1953 - Pastor Li

1953

Heilongjiang

Among the countless testimonies of barbarous cruelty to come out of China, that of Pastor Li and the ensuing miracle God did for his struggling family stands out as one of the greatest testimonies of God’s love and power.

In the early 1950s as persecution swept through the Chinese church, a pastor named Li lived in western Guangdong Province in south China, near the border with Guangxi. Li had a wife and five children, aged from 12 to a new-born baby. The authorities arrested Li for ‘counter revolutionary’ activities, and sentenced him to prison with hard labour in an iron mine in northeast China. Li was ordered to take a train more than 2,000 miles (3,240 km) to Heilongjiang Province, where he was to begin his sentence.

Li’s wife was understandably devastated. She had five children to take care of including a new-born, and now the family’s only source of income was taken from them. They had nowhere to turn except to the Lord. The Lis decided they should travel with their father all the way to Heilongjiang, so that if a miracle happened and he was released early they would be near him. They also hoped they would be allowed to visit him in the prison from time to time. They sold most of their possessions and made enough money to purchase seven train tickets for the week-long journey. During the trip their hearts were heavy. Pastor Li prayed earnestly for his beloved wife and children, exhorting them to follow the Lord at all costs, hoping to somehow compensate in a short period of time for what would be years of silence to follow.

The Li family arrived at their destination in southern Heilongjiang Province near the border with Jilin. Many tears flowed as Pastor Li checked into the prison. His destitute family found some wooden planks and bits of canvas and plastic, and constructed a makeshift hut on the side of a road not far from the labour camp. The icy winds and winter temperatures of —30°C (—22°F) cut like a knife through the hut. The children cried night after night, especially the new-born baby who could not get enough nourishment or warm clothes. Their existence was so miserable that words cannot adequately describe the inner and outer pain this family went through–all because they loved and served the Lord Jesus Christ.

Life inside the prison labour camp for Pastor Li was intolerable. He and the other prisoners were forced to work 14 hours per day, seven days per week. The back-breaking work of hauling heavy loads like a pack animal, coupled with the putrid and meagre food rations quickly caused his health to deteriorate. The worst pressure of all for Pastor Li was the knowledge that his beloved family were suffering just outside the prison gates in freezing conditions.

Three months after entering the prison, Pastor Li died.

When news was passed onto the Li family that their beloved father and husband had died, all hope was lost. They plunged into deep depression and despondency. Mrs. Li could see no way out and longed to die. She told the children she would have to find a job for them to survive. Her eldest child, a daughter aged 12, said, “No mama, you cannot work. Our little brother needs you. He cries all day for you and there is no-one else to help him. I will go and look for a job.” The little girl entered the prison office and requested to see the director. She said,

“My father was put in this God-forsaken place because of his love for Jesus Christ. That is the only crime he ever committed. He was a good man who loved and helped people. Now he is dead. We have nothing. We have no money, no place to live, and no food. We cannot even return to our home in the south. I want to know if there is any job at all in this prison that you can give me.”[1]

The prison director knew about Pastor Li’s death and, realizing that his little orphaned daughter was now speaking with him, a slight tinge of compassion welled up in his heart. He told her, “I have a job, but it is not interesting and pays very little.” She exclaimed, “I will take it!”

The prison director took her outside to an area above where 3,000 prisoners worked below the ground in the iron mine. He said,

“Do you see this red button? Your job is to stand next to this pole all day, every day, and when someone tells you to push it, you must push it straight away. This is the emergency button and when it is pushed a siren is triggered deep below the ground that makes the men evacuate as fast as they can. This button should never be pushed by accident, or without us telling you to activate it.”[2]

For day after day, week after week, young Sister Li stood next to the pole with the red button. When she received her first pay—just a few dollars—she and her family were overjoyed. One afternoon, as she was standing next to the pole, she suddenly heard a voice say, “Push the button!” She spun around to find no one near her and was confused. A few moments later she heard the same voice again, this time louder, “Quick! Push the button now!” Sister Li again turned around but saw only the familiar sight of the icy fields and the snow-capped mountain in the distance. She thought she was losing her mind and just stood there confused. She couldn’t push the button unless there was a major emergency, and nothing looked any different than it always was. A few seconds later she heard the voice for the third time, but on this occasion it was with great authority, “Sister Li, push the button now!”

This time she understood it was no less than the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ that had been speaking to her. She didn’t understand why He was telling her to push the button, but she knew she must obey. She immediately pushed the red button, and the emergency alarm was sounded deep underground.

Within minutes 3,000 men emerged to the surface, confused and eager to learn what emergency had taken place. The prison director came running from his office and demanded to know why Sister Li had pushed the button and brought production to a halt. Then, just moments after the last man had evacuated from the mine, the ground began to shake violently. A strong earthquake struck that lasted for about 20 seconds, completely collapsing the mine to such an extent that nobody has been able to enter it to this day. When the shaking stopped an eerie silence came upon the gathered mass, and every eye was fixed upon the tiny frail figure, still standing next to the red button she had so jealously guarded.

The terrified prison director asked in a stammering voice, “Comrade Li, how…how did you know that you should push the button when you did?” She was given a fruit-box to stand on so that she could be seen just above the heads of the gathered men. In the loudest voice she could muster she proclaimed,

“It is the Lord Jesus Christ who told me to push the red button. He told me to do it three times and finally I did. Jesus Christ is the only way for you to know the true and living God. He loves you, as evidenced by the fact he saved all your lives this day. You need to repent of your sins and give your lives to him!”[3]

Immediately all three thousand men, including the prison director, knelt down and prayed with great sobs, asking Jesus to come and forgive them and live in their hearts.

1. Asia Harvest, “China’s Precious Children,” (No.80, September 2005).
2. Asia Harvest, “China’s Precious Children,” (No.80, September 2005).
3. Asia Harvest, “China’s Precious Children,” (No.80, September 2005).