Episode 3

 

Prelude

(Narration)

In China, the story of the “Cross” once seemed as strange and far away as the other side of the universe. But today its message is here, right in our midst.

 

1900，during the Boxer Rebellion, 188 western missionaries, and 20,000 Chinese Christians were killed.

 

In the following fifty years, more western missionaries came to China. They established 13 universities, over 6,000 elementary schools and high schools, and more than 900 hospitals. The number of Chinese Christians grew to 700,000.

 

The Chinese Communist Party believed this success was the result of imperialist cultural invasion.  They expelled all western missionaries, forced Chinese missionaries to renounce their religion, and mandated a secular education for all Chinese.

 

Fifty more years have passed and today there are approximately 70 million Christians in China, an increase of 100 fold!

 

 (Title sequence: The Cross – Jesus In China)

 

Narration:

During the Cultural Revolution in China, the flame of hatred and bitterness burned hot.  At the same time, a quiet stream of love and forgiveness struggled to quench the thirst of the faithful.

 

Miao Zhi Tong:

In 1960, a few families stared gatherings, which had very few participants.  By 1967 these house-church gatherings became very widespread.

 

Brother From Wenzhou: An old lady next door was a devout Christian, and I was strongly against Christianity.  One day she came over for a chat. She taught me to kneel and pray. Later, I became a Christian.  At our first gathering there were three or four people.  Soon we had six, then eight, and at times as many as 30 people.  All the meetings were held in secret. Every time we met, we prayed together fervently.  Of course, we had to leave right after the service to escape arrest by the Red Guard and the Militia.

 

 (Episode 3: The Bitter Cup)

 

Yang Xin Fei’s Brother:

For 30 to 40 years, we kept our house-church alive. In the beginning, there were only my mother, my brother and I. Later, our gatherings grew to seven, then eight, then ten, and gradually, more and more.

 

Joseph Li:

In 1972, I received a letter from my brother-in-law who lived in my hometown of Henan.  He said: Hurry up! Come home soon!  He told me there were some young people who wanted to devote their lives to spreading the gospel.  When I checked it out, I found it was true.  So how did they preach the gospel?  Well, during the day, they would hide in caves, and in orchards, or in barns. After 10 o’clock at night, they would come out to find other believers to pray with.

 

Xing Jin Fu:

Sometimes we met in the cornfield.  Sometimes we met in the graveyard.  Those were the best places for gathering and prayer.  I remember there was a time we lived in an empty field for more than six months. 

 

Zhang Rong Liang:

No matter what time it was, evening, midnight, or dawn, all I had to do was walk by someone’s window and call his name.  All of them got up right away and contacted the others.  In no time at all, three rooms would be filled with people.

 

Narration:

With the end of the Cultural Revolution, secret House-Church activities gradually came out into the open.

 

 (Chorus)

Praise him with the harp and lyre

Praise him with tambourine and dance

Praise him

Praise him with the strings and flute

 

Narration:

After the death of Mao Ze Dong, the Chinese people, cheated by a false god, began to search for the true god.  For the first time in their lives, people from the lowest levels of society came face to face with God’s unconditional love, with Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, and with the knowledge that in God’s temple they had value and dignity. How could they not rejoice, like everyone who has received the most precious gift in the world?

 

(Chorus: “God Is With Us”)

Here is God’s presence

Here is God’s Words

Here is the anointing from the Holy Spirit

Here is a different world

When brothers live together in unity

How good and lovely it is

 

It is as if the dew of Harmon

Were falling on Mount Zion

Love is here

Peace is here

Light is here

Life is here

The blessings from God are all here

If you want to find Him

Come to Jesus Christ

 

Sister: The first time I went to church, I felt the atmosphere there was really good.  I found true meaning in life.  I found a peace I’d never felt before: peace in the Lord.  So I can say without reservation: I will follow God for the rest of my life. 

 

Brother: After the service, my soul felt especially sweet and joyful: Lord, how wonderful it will be if we can meet like this everyday.

