Atheist family turns to Jesus Christ after pastor's miraculous healing

A Chinese pastor who had been crippled in his youth narrated how his atheist family came to believe in Jesus Christ when he was healed from his illness following a week of prayer and fasting.

Zhang Heng, senior pastor at Zaidao Church in Beijing, China, shared his testimony to hundreds of people at the Movement Day Global Cities conference in New York City on Wednesday.

Heng revealed how he suffered in his youth due to a medical condition that left him paralyzed. He confessed that he felt hopeless and there were times when he thought of taking his own life.

He recalled in 1979 that he prayed to God to for help and a preacher came to share the Gospel with him. The preacher told him about the death and resurrection of Christ and said that he could be healed and get into heaven if he accepted Jesus.

"I was not too much concerned about forgiveness, all I was concerned about was my own health," he said.

The preacher instructed him to pray and fast for seven days. "On the seventh day, the Lord healed me. I rose up and walked," he attested.

"The whole family saw this and just knelt down to pray to receive the Lord as their personal savior," he continued.

After a month, his family arranged a thanksgiving party and invited some friends and the preacher who told Heng about Jesus Christ.

Heng shared his testimony with the guests and the pastor told them about the Gospel. He said that more than 50 people accepted Christ that night and they immediately started a church.

After eight years, the group has created 200 churches and converted over 20,000 people. Despite the growth of the church, it suffered persecution from Chinese officials.

"Many of the different ministers were thrown into jail again. I was chased around for more than five years and thrown into prison for three years. I asked God why I have to be in jail. The Lord told me, 'there's a need for the Gospel in this place. So even in the prison we had many came to faith, baptized them in the restrooms," he said.

Christianity continues to grow in China despite the persecution. It is estimated that there are currently 100 million followers of Christ in the country.

Fenggang Yang, a professor of sociology at Purdue University, predicted that China could soon be the largest Christian nation in the world. Yang estimated that the number of Christians in the country could grow to 160 million by 2025.