Power and Protection in Persecution! CLTP 21
True-Life Stories of God's Help in Times of Persecution!--Part Two
DFO (Christian Leadership Training Program publications are circulated free of charge on a strictly non-profit basis.)
PLEASE NOTE: Please follow the guidelines laid out in the first part of the series (CLTP 18) for the reading of this issue.
Table of Contents:
You Can't Kill Me!
1
Discussion Questions
4
Triumph in Tribulation
4
Discussion Questions
6
Against All Odds
7
Discussion Questions
10
Fearless Witnessing
10
Discussion Questions
12
Definitions
12
You Can't Kill Me!
By Stanley Maxwell
Excerpts from Insights' Most Unforgettable Stories, 1990
"Do you know my Friend Jesus?" Mr. Wong often asked. To some people this question seemed out of place for two reasons: First, Mr. Wong was Chinese, and expressing his personal feelings about a friend is something seldom done by Chinese. And second, he was expressing his feelings about Jesus in Communist China at a time when talking about anyone with such affection and esteem besides Party Chairman Mao Zedong could result in a prison term or even a bullet to the head.
Persuading people to believe in Jesus (or proselytizing, the term the Communists used) was illegal in Communist China and still is today. So Mr. Wong's question, "Do you know my Friend Jesus?" was daring indeed.
Yet the 60-some-year-old Mr. Wong persisted in asking his question every day of nearly everyone he met. It didn't seem to matter to him that China was in the midst of the Cultural Revolution, [1] and that people were being arrested and killed every day by the government's youthful Red Guards.
Mr. Wong just wanted everyone to know his Friend Jesus. He wasn't worried that someone might report him. However, someone must have reported him, for one day Mr. Wong was visited by blue-clad youths with red arm bands. He was expecting them. "We hear you've been talking about your Friend Jesus," they snapped.
"Yes, I have," Mr. Wong replied, recognizing these youths as members of the notorious Red Guard. "Do you know my Friend Jesus?"
"Stop it!" the Red Guards' leader commanded. "Don't you know it's illegal to talk about Jesus? Lenin says religion is the opiate [2] of the people. It's time you were liberated from all this feudalistic [3] nonsense and came into step with the New China. Wake up and see the foolishness of all your bourgeois [4] liberalism and Western ideas. You must follow the sayings in the little red book of our great leader, Mao Zedong!"
"I cannot," Mr. Wong replied.
"You won't stop your counter-revolutionary [5] activities?" the Red Guard shouted.
"I cannot stop talking about my Friend Jesus, if that's what you mean." Mr. Wong spoke calmly. "Jesus is my best Friend, and He can be your Friend, too."
"Maybe in prison you can be re-educated to abandon the error of your ways. Maybe in prison you will come to recognize the correctness of the people's party. We won't tolerate counter-revolutionaries! The people's revolution must go forward! You are a counter-revolutionary! Men! The dunce cap! [6]"
A Red Guard jumped at the leader's command, crammed a paper dunce cap on Mr. Wong's head, and shoved him out the door onto the dusty streets.
Another of the guards held Mr. Wong's head down as they walked. The Red Guards formed a procession marching down the dirty streets past the endless throngs, as they chanted Mr. Wong's crimes to the masses. Word of Mr. Wong's arrest had spread widely by the time the Red Guards paraded him into the prison yard.
But if the Red Guards thought they could silence Mr. Wong by placing him behind bars, they were mistaken. In prison he found many inmates willing to know his Friend Jesus and to talk about Jesus with him.
Angrily the guards in the prison called him in for interrogation. [7] They thought it time to teach him a lesson.
"Do you know why you're here, Mr. Wong?"
"For talking about my Friend Jesus," Mr. Wong replied.
"That's right. Why are you still talking about Him? Don't you know it's forbidden to talk about Jesus in China?"
"Yes, I know."
"Then are you going to stop?"
"No. I cannot stop talking about my Friend. Lonely prisoners need to know Jesus. It's my duty."
"It's your duty to study and obey the correct sayings of Chairman Mao in his little red book. You should study Mao's sayings with the other prisoners. Do you know what will happen to you if you don't stop talking about this superstitious bourgeois liberalism?"
"No," Mr. Wong acknowledged.
"We'll throw you into a stricter prison!"
"That's fine," Mr. Wong said. "I'm not afraid. I'll still talk about my Friend Jesus wherever you put me."
"Then we'll take you away!" the guard shouted.
They transferred him into a stricter prison. But there, too, he asked the prisoners if they knew his Friend Jesus. And soon there were a number who talked about Jesus with him. The guards responsible for Mr. Wong's "re-education" became angrier than ever. So they decided it was time to teach him a lesson he could never forget.
