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Persecutions
against Christians in |
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It was
1967 and the cultural Revolution had just begun. The following story was set in
a small mountain village named ‘Lishan’. The cluster of a little more than
100 households nestled in the valley, 20 kilometers from the site where
Daibuo was martyred. Every Friday evening, the sound of weeping and prayers
could be heard from the upper room of a house deep in the bamboo forest.
There, five brothers and sisters from several other small villages in that
area gathered together. |
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Among them
were two brothers who had recently been called to the ministry. They were
greatly burdened that the atheistic rulers in |
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In
different cities and districts, God raised His army of prayer warriors. They
faithfully prayed unceasingly, fervently, with great intensity and in one
spirit. After several months the fires of the Holy Spirit began to burn in
each district. In ‘H. city, the Holy Spirit came down upon a group of
intercessors and filled them, and they began to speak in tongues, praising
God. |
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Soon, the
tiny upper room in which the five had their prayer meetings was no longer
adequate as they were joined by more and more intercessors. The Lord worked through
this group of people mightily and many were the miracles and signs and
wonders as they preached in the neighbouring villages. Many sick people were
also healed. |
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There was
a small child who had smallpox in |
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‘There is
nothing I can do …’ |
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Then he
just walked away. |
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However, a
young believer got up, laid his hands on the child and the boy immediately
got up and began to play! |
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There were
only a handful of Christians in this village at first. But eventually all the
villagers believe in Jesus. After that, nobody was interested in taking part in
commune plays or other entertainment. On the hillsides, the shepherd boys
sang and danced before the Lord. In the fields, the labourers praised God
aloud as they worked. The village women who usually gathered by the stream to
do their laundry ceased arguing and sang from the depths of their hearts. The
whole village was full of the harmony of praise. It truly was as if ‘the
angels were singing with men and the harmony of heaven prevailed’.
Superstition, evil spirits and sin in the village soon became a thing of the
past. |
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The number
of believers increased by leaps and bounds, as neighbouring villages turned
to Jesus. Before long, there were more than 300 Christians and they quickly
outgrew the meeting place. So from one meeting place the believers split into
two then three, four, five meeting points. The Holy Spirit swept throughout
‘C’ district and ‘H’ city and soon revival broke out also in the other
districts. |
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Persecution in |
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Before long,
a wave of persecution began. The commune authorities, seeing the numbers of
believers increase daily, were alarmed and did not know what to do. They
commanded the brigade secretary of Lishan village to put a stop to all the
activities of the church. For several consecutive weeks the brigade secretary
would go to the meetings to break up the gathering by force. |
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How could
the brothers and sisters ever agree to stop meeting together? The secretary
was so furious that he smashed to pieces all the stools, tables, and windows
as well as beat up the believers with his fists. But the Christians ignored
him and continued to sing and pray. |
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Several
times, the cadres from the commune accompanied the secretary on these
missions. But the amazing thing was that instead of suppressing the
Christians’ activities, they only served to incite the believers to become
more fervent and zealous! Therefore, the number of believers increased even
more! |
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The
village authorities were rather helpless. All they could do was to report to
the commune authorities and request them to send reinforcements to help
suppress the Christians. The county government, therefore, whipped together a
group of several dozen workers and sent them to the Lishan village commune.
First, they sent a threatening letter to the church there. It said: ‘If you
gather again for a meeting this Sunday, you are truly good Chinese’. |
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On Friday
evening, a brother read the letter out loud before the fellowship of believers.