 

Sister I lay awake for three nights overwhelmed with joy.  I thought: “Lord, what have I received?  Why am I so filled with joy? I have no money. I have no family.  I have nothing.” And you know, I was absolutely sure that this joy came from heaven.    

 

Shen Xian Feng: I didn’t completely recover my health when I found Jesus, but there was a kind of indescribable joy within me.  I didn’t know where it came from.

 

Ming Ming’s Mom: I thought it over and over; and I decided it was best to follow Jesus.  My greatest joy was that finally I found the meaning of my life.  When I look back, I’m very happy I didn’t choose the path of sin.

 

Narration:

The Chinese have experienced a great deal of sin in this mortal existence, but never have they experienced the peace that comes from forgiveness and baptism by the Holy Spirit.

 

Brother: The whole time the minister was preaching, I couldn’t help crying.  I really didn’t understand why.  I was afraid that other people might see my tears, so I tried to wipe them away without anybody seeing me.  I kept my head bowed, and I listened to the sermon. I remember it was about repentance through Christ’s atonement for us.

 

Sister:  I always felt like I was the prodigal son.  But the Lord’s eternal love has not abandoned me.  I’m so thankful that, so far, I’ve been able to serve God. 

 

Brother: One thing I’ll never forget: it was only through God’s grace that the wound inside me healed.  When God came to me, he touched my heart and the power of his message woke me up.  I knew that he wanted to use me to help save other people. 

 

Sister: How amazing God’s grace is!  He loves each and every one of us.  I decided to devote my life to his service.

 

Sister: It is only through the love of God that I can live a better life.  It gives me a purpose and a reason to live.

 

Narration:

Just as the sun cannot stop shining, and seeds in spring cannot stop sprouting, these people answered a call from deep in their souls. They were reborn through Jesus: they could not help but dedicate themselves to God and become missionaries of the gospel.

 

  (Chorus)

Found you

God has found you

God has found you

 

Zhang Qing Yun: How fast time flies. I have been on this path for sixteen years.

 

Narration:

Zhang Qing Yun was born and raised in an intellectual family. When she decided to dedicate her life to missionary work, she had a long talk with her father.

 

Zhang Qing Yun: He said to me, “You have three choices: If you’d like to continue your education, I will support you financially.  If you’d like to keep on working as a teacher, I’ll make all the arrangements. If you’d like a different job, with my authority and connections, I can find you a good one.  Think about it.”  I said, “I don’t want any of that.” “Why not?” he asked. “What else do you want?”   I told him I wanted to continue my work as a missionary.  He gave a long sigh. “Qing Yun, if you ever get tired and feel you can no longer carry on, please come back home. Our door is always open to you.  If you’re happy living with your brothers and sisters and choose to do that for the rest of your life, please don’t forget to write home, no matter how far away you are.”  My eyes were full of tears, and I was afraid to look up at my father.

 

Then, he asked me one last time if I was sure I wanted to leave.  I said, yes, I wanted to go.  So, he took out thirty dollars and said, “I don’t have much money left. Take this with you for the road.” 

 

My mother used to beg me to come home too.  She’d say. “What use is all this traveling?”  So I’d tell her it was all for God’s love.  If I don’t spread the Gospel, many other people would answer his call. But God has planted the seeds in my heart, he called me and gave me this mission and responsibility, and I can’t refuse to follow his will.” 

 

            (Chorus)

 

Move forward

Keep moving forward

Don’t look back

Move forward

Keep moving forward

Move forward and don’t look back

One who puts his hand to the plow and looks back

Is not fit for service in the kingdom of God

 

Narration:

This courageous girl grew up in a small town, but spent most of her youth in caves and in jail. There was a lot of pain…and also a lot of joy.

 

Zhang Qing Yun: God’s love has led me onto this path. I was weak. I was lost.  But I have never regretted my choice.

 

Narration: 

Today, Zhang Qing Yun and her husband are in charge of training missionaries for House-Church activities.  More and more people, including their families, have begun to understand and support them.

 

Zhang Qing Yun (While praying):  With the company of your love, we will keep following your footsteps till the end of our lives.