The guard examined Mr. Wong's dossier [8] for something he could use against him. His finger hit upon a line, and a rare smile spread across his face. "You're a troublemaker. You've been transferred once already. We must teach ruffians like you a lesson. We'll transfer you again to Qinghai hard labour camp. There we shall see if we can't liberate you from all this religious opiate you so stubbornly cling to! It's people like you who hold back the progress of the people's rightful and benevolent [9] dictatorship."
Mr. Wong gulped, but mustered a brave, "Take me. I'm ready." He picked up his packed bag and followed the guards.
Anyone sent on the long road to Qinghai during the time of the Cultural Revolution felt pangs of dread, for it was a place you could check in to, but could never leave. Mr. Wong wondered if God would protect him as He did Daniel, or have him die, as He did Stephen.
Qinghai hard labour camp was located in a barren, flat land with hard ruddy [10] soil and clumps of green grass. One of the main reasons prisoners didn't return from Qinghai was that the grass growing there was poisonous. The prison guards rationed so little food to the inmates and worked them so hard that to fend off starvation many tried eating the grass. Then they died of poisoning.
If anyone tried to escape, there was nowhere to go. The prisoner could easily be found on the flat terrain. Besides, the weather in Qinghai is windy year-round, unbearably cold at night, even in summer, and bitterly cold in the winter. And if the wind or cold didn't wear out an escaping prisoner, the thin air would.
Mr. Wong had not met anyone released from Qinghai yet. He didn't expect to be released, nor did he plan to escape. But he knew he didn't have to be afraid, for God was with him. The guards escorted him to a room for indoctrination [11].
"Do you know why you're here?" The questioning was beginning to sound like a broken record.
"Because I talk about my Friend Jesus," he answered as patiently as before.
"You can't talk about Him!"
"I know."
"Are you going to quit?"
"No, I cannot."
"Do you know what we'll do to you if you don't quit?"
"What can you do? You can't kill me!" Mr. Wong couldn't believe what he heard himself express! Why had he said those words?
The guards' eyes glared. They looked at each other, then nodded. This old man is challenging us, they thought. Who is he to say we can't kill him?
They took Mr. Wong into another room and tortured him. At the end of the day the guard asked, "Are you ready to quit talking about this Jesus nonsense?"
The pain he was suffering screamed at him to say yes. He even thought he would have to give in--but not today. Tomorrow, maybe, but for the sake of his Friend Jesus, no, not today.
"No. I cannot stop talking about my Friend Jesus." The guards left him.
The next day the guards again entered Mr. Wong's cell and asked him the same question: "Will you stop talking your Jesus nonsense?"
The pain was much worse the second day. Again he was tempted to say yes, but no--tomorrow, yes, maybe he should tomorrow, but for Christ's sake, not today.
"No," he again heard himself say, "I cannot stop talking about my Friend Jesus." The guards re-entered his cell every day for a week. Each time they continued the torture and asked him the same question. And each time Mr. Wong felt the same temptation, but gave the same answer.
On the seventh day they thought he was dead, so they took him and threw him on the pile of dead people. Some time later Mr. Wong revived, he crawled off the dead pile and into the camp--to the astonishment of the other inmates and the embarrassment of the guards. They had not been able to kill him!
For the time being the guards thought it best to leave him alone. When Mr. Wong entered the camp, his face and body were covered with scabs from the torture. But amazingly, soon his skin was clear and healthy again. The scabs flaked off easily, and his skin softened. No scars remained. Mr. Wong thanked his Friend Jesus for healing him miraculously.
Again Mr. Wong began asking his fellow inmates, "Do you know my Friend Jesus?" Many were interested in talking with him about Jesus, and soon he had a group of followers who liked to talk about their Friend Jesus.
Frustrated, the guards decided it was time to teach him a real lesson. The guards took Mr. Wong into a cell.
"You cannot talk about this Jesus. It's against the law."
"I know."
"Are you going to stop?"
"If Chairman Mao himself were standing here asking me the same question, I would still say I cannot stop talking about my Friend Jesus."
Infuriated, the guards seized Mr. Wong. They broke both his arms and both his legs, then threw him out onto the dead pile again.
Mr. Wong miraculously walked back into the camp that same day! Now more inmates than ever were interested in learning about Mr. Wong's special Friend.
The guards tolerated the activity again for a time, but then they decided it was time to stop his witnessing once and for all. They had tortured him and broken his bones, but they had failed to kill him. If they couldn't kill him, maybe the elements could.
It was winter, and the temperature was incredibly cold, far below zero. They removed his clothes and tied his hands and feet to a post outdoors. Maybe he had only been unconscious the first time they threw him on the dead pile. Maybe they had not actually broken his bones, and that was how he had walked back to camp unharmed. Maybe his body was naturally immune to the poisons of the Qinghai grass, for he thrived on the stuff. But the cold would kill him, they laughed to themselves. This time they were sure they would be rid of this troublesome man.
