1904 - Ernest Trécul

October 16, 1904

Daqing, Heilongjiang

Born on January 9, 1879, in the French town of Bazoche-Gouët, Ernest Louis Trécul grew up in a hard-working farming family. Trécul liked to read books as a boy and was especially inspired by testimonies of Christian martyrs. He possessed a tremendous memory and could repeat Bible teachings word-for-word, even days after hearing them.

Trécul put his faith in Jesus Christ and celebrated his first communion at the age of 11. He wanted to be a priest but was afraid to tell his widowed mother who was the sole parent of five children. She had hoped Ernest would gain employment and help alleviate her financial burden, so for him to join the priesthood was a severe blow to these aspirations. After an intense inner struggle, Trécul realized he would find no peace in his heart unless he obeyed God. In 1891 he entered the seminary at Chartres. Impressing the seminary leaders, it became apparent that Trécul would have a long and successful vocation as a priest in the French town of his choosing. The nearer he came to his graduation, however, the more uneasy he felt in his heart. God was not calling him to become a priest in France. He was calling him to be a missionary.

Ernest Trécul studied at the seminary of the Missions Etrangères de Paris, and finally left Marseilles for China on Sunday July 26, 1903. As the ship pulled away from the dock, Trécul stood on deck and waved goodbye to a large group of well-wishers who had come to see him and 14 other new missionaries depart. Trécul shouted to his family and friends, “Goodbye and so long! Let’s give our all for the kingdom of God!” The ship slowly wound its way through the Red Sea, docked at Colombo (Sri Lanka), Malacca (Malaysia), Singapore, and Saigon (Vietnam). Several severe storms tossed the vessel during the journey, and the ship was struck twice by lightning. Finally, on August 27th, Trécul arrived at Shanghai, and soon made his way to Manchuria. Two more weeks of gruelling travel were required to reach his final destination of Daqing, in the present-day Heilongjiang Province. Daqing was home to 300 Catholics at the time, and Trécul was to be their pastor.

A three-way war between Russia, China, and Japan brought instability to Manchuria. Some of Trécul’s letters home expressed his concern for the safety of the Chinese believers. After lunch on October 16, 1904, the Frenchman was alerted that a mob of bandits had arrived in the village and were plundering the home of the Wang family, who were members of his congregation.

Trécul made plans to go and confront the men. His servants pleaded with him not to go, but he replied, “There is nothing to fear.” He saw his first duty was to defend his fellow Christian and didn’t care about the consequences. When Trécul arrived at the courtyard of the Wang family’s home the priest grabbed a gun out of the hands of one of the bandits and threw it to the ground. Another of the men “drew his weapon and shot the missionary in the stomach. He fell to the ground instantly and six other brigands discharged their rifles into him. Five bullets entered Trécul’s chest, and he died from convulsions soon after.”[1]

Ernest Trécul died at the age of just 25, having spent only 13 months in China.