 

Narration:

Since the 1980’s in Mainland China, tens of thousands of devout Christians like Zhang Qing Yun have dedicated their lives to the Lord.

 

Ding Hei: From 1981 on, I completely devoted myself to this path.  I left my hometown with several other girls and went by bicycle and on foot to more than ten counties nearby. In every village, we talked to people we met on the street.  Many of them were really interested.  They’d never seen a group of girls spreading the Gospel. A lot of sick people were healed by the power of our prayers.  Every time we traveled, tens of thousands of people became followers of Jesus. This is how we established the House-Churches.

 

Shen Xien Feng:  In the beginning, there were miracles in every village we visited.  Many missionaries were gifted with the power of healing.  We were able to heal the sick with the touch of our hands.

 

Xing Jin Fu:  We would visit a new village. We’d sing in the yards of farmhouses.  Many neighbors would drop by, just out of curiosity.  We’d teach them about Jesus.  Then if the villagers said they would accept the gospel, we would kneel and pray together.

 

Brother:  Every time there was a celebration, a wedding, or a funeral, we would beat our drums and strike our gongs to spread the gospel. We used to put on plays, skits, dances, or tell bible stories in order to spread the gospel.

 

(Ryme)

If your family believes in God

Happiness will surround you

There will be peace in this life

And eternal life you will get

And eternal life you will get

 

Brother:  We spread the gospel on buses, trains, and in the streets.  We knocked on every villager’s door. We went into their homes and told them all about the good news.

 

Sister: What is the gospel?  Sit down, please.  Everybody sit down…

 

Brother: We visited every corner of our local area and spread the Word.  After it was established locally we traveled to other cities and provinces.  We’ve been to Shan Xi, Hu Bei, and Ning Xia.

 

Miao:  Back in 1980 and 1981, that was the golden era for Wen Zhou House-Church.

 

Miao (while preaching):  From the remote region of Xin Jiang, from the desolate land in the northeast…

 

Miao:  We had massive gatherings. The Holy Spirit came down upon us with abundance. Then, in 1981, the government reestablished the Three-Self Church.  The good times were over.

 

Narration:

As soon as the government reestablished the Three-Self Church, House-Churches became illegal and it was forbidden to spread the gospel.  In 1983, the government gave orders to arrest a group of Christians who they labeled as the “Gang of Agitators”. 

 

Wang Xin Cai:  I was arrested because they said I belonged to the “Gang of Agitators”.  What on earth did I agitate for? Did I incite people to overthrow the communist regime? Did I announce that I was against the one-child policy?  I would not complain if I had.   But, all I did was shout, “Christ is Lord.”  And for that I was convicted of anti-revolutionary activities and thrown in jail for fifteen years.

 

Narration:

This former Red Guard leader found understanding and comfort in Christ.

 

Wang Xin Cai:  Jesus didn’t do anything wrong but he was crucified on the cross. I didn’t do anything wrong either. During the Cultural Revolution, I was a fighter and a destroyer of lives, but I was treated as a hero.  Now I am a righteous man, but I’m considered a criminal.

 

Zhang Rong Liang (asking the crowd): Everyone who has been jailed for speaking the truth, please stand and come forward.

 

Narration: 

Being thrown in jail is such a common occurrence that these faithful brothers and sisters are quite comfortable talking about their experiences.

 

Brother: The persecution never stops.  There are always some of us locked up.  Some have been in and out of jail more than ten times.  Right now, we have fourteen members in jail, and twenty-one key members are on the government’s wanted list.

 

Brother: We have all suffered in jail to different degrees. There are about forty of us. Three members were arrested recently, and they are still in jail.

 

Sister: Since the government stared to crack down on the church in He Bei, all the active members have become wanted criminals. When they came to my home to arrest me, I wasn’t there. So they took my father instead.

 

 

Narration: 

Xiao Gai tried to escape arrest, but injured herself and is now handicapped.