Left alone in the dark, Mr. Wong prayed to his Friend Jesus. A Presence came and left. The ropes were loose! He wriggled his hands and feet out of the ropes. He was free! An Angel must have untied the ropes, he thought.
Performing exercises helped keep him warm during the night. But as the new day began to dawn, Mr. Wong began to worry that if the guards would find him unfettered [12], they would blame his friends in the camp with whom he talked about Jesus. The guards might torture or even kill them.
He didn't want to cause them grief unwittingly [13] so he retied his ankles. That was easily done, but tying his wrists behind his back posed a problem. He needed an extra pair of hands! There seemed no human solution.
So he prayed again. "Lord, You sent my Guardian Angel to untie me. Now, please send him back to tie me up again!" He felt the ropes tighten around his hands, and he was held fast to the post. It was none too soon. He could hear the guard approaching.
When the guards found Mr. Wong's skin rosy pink and not pale blue, they were angry indeed. Why couldn't they kill this man who always talked about Jesus?
Grudgingly [14], they began to untie the knots. Undoing the rope at his feet was no problem, but at his wrists the knot was so tight it took the guard half an hour to get it loose! Mr. Wong couldn't help thinking to himself that his Guardian Angel either didn't know his own strength, or had a delightful sense of humour!
Back in the prison, Mr. Wong became known as the man the prison guards could not kill. From that time on, the guards stopped trying to teach him a lesson and looked the other way when he talked about his Friend Jesus.
Today Mr. Wong is in his 80s, but he looks like a man 20 years younger, and he has enough energy to tire a man half his age.
Many people in China think the Cultural Revolution wasted 10 years of their lives, but Mr. Wong has a special reward from his so-called lost years. He proudly shows his collection of letters from other survivors of Qinghai, saying that his experience in prison inspired them to believe his God exists. They thank him for talking about his Friend Jesus. And he still talks about his Friend Jesus to whoever will listen.
Discussion Questions:
1) Sometimes, in times of persecution it's wise to go underground and not witness so openly. But in this case, why do you think Mr. Wong continued to talk about Jesus? What does the Bible say about denying Jesus?
2) Have you ever worried that you might deny the Lord under heavy pressure or torture? How does this story encourage your faith along these lines?
3) What are the rewards--in this life and the Next--that Mr. Wong has, from all his years in prison? What were the "things that worked together for good" in this story?
4) Some of our Family have been put in prison or institutions because of their faith. Although this was a very difficult experience for them, what is some of the good fruit the Lord brought about from this persecution. How did He help them make it through that tough situation?
Triumph in Tribulation
By Gladys Aylward
Excerpts from the book Gladys Aylward, The Little Woman, 1974
The war had begun (World War II), my mule inn, the "Inn of the Sixth Happiness," was a complete shambles, but I continued to use the courtyard as a sort of first-aid station. I had sent most of my children to various Christian homes in the surrounding villages, but I was needed in Yangcheng. Just around the corner from my inn, a family had been completely wiped out; so I used their desolate house as my temporary home.
Often as many as forty wounded men--sometimes Japanese, sometimes Chinese--would be carried into my courtyard during the day. There were no organized field hospitals, and the suffering was terrible. I did what I could for the less severely wounded--put on bandages, gave them food and drink, and let them rest until they were taken off to their various camps.
At times there were other Chinese Christians who gave what help they could, but it was shockingly inadequate. Two days after the Japanese retreated for the second time, and Yangcheng had been retaken by the Chinese general, a crowd of Chinese women trooped into my battered courtyard.
They were bewildered [15], weary of war and unhappy. I seized the opportunity to tell them that the great God I served, cared for them and could give them peace of heart even in these awful circumstances.
I stood in the middle of the courtyard and held up a large Bible picture. I looked around at them all, my heart full of pity for them, because they did not know God's Love. "We are all sinners," I said, pointing unthinkingly at a crowd in the doorway.
"God says all have sinned, and the wages of sin is death." I went on to explain how they could be free from their sins through believing in Jesus.
Gradually the women drifted away to whatever was left of their homes, and I went inside to try to make up some sort of meal. There was only one small boy, Timothy, and Lu Yung Cheng, a Chinese evangelist, with me, but even finding food for three was a problem.
About half an hour later, Lu Yung Cheng rushed in. "Have you had visitors?" he panted.
"Only the Chinese women. Why do you ask?"
"Because the general is coming here for you."
Almost before he had finished speaking, some soldiers marched in and spoke to Lu Yung Cheng. "I have to go with these soldiers," he said, looking strangely pale. "But why do you take him?" I asked the men. "He is wanted at headquarters," they answered.