Then in a low but firm voice he said: ‘Brothers and sisters, it is possible
the Work Unit will come this Sunday. Should we stop meeting?’ |
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Everyone
responded without hesitation and in unison: ‘We cannot cease meeting’. |
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Several
believers stood up and said: ‘If we don’t allow ourselves to be refined in
these small storms, then how will we stand when great persecution comes?’’ |
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These
brethren then led everyone in praise and prayer. They were all filled and
encouraged in faith. The meeting continued until the early morning hours. |
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On Sunday,
the brothers and sisters made their way to the meeting place, getting there
earlier than usual. There was already a very large crowd and every inch of the
house and the courtyard were crammed with people. Some four hundred and fifty
people sang and prayed in one accord, their voices rising up to the clouds as
they praised and worshipped for more than two hours. |
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After
several hours of preaching, a lad of about seven or eight years old ran
frantically through the crowd, his head drenched with sweat. He showed his
way to the preacher and tugged urgently on his coat. He ran so hard that he
lost his shoes, injured his toe and now blood was oozing out. |
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He shouted
frenziedly: ‘Papa, run quickly! The People’s militia are coming ….’. |
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Three
young co-workers shot up from their seats and comforted the crowd. ‘Brothers
and sisters, be not afraid, for the Lord is in our midst. Let us first praise
Him!’ |
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Then they
all stood up and sang: ‘Oh Lord who sits in the heavens, I lift my eyes up to
you….’. |
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The Work
Unit cadres looked smug, having brought with them a large group of the
People’s militia armed with guns and real bullets. They immediately surrounded
the meeting place. The brothers and sisters, however, were not afraid but
continued to sing with even greater fervency. The shouts and curses of the
soldiers were completely drowned out by their singing. |
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Now, we do
not know if it was due to anger or fear, but the armed men turned pale. Under
the command of their supervisor, a group of them rushed to the platform and
tied up three of the brethren. Then they beat a hasty retreat. |
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The
believers wept as the three brothers were taken away to the commune offices
where a crowd had gathered at the gate. Their captors shaved their heads and
painted a red cross on top. They also used red, blue and black ink to paint
their faces and then forced them to sit on the edge of a bucket filled with
human faeces. |
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The crowd
of onlookers were entertained by the spectacle, and they clapped their hands
and laughed scornfully: ‘Ha, ha! These are the leaders of the Jesus
followers. Where is your God? Why doesn’t He come to save you?’ |
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Some simply
shook their heads and sighed: ‘How pitiful, how could these three young men
be harmed by superstition to such a degree?’ |
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Others
hurled stones and orange peel, or spat on them. There were some, though, who
commented: ‘They are a good example. I truly admire their courage as they
hold steadfast to their faith. It is evident there is a God, otherwise how
could they gladly suffer reproach like this!’ |
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At night,
they were put in a small room and for three days they were not allowed to eat
or drink water. Many of the believers brought food and fruit when they
visited them, but they were driven away by the soldiers. After three days,
the Work Unit prepared a meal for them. When the three brothers had received
their bowls of rice, one of the cadres glared at them and said: ‘This evening
let’s see if you have the nerve to pray for your meal before me. If so, I
will know you are true Christians’. |
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When the
first brother held up his rice bowl with both hands to give thanks, he was
slapped with such force that it knocked him to the ground and his rice
spilled all over him. All eyes were then glued to the other two believers. |
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The second
brother also lifted his rice bowl without hesitancy, to say grace. Suddenly,
he was struck on the chest with a fist. Everything went black as he slumped
on the table. |
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‘Lord,
help me to glorify you’, was the third brother’s cry. He took up his bowl
unflinchingly and prayed out loud. |
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The men
from the local work brigade were furious and one of them prepared to pour hot
water from the thermos flask on the table on that brother’s head. The commune
secretary intervened, however, and said: ‘If you do this it will result in a
loss of life. These three men are hard workers in the brigade, only they are
too superstitious and too stubborn’. |
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The
following week, there was no decline in the numbers meeting in Lishan
village. The Work Unit, with the aid of the People’s militia, arrested three
more brethren. And the week after, they arrested several believers. But this
did not put out the fires of the Gospel. On the contrary, it burned all the
more and spread quickly to ‘C’ district. |
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This
alarmed the Work Unit but it was helpless to do anything. The Unit comprised
cadres from several government units in that county. They include the Public
Security Bureau, the United Front Department, Transportation Bureau and
Taxation Bureau. |
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At first,
they were confident that they could solve this ‘problem’ of the local church.