 

Xiao Gai:  I climbed up to the roof to escape, but to my dismay there was a policeman on guard.  While we were struggling, he forced me right to the edge of the roof.  Then he pushed me off. When I landed, I didn’t feel any pain, but I couldn’t stand up.  I cried out to a sister.  “Help me! Help me!” She came back and tried to pull me up, but just I couldn’t. My leg was broken.  After this, I lost all my inner peace. Christians are good people, why don’t the police arrest the real criminals and leave us Christians alone!  Later, I repented and prayed for that policeman, “Lord, he didn’t know what he was doing.”

 

Narration: 

Just as gold can endure refining in the hottest fire, true believers in God can shine through the deepest darkness.  Chun Xia, the friend of Xiao Gai, was arrested three days before her wedding day.

 

           Chun Xia:  I was arrested on the tenth of August, and then sentenced to three years in a labor camp.  My brothers and sisters in Christ, including my fiancé, came to visit me the next day.  Everyone cried except me. But after they left, I did go through a lot of struggling in my heart. I said to the guard: “The truth is that I didn’t commit a crime”. She agreed and I said: “I’m innocent, why did they give me a 3 year sentence?” She said they were afraid that I would follow the wrong path. “Come on!” I said. “Because of their fear I must pay with three years of my freedom?” Then she stared talking about how the laws were not perfect yet, etc, etc. All that time, I struggled hard in my soul.  I paced back and forth from one window to another, and kept asking: “Lord, do you really mean I have to suffer like this for 3 years?” Later, it was the Lord who comforted me. Before my arrest, every day we had read, talked and sung about nothing other than the Cross and the Bible. But when I was really walking on the same path, how come I still had to struggle so hard? I said: “Lord, I know you will help me.  You will see that I don’t spend these three years in vain.”

 

Narration:

While she was serving her sentence, Chun Xia couldn’t stop worrying about her fiancé, Hai Sheng.

 

Chun Xia:  I kept sending notes to Hai Sheng, telling him not to wait for me. We were not that young any more. I didn’t want him to waste time waiting for me…Three long years.

 

Hai Sheng:  Soon after Chun Xia was arrested, Uncle Zhang asked me what I was going to do if Chun Xia had to spend three years in jail.  Would my family accept this? Maybe I should consider someone else. I told him, “I will wait for her, whether it takes three years or even twenty years!”

 

Narration:

Every month, on visitors’ day, Hai Sheng would travel hundreds of miles by train to visit Chun Xia.

 

Chun Xia:  Each visit was limited to 20 or 30 minutes.  Hai Sheng never missed a visit, and he always brought a letter with him.

 

Hai Sheng:  I wanted her to stop worrying about me. I wanted her to stop telling me not to wait for her. It hurt me.  I told her I would still love her, and marry her even when she became an old lady with gray hair. 

 

Chun Xia:  I’ve never shown anyone these letters. They gave me great comfort.  I didn’t feel too bad during the time in jail. I was happy. I told my brothers and sisters in Christ: “God answered my prayers.  I went through all the hard times with joy. Praise the Lord.” Three months before the end of my sentence, I was released. Hai Sheng and Uncle Zhang came to pick me up.

 

Hai Sheng: I thought we both would burst into tears, but we didn’t. When we got home, a lot of brothers and sisters were waiting for us.  We were very emotional.  My family was overjoyed. 

 

Chun Xia:  I didn’t expect it to happen so fast.  I was released on the 29^th of April. On the third of May, we were married.  The brothers and sisters of our hometown had arranged the wedding ceremony for us.

 

(Hai Shen singing on the wedding, “Entering a new day”)

           

The first words coming from within

Thank you, Lord

Given your anointing

Bathed in your love

 

Hai Sheng: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, God told me his plan in this verse.  Sometimes I wanted to blame God for what we had to go through, but at the same time, a voice within my heart would tell me, “Don’t complain. God doesn’t neglect anyone, anywhere, at anytime.”

 

Chun Xia: During the wedding, everybody kept wiping away their tears. I couldn’t stop smiling, though I was crying too -- tears of thankfulness and joy.  I knew that God was with me all the time I was in jail.