I could do nothing, and sadly I watched my companion marched off. I was left alone, wondering what would be the next move. I was not left long in doubt. A few moments later more soldiers marched in. I tried to greet them in a friendly fashion. After all, they were our soldiers, not the Japanese. I went into the kitchen to make tea, but when I came out, I realized that this was certainly not a friendly visit, for the six soldiers stood stiffly on guard all around the courtyard.
"Sit down and have some tea," I invited the one nearest to me, though I felt anything but comfortable. "Soldiers on duty do not sit down," he replied curtly. There was nothing I could do but wait and pray that Timothy and Lu Cheng would return soon, and that the soldiers would leave.
Two hours later there was a commotion in the courtyard. I went outside and realized that the general himself had actually deigned [16] to pay me a visit. I bowed to him, and asked him to enter my poor home.
He glared at me fiercely. "Do you know, woman, that you are under arrest?"
"But why?" I asked. He still glared, but made no answer. I turned and went back into the kitchen, my legs feeling very shaky. He followed me in.
"Woman, what do you know about me?"
"Nothing, except that from your uniform I conclude you are the general who has retaken our city and, of course, I have heard your name."
"Who told you about me?"
"Nobody. I only know what everyone else in the city knows."
"Oh, yes, someone did! Tell me who it was, and I will take my soldiers away."
Again and again I declared that I knew nothing of his private life. But he continued to rave and curse and, at length, after much shouting, he left. But the soldiers were still on guard.
It was about ten o'clock in the evening when there was a great noise outside again. "Come down, I say, come down at once!" shouted a man's harsh voice.
Getting up, I leaned over the balcony. "I am not one of your soldiers. I am a free citizen of China," I replied with dignity. (I had been naturalized [17] a Chinese citizen by that time.) "You come up here."
Once more the general stomped in, swearing terribly, and stood glaring at me in the broken doorway. "I demand, for the last time, that you tell me who told you private things about me. If you do, I will see that everything is easy for you."
"I cannot tell you. I do not understand what you mean. I have never seen you before. No one has ever spoken to me about you."
After more threatenings and cursings, he left again. For two days I remained under guard without food, for the soldiers would neither send for any food for me, nor allow me to go out. On the third day the general, accompanied by more soldiers, marched in and sat down.
"Woman, you have been here three days, are you ready to tell me the name of the person who told you about me?"
"I cannot, for I do not know what you are talking about."
"Then how did you know that I was a sinner?"
"I only know that the Bible says so."
I picked up my Bible, opened it and handed it to him. He pulled off his hat, threw it down and began to read. When I saw him without his hat, a picture flashed into my mind of the courtyard crowded with Chinese women. Then I remembered that among those in the doorway I had caught a fleeting glimpse of a man!
For an hour he held my Bible while I turned to verse after verse, pointed them out, and let him read them for himself.
"What was this Bible?" he demanded. What was this Gospel I talked about? "Who was Jesus Christ?" I explained as patiently as I could while he argued and questioned. Hour after hour he went on, but gradually he quieted down. He quit swearing, and a note of great longing came into his voice.
"It is impossible for me to be saved, I am too wicked!" he said at length. Another two hours went by, while the Spirit of God strove for this man's soul and the Devil fought to keep him under his domination. Eventually he knelt down of his own accord, humbly confessed his sins, and accepted Jesus Christ as his Saviour.
By this time I was almost fainting with fatigue and hunger. The general got up from his knees, looked at me, then hurried out and ordered his men to bring me food.
He stood by while I ate. Then he burst out, "If I have taken this God, then I have to tell my men about it, don't I?"
"Yes, if you want to be a real Christian."
"I will address my men tomorrow, but I want you to be with me." With that he left, taking the guards with him. That night I slept peacefully, utterly exhausted with the strain of the evening.
The next morning, soldiers arrived and very politely escorted me to the parade ground. The general made me stand on the platform beside him.
"Up to this time we have been a bandit troop," he said after some preliminaries [18]. "I have led you into affrays [19] largely for the sake of killing and looting, and we have always been successful. Now we will cease to be bandits and become honourable soldiers, because last night I took Jesus Christ as my God. I find that this Book [waving my Bible aloft] is against dishonesty and wickedness. Now will every man who is willing to join me come out and promise that we will cease to kill or loot for gain, but will serve this true God!"
In the months that followed, the general himself received persecution as he faithfully testified of his conversion. Yet the faith implanted in that one night of struggle, which had begun as a mustard seed, remained unmoveable. It stood strong through all persecution.
And when in the end illness took the general Home to his reward, I was proud to have him buried as "Wong-Wei-Deh", my brother; proud to know that my "son in the faith" had endured so faithfully for our Saviour.
