A certain Christian man lived in the southern part of China and was a rice farmer. His farm was located in the middle of a hill. In time of drought he used a water wheel, worked manually by a treadmill, to life water from an irrigation stream into his field.
His neighbor had two fields below his. One night this neighbor made a breach in the retaining bank and drained off all the water from the Christian's field into his two fields. When the Christian noticed the breach he repaired it and filled his field again. This happened three more times.
Finally he consulted some of Christian friends and told them what he suspected his neighbor of doing. He said to them, "I've tried to be patient, but is it right to continue to be quiet about this?"
After they had prayed together about it, one of them said, "If we only try to do the right thing, then surely we are poor Christians. We have to do something more than that which is right."
The troubled Christian took these words to heart. The next morning, instead of repairing the breach once again, he first filled his neighbor's two fields and then in the afternoon he filled his own field.
After that, the water stayed in his field. His neighbor was so amazed at his actions that he began to inquire the reason and in time he, too, became a Christian.
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