 

Narration:

Being forced to delay their wedding only deepened the love between this young couple. Three years in jail strengthened their faith, and despite the three years of torture, their happiness and their gratitude increased.

 

  (Tsu Xia singing on the wedding, “Lord, We Believe Faithfully”)

 

Lord, we truly believe

At every moment

Your love is with us

And never grows less

Lord, we truly believe

At every moment

You are our only companion

Our hearts long for you

Our hearts follow you faithfully

For you are the only One

You are beyond comparison

You are beyond comparison

 

Narration:

Generation after generation, Chinese missionaries have struggled along a path that leads to the Cross.  The Chinese government refuses to acknowledge them, and China’s huge population doesn’t understand them. Around every corner these missionaries encounter suffering and imprisonment. Yet, with no remorse and no regrets, they keep on their difficult path.

 

           Old Jing:  My father passed away when I was born.  My mother died when I was only three years old.  Before I was eleven, I never had a pair of shoes or anyone to take care of me. It was a very painful life.  I couldn’t understand why I was born with such a bad fate.  Why was I born without parents who cared for me? How come other people had good lives and I didn’t? If there was a god, why didn’t he help this poor, suffering soul?  Finally, one day I was desperate and ready to commit suicide. But I heard a group of people singing. It was a cold, bleak night and I wondered who on earth would find anything to sing about. So I walked towards the house. Someone saw me and called out, “Isn’t that the homeless child that has no family?”  They took me inside. “My child, believe in Jesus, he is the only one who can save you,” they said.   Then some elderly ladies taught me how to kneel and pray.  They put their hands on my head and prayed for me with tears in their eyes.  That night I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart.  When the police in Tang He county found out that there was a fourteen- year-old boy who had become a Christian, they stared searching for me.  After hiding in a pit for seven days, I became really hungry and exhausted.  So I climbed out of the pit to get a breath of fresh air.  Just my luck that a policeman happened to be passing by! He arrested me there and then. “You are so young, but already you are anti-revolutionary”, he said. They denounced me, they tortured me, and they starved me. But I thought to myself: Jesus must be the way of truth, otherwise why is the “great” communist party is so serious about it? Even a homeless teenager like me is seen as a threat.

 

Narration:

Jing, the orphan adopted by a Christian, became a missionary when he was nineteen.

 

Old Jing:  At first, I worked as a local missionary.  After I got married, I carried my child on my back and stared to travel to different provinces to spread the gospel.  I built a lot of House-Churches in the provinces of Hoo Bei, Shan Xi, and An Hwei.  I was filled with joy.  I knew what I was doing was important.  I paid no attention to the humiliation, the suppression, the poverty, and all the arrests.

 

Missionary (while praying): Lord, take pity on us, Amen. We thank you for choosing us, Amen.  We thank you for your love, Amen.  We thank you for showing us the path, which leads away from this imperfect world, Amen.  We thank you for allowing us to share your burden, Amen. 

 

Missionary (while praying): Lord, we thank you for watching over your church in China, and for taking pity on your church in China.  Although the Chinese church has suffered endless suppression, we see your presence in China, Amen.  God is in charge here, Amen.

 

Brother:  I became a Christian in 1983, and I’ve been working as a missionary ever since.  During that time, I was thrown in jail four times, three of which were in my hometown, and the other was in Xin Yang County.

 

Brother:  I was badly beaten up.  Sometimes the guards beat me, and sometimes it was the other prisoners.  I remember vomiting blood, lots of blood.

 

Brother:  The three or four of us sat in a circle and passed the bread around.  That night we cried for a long time. We missed our families. We missed the Lord.

 

Brother:  I was jailed eight times for spreading the gospel. One time, a sister and I were handcuffed together around a pillar outside the police station.  Our feet weren’t allowed to touch the ground at the same time.  When my feet touched the ground, hers couldn’t. When hers did, mine couldn’t.  We hung like that for four hours until our hands turned black and blue.

 

Brother:  They tortured me after I was arrested.  They beat my face and it was severely swollen. My skin was burned by electric prods.

 

Sister:  The guard hit my head and my body with electric prods.  I passed out and couldn’t remember what happened later.

