized and returned to the Lord, which made Feng Yuxiang and his men gain the reputation of a model army. Unfortunately, at the end of 1925, the warlords of Zhi and Feng fought with Feng Yuxiang's army. 1927, after the defeat of Feng Bing, he was forced to go to the Soviet Union. Chen Chonggui had to leave Feng's army and stay away from a small town in Suiyuan, Inner Mongolia for more than three months. During this period, he recorded his daily reading of the Bible, spiritual practice and meditation, and later edited it into a book called Spiritual Practice and a New Day.
Later, Chen Chonggui moved to Shanghai, where he worked as a itinerant missionary of the Taoist Association, preaching and writing. From 65438 to 0929, as one of the representatives of Christian communities in China, he went to Jerusalem to attend the World Missionary Conference. After returning home, he left Shanghai for Hunan, and went to Changsha to chair and teach at Hunan Bible College. He has taught in this school for nine years (1929- 1937). In addition to teaching, he is often invited to preach all over the country in winter and summer vacations, and he is famous. From 65438 to 0934, he worked with Dr. Song, bringing spiritual revival to the churches in Changsha and Hengyang.
1937 Anti-Japanese War broke out, with smoke everywhere. In the difficult war years, Chen Chonggui still preached everywhere, and the Lord led the church to revive, bringing confidence and comfort to churches everywhere. He has traveled all over the provinces of Central China. From 65438 to 0938, Chen Chonggui moved to Sichuan with his family at the invitation of Bishop Hua Fulan, a member of the mainland association, and preached in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, leading various gatherings. 194 1 was invited to preach in Singapore. A few days later, the Pacific War broke out, and Chen Chonggui was unable to return to China because of the Japanese occupation of the Malay Peninsula, and stayed in Singapore for about three years.
It was not until 1943 that Chen Chonggui returned to China via Thailand. Soon after, with the efforts of Bishop Hua Fulan, Chen Chonggui established the Chongqing Theological Seminary in Chongqing in September, in cooperation with the mainland association. 1943. At that time, more than a dozen Chinese and western teachers came to teach in the school, and more than 50 students from 17 provinces entered the school. Since then, under the leadership of Chen Chonggui, Chongqing Theological Seminary has trained a large number of teaching pastors for churches in southwestern provinces. In addition to school affairs and teaching, he also resumed and edited the Missionary Magazine he founded in his early years, and was invited to preach in the church almost every week. From 1943- 1949, he is as busy as a bee in teaching, publicity and oral communication. The purity of his faith, the ability to preach, the profundity of theology and the demeanor of the elders made him a well-known evangelical leader in China and was admired by people.
Chen Chonggui has also made great contributions to literature education, writing, translating and editing more than 40 kinds of books in his life. In addition to spiritual practice, he also wrote Christ and Me, Various Consolations, God's Promise, Personal Missionary Research, and his autobiography Forty Years written in English.
From 65438 to 0949, Mrs. Chen Chonggui visited Europe and America and returned to China via Hong Kong in August. At that time, many people were worried about the current situation and advised them not to return to Chinese mainland. However, he saw something else and insisted on going back to Chongqing. 1950, the Christian community in China launched the Three-Self Innovation Movement. In September of the same year, the "China Christianity's Road to Building a New China-Declaration of Three Self-Innovations" was published, and it was signed by churches all over the country. Chen Chonggui is one of the forty founders. 1In July, 954, China Christian Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee was established, with Wu Yaozong as the chairman and Chen Chonggui as one of the six vice-chairmen.
From 1949 to 1957, Chen Chonggui's articles and remarks are not ugly. He supported the * * * production party, moved closer to the government, and supported the three-self patriotic movement. In this accusation campaign, he took part in accusing other church leaders, including Wang. In his sermon, he also kept up with the political situation and tried to adapt to the environment at that time. In June 1952 65438+ 10/9 Tianfeng Magazine, he published an article about how my political thoughts changed. In this article, he said: I fully realize that only Marx, Lenin and revolutionary science can make mankind acquire the tools of freedom ... I want to say from the bottom of my heart that I love capitalism. This shows the changes in his thoughts and beliefs.
In the political movement of 1957, a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend, the production party called on the people to help it in the rectification movement and encouraged them to make suggestions to the party. Therefore, Chen Chonggui frankly put forward his own opinions at the eighth session of the China People's Political Consultative Conference held in Beijing on March 1957: ... At the inauguration ceremony of an iron bridge, a senior official said:' This bridge was built by human efforts, not by the so-called gods.' He immediately said,' You Christians, throw your God into the dunghill!' This blasphemy against God is more terrible in our Christian hearts than insulting our mother. This is not a criticism but an insult to religion. Therefore, Chen Chonggui was labeled as a rightist and mercilessly accused and criticized. In his later years, he spent the rest of his life in Chongqing. 1964 died at the age of 80.