Discussion Questions:
1) Gladys Aylward certainly had a lot of conviction to witness to the general like that, especially someone who seemed so antagonistic and rough, and very much her enemy. Discuss the different times where she stood her ground and/or challenged the general, and what kind of an effect it had on him. Did it help him? In what ways?
Against All Odds
By Carl Lawrence
Excerpts from Against All Odds, The Church in China, 1985
In late 1968 and early 1969, as the cacophony [20] (pronounced cuh-COUGH-a-knee) of the Cultural Revolution began to diminish, there was another sound beginning to be heard across the land. It was the marching sound of an army thought to be not only defeated in battle, but destroyed, never to rise again, buried in the ashes of Maoism.
It was an army that was tattered and worn, but far from being defeated. They were not returning from a battle lost, but from a victory won. They were the believers of the Christian Church in the People's Republic of China.
This is an attempt to share with you some true accounts of the believers' faith, endurance, suffering and victory. As one so aptly put it, "They used persecution, violence, handcuffs, swords, labour teams and prison. They shamed us in public displays, took away all our rights and privileges of daily life. They have closed our churches, burned our Bibles and put our pastors in jail, but they have not been able to, nor will they ever, destroy our faith!"
Kept by the Word
This story was related to me by one who had spent 18 years in prison for his faith:
"The more difficult things became, the more we seemed to grow. For a time we had a tendency to mix Marxism and Christianity. But when they burned our Bibles, threw us out of our churches, and sent our pastors away, we realized the two did not mix.
"We never met for any other reason than to pray, sing, and study Scripture. We often did not even ask for any of the latest news, we did not want to waste time. We were meeting illegally, and worshipping the Lord was the only thing we had in life worth getting caught doing.
"We prayed for our country's leaders and those who persecuted us. We saw many of our enemies become our friends, and some became brothers and sisters.
"After a time we were imprisoned for our faith. There were 22 people in our cell. We only had 12 minutes for all of us to use the bathroom. Anything not done in those few minutes had to be done in the cell. No one was released until all in the cell were `re-educated.'
"We would pray, sing to ourselves, and write sermons in our minds to keep our minds clear. Those who did not know Scripture had a very hard time. It was the Word of God that kept us through this time.
"We not only survived ... but look at us--we grew!"
The Word hidden in the heart is the one thing that keeps believers strong. Time and time again, Chinese believers testified how those who had memorized much Scripture would rest on that Word during times of persecution. One reported: "Those who had a good knowledge of the Word of God and could repeat it back to the Lord during the difficult times survived even the most terrible persecution."
The God Who Blesses
There are many young people that attend the home churches. If discovered, however, they come under great pressure to discontinue the faith. Here is the testimony of a girl, no more than 17 years old:
"The pressure was very great for me. I was being interrogated, and becoming depressed, I asked myself the question, `Why is this happening to me? I am a Christian and have never done anything wrong. Why do they struggle against me and not against those who have really done bad things?'
"`Do you still believe in Jesus?' they shouted. `Yes, yes, I do.'" Her depression suddenly gone, she no longer felt sorry for herself.
They took a board 5 feet high and 12 inches wide and tied it to her back. They plastered posters on the board detailing her alleged crimes. They placed a dunce's cap on her head and gave her a gong to ring so that people would know she was approaching. She was like the lepers of old, who cried out, "Unclean! Unclean!"
On her hat they had mockingly written four Chinese characters: "God blesses." They meant it to shame her, but she wore it as a testimony that God, indeed, does bless.
With the tall hat and the gong, she walked up and down the streets, thanking the Lord that she could spread the message that "God blesses."
After they let her go, she returned to her home. In the days that followed many people began to come to her home asking about the God that blesses.
A Bruised Reed
One Christian woman had already lost half of her family to prison and to death when she was assigned to a labour gang. Her duties were to break up rocks and build roads. Day after day, the toil drained her strength until eventually there was nothing left in her but bitterness and pain.
Finally there came a morning when she believed she had reached the end. The pressures were crushing her and the believer felt she could not go another step, she was utterly discouraged. At that moment, she turned her head wearily and standing beside her saw an old woman she had never met before. The woman asked a simple question, "Do you still believe?"
The believer nodded, almost unable to form the words. "Yes, I ... I still believe."
"A bruised reed He shall not break, and the smoking flax He shall not quench," the old woman quoted from Isaiah 42. Then she turned away and walked out of sight.
With these words, the believer's heart began to lighten. She felt the strength of the Lord flowing into her being. It was as if the Lord had given her a sign that He would not allow her to be broken completely through her persecution.
That night, she made diligent inquiries as to who the old woman was, but no one seemed to know. She had come, and just as mysteriously, disappeared.... But the believer had received a touch from the Lord.