 

Brother:  I was struck by three or four cattle prods at the same time.  The guards hit me everywhere and tied me up.  It has been three years since that happened and still I have the rope marks on my body. 

 

Narration:

More than once, while enduring endless torture and extreme hardship, many missionaries raised questions to God. He answered their prayers in various ways, and, without exception, all the missionaries found inner peace.

 

Xing:  I prayed to God to give me the answer, and He said to me;  “I can tell you nothing”.  That’s my strongest memory, because it was during the darkest hours of my life, and God wouldn’t answer me. Later I said to God, “Even though you won’t give me the answer, I still accept all this with gratitude.” After I did that, my dark spiritual life was completely illuminated and revived.

 

Uncle Zheng:  I told the Lord that I was afraid of going back to prison.  If I were jailed again, it would be the eleventh time.  I told God that I’d had enough of jail. I was terrified my body couldn’t take it anymore.

 

Brother: I heard a heart-breaking cry. It was from Christ himself.  He cried out, “Father, why have you forsaken me?” I heard his words so clearly: they flew from the Cross directly into my head. And all at once I understood why Jesus wept .  There and then, I felt strong again. I realized that the Lord had not abandoned me.  He wanted me to experience the cross.

 

Brother:  Jesus told us, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mat 16:24)  

.

Brother:  I don’t have any hard feelings for what I went through. This is the same path our Lord Jesus walked on.  Since the very first day I became a missionary, I knew this path was a path of “Cross”.  I was more than willing to take it. No matter what I’ve suffered, I have never blamed God.

 

Uncle Feng:  I made the decision to follow God.  God found me and loved me. What I went through was all from God, and I am filled with joy.  The government’s persecution is no big deal.  It’s just a way of showing me God’s blessing. That’s all.

 

Narration:

Religion and politics must be separate. Because they believe in this principle, many Chinese Christians refuse to attend the government-controlled Three-Self church.  Their House-Churches and missionary work are considered illegal by the government.  Local government officials can arrest and fine them under national laws that regulate religion.  Therefore, meeting and preaching in secret have become the only way Chinese Christians can survive.

 

However, the degree of suppression varies in China. Churches in Wenzhou were the first to revive after the Cultural Revolution, but most of the church buildings are destroyed now. Churches in He Nan were revived later, but there are more martyrs and jailed Christians there than anywhere else.

 

Although Chinese Christians do not oppose the government, they are considered illegal because they would not renounce their faith: they live righteously and faithfully under tyrannical rule.The Chinese authorities are completely mystified by the increasing number of House-Churches.

 

Brother:  They don’t understand, they’ve no idea what we’ve been doing, so they call us anti-revolutionary.  In fact, I think they know in their hearts that we aren’t revolutionary.

 

Brother:  We think that the reason the government tries so hard to suppress us is because they don’t understand what Christianity is about.  It’s a misunderstanding.  We don’t hate the government. The only wish we have is for everyone on Earth to feel God’s love, to receive God’s love.

 

Brother:  Through all our hardships, God is training, preparing, and building his church in China.  It is a blessing for the Chinese Church. We are praying for our leaders in China, and also for those who suppress us.  We wish them well.

 

Brother:  We’ve been telling our brothers and sisters that we should show respect to every member and branch of the government.  It’s God’s commandment to respect authorities.  In China, however, Christians are not understood in this way.

 

Brother:  The wars in Chinese history, such as the Tai-Ping Rebellion and the Opium War, damaged people’s trust. The government suppressed us because they’re afraid and they don’t understand our true belief.  Therefore, as Christians in this country, I think we should pray for our country’s leaders and for everyone in authority.

 

Sister (prayer):  Lord, we are willing to risk our lives in order to save our beloved country of China, Amen.

 

Brothe (prayer):  r: Lord, we ask You to bless our beloved country.

 

Brother (prayer):  :  Please bless this country with your hands, Amen.  Please bless this nation with your hands, Amen.