They had thought that it would be very simple operation and that they could
achieve their objectives within a week. In two months, however, not only did
they fail to suppress the church, but they contributed to church growth! |
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In the
end, they devised a method in which they moved to Lishan village to visit
each family and break them up with Marxist propaganda. But on entering the
village, they heard the sound of singing everywhere. When they got down to
work, many children would follow them closely, singing songs of praise. No
amount of scolding or threats could stop them. They continued singing boldly
without ceasing. The communists were so frustrated they did not know whether
to laugh or to cry. Their plans thwarted, they had no choice but to leave the
village. |
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Persecution spreads throughout the province |
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The
authorities issued similar notices to another village in ‘C’ district
ordering them to stop their meetings, but the believers refused to comply. One
Sunday morning, while the Christians were praying, the commune cadres arrived
with the People’s militia. The armed soldiers fired several shots into the
air before rushing into the meeting place. |
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They tied
up the sister who was leading prayer. But another sister would stand up to
lead the believers in prayer, and they would arrest her as well. But more
sisters would take the lead until the soldiers had them all bound one by one.
The sisters were then taken to the commune where they were meted different
punishment. |
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The old
‘aunty’ of the family hosting the prayer meeting was forced to kneel on a
heap of broken ceramic tiles with a bamboo pole placed on the back of her
legs. Two men would then stand on each end of the pole. It was too much for
the old lady, who soon passed out. |
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The next
day, old ‘aunty’ sent back a message through the believer who brought her
food that the meetings must go on, regardless of what had happened. |
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In another
case, a young brother was about to graduate from a teacher’s college, but the
night before his graduation he was found preaching in a meeting. He was duly
expelled. When he returned home he was arrested, cruelly beaten and suspended
from the ceiling of the bathroom for the entire night. |
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Prayer causes an earthquake |
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In the
fall of 1973, the church in Lishan had a baptismal service. There was a large
number who were to receive baptism. The brethren, realising that such a
gathering was not like their usual meetings, was acutely aware of the need to
be cautious lest the authorities find out about it and came to break it up.
Therefore, they notified the baptismal candidates to gather in Lishan village
at different places after dark to rest and they would begin the meeting and
baptism at |
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Now, the
commune authorities got wind of this baptism service and had already
organized several dozen people to hide in a house behind the meeting place. They
had prepared a lot of animal manure which they would begin to dump into the
small stream upstream from where the baptism was to be held, once the
Christians began their meeting. They had also prepared a store of stones to
throw at the believers. |
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But the
brethren knew of their plan, and they immediately rounded up the co-workers
and brethren who had a real burden for the church to kneel and pray fervently
unto the Lord. |
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‘Lord,
have you not been given all power in heaven and earth? You blinded the eyes
of those wicked people in |
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As they
were praying, the power of the Lord came upon them and they were all filled
with the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues and praising the greatness of God.
All the believers felt that they should immediately begin the service so they
started singing and praising God. There were about 400 to 500 people gathered
there, and they sang with much exuberance, making a joyful sound that could
be heard everywhere. |
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The Holy
Spirit fell as the latter rain, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
everyone felt as if they were on the mountains and in the clouds! They were before
the very throne of the Lord worshipping Him face to face. It was truly heaven
on earth! |
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‘Be
faithful, be faithful, proclaim this message everywhere; be faithful in that
which has been committed to you, be faithful to your glorious King ….’. |
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The
brothers and sisters sang this majestic battle song over and over. Suddenly,
the place began to shake and dust began to fall from the ceiling. Then the
houses in the village all began to rattle and even the hills rumbled and
shook. |
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Several
sisters were in their homes washing bowls when they felt the ground beneath
them shake. Windows and doors shuddered and crockery rattled. Their hearts
also shook! They immediately sped to the meeting place where they ‘ascended
to the mountains and entered the clouds’ in worship. |
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The
worship went on for another two hours. Then a brother was asked to speak, but
he declined saying: ‘I have believed in the Lord for more than 50 years, but
never have I seen a meeting like this. How can I stand up to speak?’ |
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Finally, a
local brother was moved to speak for over 40 minutes and then he led the
crowd to a deep pool beside a small stream where 78 brothers and sisters were
baptized. |
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What about
the 90 workers hired by the authorities to break up this baptismal service?
When they heard the sound of singing that shook heaven and earth and which
reverberated throughout the whole village, shaking the very ground they were
standing on, they took off in fright! How amazing! What a wonderful work of
God! |
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From: Danyun,
Lilies amongst thorns, Sovereign
World Ltd. England, 1991, pages 297-304 |