The Hole in the Wall
One story that particularly touched me was the account of a co-worker, affectionately termed "The Old Man". He had come from a very poor family, and much of his early life had been a daily struggle. This preacher, whose life had been one of great fruitfulness for his Lord, had been forced as a child to leave school.
In fact, his family was the poorest in the whole village. Because of his poverty, when the Communists came to power, they made him chairman of their area--to prove a point. They gave him a big house to live in and double rations of rice. But he loved the Lord so much that he just used his home for worship meetings and distributed all his rice among the hungry believers--until he ran out himself.
Eventually the government became aware of his activities and ordered him to choose between his newfound position, as chairman of his area, or his faith. Knowing that he would be going back to lifelong poverty should he choose his faith, he nonetheless told them, "I will not disobey my Lord."
He once again became the poorest man in the area, without food or accommodation. This happened during the early days after Mao took power, and the Christians he knew were either too poor to help him, or were themselves in prison. One person did manage to provide him with a small room to use, but he had no way at all of obtaining food. For some days he lived there, with water as his only sustenance [21] until he grew weak with hunger.
One morning, when he awoke, he noticed a big hole in the wall, and did his best to repair it. He brought a number of stones to fill it in. But within a few hours, there was another large hole, so he decided that for some reason, this was from the Lord. Later he saw a large rat come through the hole. The rodent made several visits and brought him sweet potatoes, nuts and vegetables to eat.
Every morning the rat came to him, bringing him enough food for that day. Sometimes, when he was expecting someone else to visit him for the day, the creature would bring him a double portion of food.
How long did this go on? Several months, I was told.
The Old Man was led by the Lord very clearly in his ministry. For example, one day as he asked the Lord to show him where he should preach, he was told to visit a nearby town and witness to a certain man there. The Old Man protested, "Lord, I have never been to this place. I don't know the man, and I don't know where to find him. How can I possibly do what you're asking?"
But the Lord was not going to take "No" for an answer. "You go, and I will lead you!"
So the Old Man went. He found the town, and once there, the Lord took him to the street and the home. As he stood outside the house, he protested a second time, "Lord. I don't know this man. I don't even know his name!" Through prayer, God gave him the name which the Old Man promptly began to shout for the person inside to hear.
The door opened, and his surprised host invited him in. The Old Man entered with the words: "Today, the Salvation of the Lord is come to your home!" Once inside, the Old Man explained the way he had been led to his house and the reason. He began to preach the Gospel to the entire family and every one of them accepted Jesus Christ and became believers.
A Converted Soldier
There was a young member in the Communist People's Liberation Army who became very ill. It is illegal for a soldier to be a Christian. But a fellow soldier, who was a secret believer, became concerned about the man who was ill, afraid that he might die without Christ. So he shared the Gospel with the young soldier, encouraging him to believe in Jesus and trust Him to heal him. As the sickness got worse, the soldier followed his friend's advice and repented of his sins, became a Christian, and was almost instantly healed!
When his superiors found out that he had become a Christian, they began to try to re-educate him in various ways. But the young man would not give up his faith.
He was finally judged incorrigible [22] and thrown out of the army. Though this would affect his schooling and his employment for the rest of his life, he did not mind. He testifies that he was "too amazed at how the Lord had healed him to do anything else but boldly profess his faith!"
"The Angels Are Coming"
There are also those miracles that not only serve practical purposes, but serve as a potent testimony of the power of God to unbelievers.
A 70-year-old Christian lady in a household was the only one who had knowledge of most of the daily operations of her family, as well as the operations of a house church. She alone knew where the Bibles were hidden, who the messengers were, who could or could not be trusted. Suddenly she died of a heart attack.
Her family felt lost, she had not been able to pass on the information that was so vital to all. They began to pray, "Lord, restore our mother back to life."
After being dead two days, she came back to life. She scolded her family for calling her back. They reasoned with her, saying they would pray that in two days she could return to the Lord. It would take that much time for her to pass on all they needed to know.
After two days, the family and friends began to sing hymns and pray that the Lord would take her back. The mother's final words were, "They're coming! Two Angels are coming!" This incident caused the entire village to believe.
Smiling Eyes
As I look at His people before me, singing, praying, weeping, worshipping God, there is no trace of bitterness. No one speaks of revenge as they answer my question: "How did you survive?"
"There were times when it was difficult, but that is what it is like to be a Christian here in China. It is a price we are willing to pay," said one man.
"Tell me about it," I urged.
"I was in one prison where we were inhumanely crowded, with ten prisoners to a tiny cubicle. We were not allowed to speak to each other, or doze off during the day. A guard periodically looked into the room through a glass opening in the door. Many fell ill, while others lost their minds.
"One day, another prisoner whispered to me, `We can see that your religious faith really gives you strength.' This was the beginning of my new ministry.