 

Brother (prayer):   :  You have shed Your blood for the Chinese people.  We thank You for bringing us your gospel and salvation in these last times. We thank You for opening the door to Your gospel in China.

 

Sister (prayer):  :  Your love has come to us. It has come to the land of China.  You have loved our country and people since the beginning of time.  Many people in China deny You; they don’t recognize You.  They worship all kinds of idols. Lord, today we repent for our country.  Lord, please withhold Your anger.

 

Narration:

A person whose heart loves God also loves his country and his fellow human beings. A person who is willing to carry the Cross is full of mercy. Such people may be badly mistreated but they still feel sweet with love. They may be imprisoned but their hearts are free, they may be despised, but are full of gratitude.

 

Old Jing:  God’s spirit and his mighty power have been with me over the years.  To tell you the truth, I did go through a little suffering for Him. I was homeless at one time. Since I stared following him, I’ve gained so much.  Despite all the hardships, God’s path is still very sweet to me.

 

Zhang Rong Liang:  I don’t feel pain when I’m in pain; I don’t feel hungry when I’m hungry; I don’t feel alone when I’m pursued and put in prison. I don’t feel depressed after I cry, I feel sweet. My whole life has been saved by God’s love.

 

Brother:  Without God’s love, nobody can give up worldly possessions and be his servants.  Jesus sacrificed himself on the Cross for us all. We are bound by His love and have no choice but to follow in his footsteps.

 

Sister:  I can picture the expression of pain on Jesus’ face when he was crucified on the cross.  I’ll never forget what it says in the Bible, “And the curtain of the temple was torn in two”(Luke 23:45). He did not do it for himself.

 

(Chorus: “The Tears of Gratitude”)

 

Can’t stop the tears of gratitude

Can’t stop the words from deep within

Hands marked with imprint of the nails

Open the doors long shut

A voice of tenderness

Takes our hearts away

 

We know this is a path to the cross

A painful path with violent storms

But the loving hands of the Lord

Holding our hands all the time

There is no reason not to follow Jesus

There is no reason not to follow Jesus

 

Narration:

Why has the cross, an instrument of torture and a symbol of humiliation, become a symbol of peace and good future? The path leading to the cross is paved with suffering and sacrifice. But why are people who walk along it filled with peace and joy? Why does suffering turn into happiness because of the cross? The answers all lie in Jesus. He was nailed to the cross because of His love for man and he was resurrected three days later. Today, He is living in heaven, in this world, and in the hearts of everyone who believe in Him.

 

Just as Jesus announced his victory through the cross, the faithful in China are building the church through suffering many hardships.  Jail has become the faith-building training center for missionaries in China; suppression has revived the spirit of the Chinese Christians, and never-ending arrests have helped to build teams of people spreading the gospel nationwide.

 

Zhang Rong Liang:  The government keeps on tracking us down and arresting us.  We have no choice but to leave home.  But everywhere we hide, we spread the gospel. In the beginning, we didn’t want to leave our homes, but it turned out to be just what God wanted. If it weren’t for the persecution and the arrests, we probably wouldn’t have built such a strong team.

 

Shen Xien Feng:  We became homeless.  As we wandered from town to town, we worked at spreading the gospel.  A lot of brothers and sisters in the same situation have gotten together.

 

Brother:  When I escaped from being arrested by the police, I became a full time missionary.  I was forced to leave my hometown, but I continued to spread the gospel wherever I went. I have been to a lot of places over the years.

 

Shen Xien Feng:  Once we stared to settle in one place, the police would come.  Then we’d have to move on to another town.  So, bit by bit, our work has spread to many places throughout the country.

 

Narration:

Every one of these unexceptional farmers leads tens of thousands of house-churches and millions of Chinese Christians.  In fact, there is an ever-growing number of House-Churches secretly scattered in the villages, small alleys and streets of China.

 

(Chorus: 3 song clips)

 

God’s great love is there to see

For everybody in the world

 

A never- ending story

A never- ending story

 

 (Ding Hei in prayer): Bless us with your abundant anointing, Amen.          We ask you to pour out your Spirit on this land, Amen.

 

Narration:

After visiting hundreds of House-Churches, what we know is only the tip of the iceberg.

 

Sister:  I don’t know exactly how many House-Churches there are in China. Too many to count!   All I can tell you is that there are ninety-seven in my district.

 

Sister:  Two years ago our two families moved here from He Nan to La Sa, Tibet.

 

Sister:  God led us to the Zhuang tribe in Guang Xi two years ago.  We have built seven House-Churches there.

 

Brother:  we established four House-Churches within four months of our arrival.

 

Sister:  We have been doing God’s work here in Si Chuan for about ten years.  The missionaries left their footprints in every corner of this land and many tears were shed.

 

Narration:

Having interviewed hundreds of missionaries, it’s still hard to imagine how successful they’ve been: without much education or experience, nevertheless they found ways to spread the Gospel.

 

(Chorus: “Lord, I Praise You.”)

 

It was you who raises us from the dust

You raise us from the dust

It’s never enough to speak of your love

It’s never enough to sing of your righteousness

On this vast land

Who would not thank and praise you

 

Narration:

When spring comes, gentle breezes blow and sweet showers moisten the dry land with abundance. Like springtime when radiant glory is everywhere, the gospel has been spread all over China by the work of these ordinary farmers. There is no doubt that it is due to the mighty power of the gospel itself.

 

Joyful hymns of praise are raised in every corner of this land, from the coast of the southeast to the boarder in the northwest, from the banks of Song Hua River to the Lan Cang River.

 

 (Chorus)

I listen to the creeks and wander the forests

But still can’t find the home of my heart

How lost I used to be

 

Narration:

From small villages to major cities, the seeds of faith have grown in the hearts of millions of farmers, students, civilians, and government officials.  

 

Narration:

Da Qing Oil Fields, a model district in the northeast set up personally by Chairman Mao, has been home for nearly one hundred thousand faithful Christians since the 1980s.

 

Brother:  Crowds of people came to my home for Sunday service, no matter how much others made fun of me.  “How can an illiterate farmer like him teach anything?” they sneered.  Nevertheless, my congregation became too big to meet at one time, so we had to split into two, then three, then four, and then many, many more.

 

Brother:  There are twenty-one districts within the Da Qing area, and each district has an average of one hundred and fifty House-Churches with an average of thirty members each.  In other words, we have about one hundred thousand members within this area, and there are about twenty-three districts in the surrounding areas.

 

Narration:  At almost every major university, such as Beijing, Qing Hua, Xia Men and Fu Dan, Christian students and teachers alike meet regularly.

 

Narration:  The gospel has also spread to the tribal groups in China. It has brought faith and dignity to the lives of people in the farthest reaches of China.

 

Brother:  Ninety percent of our village became Christian between 1985 and 1989.

 

Brother:  Eighty percent of our village has become Christian.

 

Brother:  There are very few people in our tribe who aren’t Christian.

 

Brother:  I can preach in the languages of the Li Su Tribe, Gan Yu Tribe, and Hei Yi Tribe.  I can also communicate and sing in these languages.

 

(Chorus) 

The flame in my heart

The flame of love

Nothing can stop it from burning

The Holy Spirit will reign here

On this very day

At this very moment

 

Narration:  Today in China, there are countless devotees, hundreds of nongovernmental seminaries, and thousands of Bible training centers. These faithful souls know they no longer belong to a corrupt and evil world.  They live to shed blood and tears, even risk their lives for the sole purpose of spreading the love of their Father in Heaven.

 

Sister (prayer):  Lord, I am willing to devote my life to sharing with everyone who lives in pain and darkness that Jesus loves you.  The true love of Christ cannot be found any place else.

 

Brother:  This is the promise I have made to the Lord, “Lord, I will carry your cross and follow you, for it is the duty of your disciples.  The hardships I’ve had are not sufferings but true blessings from you.    I know this is a long journey full of pain and tears, but I’m determined to follow your path faithfully.”

 

 (Chorus)

With tears and laughter, songs and silence

We’ve gone through ups and downs

We’ve walked through the darkest valleys