"One day, a guard burst into the cell and shouted, `Stop your smiling!'
`I'm not smiling,' I replied.
`Yes, you are!' shouted the guard.
"When he left, the other prisoners said, `Your eyes are always smiling and your face glows with joy even when you are not smiling.' Most of my fellow prisoners were not Christians, that is, not at that time."
He then told me of another incident.
"Many times the Lord has spoken to me. Sometimes in most unusual ways. Once, when I was young I had a dream. I found myself going up a mountain leaning on the arm of a man. I heard the words of the Song of Solomon, `What is this that cometh out of the wilderness?' I felt myself leaning upon the arm of my beloved Lord. Years later, I was taken to a prison located in the mountains. As I was walking up the mountain, I suddenly realized the scenery was the same as what I had seen in my dream as a young person. God had prepared me for this walk up to the prison on the arm of my beloved Lord."
The above testimonies are of people who realize that this life is a spiritual warfare, and in any war we must expect and accept casualties. These people understand that life is not a playground, but a battleground.
I can see the believers of China walking, willingly, into the darkness of Gethsemane. Like Him, Whom they serve so well, they could have simply said no. They could have said: "No, I cannot stand one more betrayal from a brother or sister."
"No, I cannot take one more beating, one more day of humiliation, one more moment of mental anguish."
"No, I cannot say good-bye to one more loved one."
But they didn't!
And then, something happened! They spoke as they had never spoken before. Their enemies were confused and frightened. Their words became arrows that pierced the hearts of their tormentors. Sick people became well. Their cries of "Help" became triumphant praises of "Hallelujah!" "Out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight" (Heb.11:34b).
"Upon this Rock I will build My Church; and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against [withstand] it" (Mat.16:18).
Discussion Questions:
1) A major theme throughout these stories is the importance of the Word. Discuss the effects that the Word, or the lack of it, had on these people as they underwent persecution.
2) The Lord never "suffers us to be tempted above that we are able." Talk about some instances in these stories where the Lord comforted, helped or strengthened His children in their times of trial. What was the effect on them?
3) How did the Lord use these different trying experiences to bring about His Will?
Fearless Witnessing
By Frank Foglio
Excerpts from the book Hey God, 1972
Mamma Foglio, her husband, and we 10 rambunctious [23 ]kids were poor. In fact, we were so poor that the poor people called us poor. Then one day in the 1930s, the Lord burst into our lives in the form of another equally poor, equally large, and tumultuous [24] Italian-American family, the Montecalvo family.
One day, following Mamma's Salvation and infilling of the Holy Spirit, while reading the Bible, she was inspired to take up a visitation ministry, visiting the homes in Italian neighbourhoods in nearby towns to tell the families about Jesus, just as the Montecalvo family had witnessed to us. "Come on, kids. You come along with Mamma!" she cheerfully told us.
Two or three of us would go with her door-to-door in Italian neighbourhoods. On our first mission, we walked five or six miles to get to the first house in the nearest town. Mamma was a little woman, but she was anointed with the power of the Holy Spirit, did a mighty work, and many were saved.
However, not everyone was pleased with her work. There were some that stirred up trouble for Mamma, telling the townspeople, "When these people come to your home, don't listen to them. Close your ears. Don't let them into your homes. Hit them with anything at hand. Don't even open the door."
That was the kind of resistance Mamma ran into the next day when she headed for an Italian neighbourhood. She was leading the pack. Two of my sisters were with her, and I was dawdling along about twenty-five feet in the rear. Mamma knocked on the door of a white house. I saw the curtain to the window by the door pulled aside, and a big woman looked out through the window. She looked vicious. The next instant, she pulled the door open and stood there with a bucket of hot water. The way the steam was rising from it, I could tell the water was scalding. I knew immediately what she had in mind, because the look on her face didn't indicate love! But Mamma had a way of disarming [25] people. She smiled sweetly and said hello.
"What do you want?"
"I want to tell you about Jesus."
"Tell me and tell me quickly."
Mamma told the woman about Jesus and His Love. She told her about God, the plan of Salvation, how she felt, the joy she received from knowing and loving Jesus. That woman set her bucket down before Mamma was more than halfway through talking, and by the time Mamma finished, the woman was crying and wiping away the tears with her apron.
Mamma said, "You had better scrub your floors before the water gets cold." She grabbed Mamma, hugged her and said, "You know, I was going to throw it on you." Mamma knew that. She wasn't afraid. She had a Holy Ghost anointing on her life.
After she turned that town upside down, she decided to go to another one, Steubenville, Ohio. At that time the Italian area in Steubenville was so bad that the people were afraid to go out at night. The people in that neighbourhood were so violent that even the dogs wouldn't walk the streets after dark! Mamma was warned by people not to go there. "The Lord told me to go and I'm going," she boldly proclaimed.
Mamma usually witnessed in a neighbourhood by starting with the first house in the block and working her way down one side of the street and up the other. My two sisters, Jessie and Yolanda, went with her. They reached a house in the middle of the block, and Mamma knocked on the door. Immediately the door opened, and standing there, filling the door frame, was a six-foot-seven man who weighed around 240 pounds. "Come in!" he commanded them.
They walked inside, and he slammed the door shut and leaned his back against it. He had an eighteen-inch butcher knife in his hand. He jammed it against Mamma's stomach. She felt the blade against her flesh.
"Now see if your Jesus can save you, because I'm going to kill you and your daughters!" Mamma didn't know then, but we learned later that the whole neighbourhood feared this man. He had been watching Mamma and my two sisters through the window in his living room, watching every move they made, and he couldn't wait for them to get to his door so that he might order them inside and kill them. That was his plan.
He was pressing the butcher knife against Mamma's flesh. My sisters were panic-stricken. But Mamma just smiled as if the knife wasn't there. "I want to tell you about Jesus."
"Tell it and be quick about it, because you're gonna die." She told him about Jesus in as few words as she could, and when she stopped talking, he asked, "You finished?"
"Just one more favour I want from you," Mamma said.
"What's that?"
"Before you kill me, I'd like to pray."
"All right, pray. But make it short." She knelt down on both knees, as he held the knife's point between her shoulders. "Hey God! You know he dunno what he do. Look at him, God. You love him. You gave Your Son to die for him. If he was the only man alive, You would still give Your Son. Bless him. Lord, deliver him. I love him. Even if he kills me, I still love him."
The knife clattered to the floor. The man fell on his face and cried out to God for Salvation.
He stood up, grabbed Mamma and my two sisters and hugged them until he almost broke them in two. God had a reason for saving that man; he became a bodyguard for Mamma and her flock.
"Whenever you come into this neighbourhood from now on," he said, "let me go with you to protect you." All the hate over the years had left its scars, but he had the joy of the Lord in his heart.
Mamma and my sisters would call at his home, and he would take his little Bible and go with them to other homes. He would knock on a door, and whoever answered it saw this huge man standing there. "What would you like, huh?"
"My friends want to tell you about Jesus. Okay?" Who is going to argue with a man who nearly fills the doorway?
Many listened and were convicted and baptized with the Holy Spirit. A wonderful testimony of what one small woman can do for her Lord and Saviour when she dares to believe. Mamma was stoned in some towns, but she refused to be intimidated as she continued with her work. Her faith and fearlessness in witnessing reminds me of Acts 4:29: "And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto Thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak Thy Word!"
Discussion Questions:
1) Were Mamma Foglio's actions in these life-threatening instances wise? Explain why.
2) We should normally avoid any violent or potentially violent situations. However, when we are forced into a situation that is beyond our control, the Lord can certainly protect us! What lessons can we learn from Mamma Foglio's example that would help us, should unexpected danger come upon us? n
Definitions:
(The meaning given is for the use of the word in the story and does not cover every meaning of the word.)
[1] Cultural Revolution: the name given to a 4-5 year period in China in the late 1960s, initiated by Mao Zedong. Communist radicals eliminated "non-revolutionaries" from government and educational institutions with large-scale violent "purges". The result was social and economic chaos.
[2] opiate: a drug which brings on relaxation or sleep
[3] feudalistic: similar to the social, political, and economic system in which subjects (called serfs) were granted land by their lords in return for military or other services
[4] bourgeois: characteristic of the middle class, often used in a derogatory way by Communists
[5] counter-revolutionary: against the revolution
[6] dunce cap: a cone-shaped paper hat, made to wear as a badge of shame
[7] interrogation: intense questioning
[8] dossier: a collection of papers, documents, etc., relating to a person
[9] benevolent: kind and helpful
[10] ruddy: reddish
[11] indoctrination: instruction which strongly influences one to believe a certain way
[12] unfettered: unchained
[13] unwittingly: unintentionally
[14] grudgingly: to allow unwillingly & resentfully
[15] bewildered: confused, perplexed
[16] deigned: to "stoop" to do something you feel is beneath you
[17] naturalized: to become a citizen of that country
[18] preliminaries: introductions to the main topic
[19] affrays: public brawls or fights
[20] cacophony: disagreeable or discordant group of sounds
[21] sustenance: nourishment; food; means of support
[22] incorrigible: incapable of being reformed or corrected
[23] rambunctious: boisterous; rowdy
[24] tumultuous: with much commotion and disorder
[25] disarming: helping to overcome suspicion; pacifying
(Definitions condensed from the World Book, Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary & Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary.)
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