[My China Exile Story 5]
This article is an autobiographical record of the exile from China of missionary Yong-Sun CHO who was arrested by Chinese “national security (Guer Bao 国保)” agents from January 5th to 18th of 2018. This article describes the exile process of missionaries from China, which took place just before church gathering disappeared in almost every church in China in early February 2020 due to the severe religious oppression of the Chinese Communist regime. Currently, Chinese underground church members cannot gather in church buildings but have services in their own houses. <Editor>
I didn’t have to hold my breath any longer since my deportation time was set. With my status revealed, I decided to make the most of the ten days before my deportation. I taught the Bible to leaders for four hours. For four hours, I taught to Chinese leaders some verbs which pertain to a starting part in Hebrew grammar.
I just wished that I could had one more year so that I could teach the Chinese leaders to interpret the Bible in Hebrew by using an application which helps the Chinese leader interpret the Bible in Hebrew with some words analyzed.
At night, I gave lectures to Korean church goers for six hours on how they can pronounce some Hebrew words and taught Israel history of the Old Testament. When I finished teaching, it was 12:30 AM at night.
On the next Saturday, my first disciple came to see me because he (or she) heard that I am going to be exiled. On that day, except for my third disciple, the other disciples gathered all together. The third disciple could not come because he (or she) was in another area in China. To them, I gave a lecture on some parts of the Hebrew grammar and I continued the lecture until the afternoon. On that day, I lectured for seven hours. On Sunday, not only church members who regularly attended Sunday services but also people of the Korean community who made a household church gathering with the evangelized, usually university students, attended the Sunday service which was last Sunday service for me. I tried to make them true Christians who follow Jesus Christ as the Savior, and some of them also made a church(s) in another city(ies). Therefore, to me, it was very important that I try for them to have true faith and teach theological knowledge so that they can grow.
In my last sermon in the Sunday service, I said that the Chinese church had been subjected to physical persecution in the time of Mao Zedong but the Chinese church is now being tested with material temptations. I also said that the church in China will soon be subjected to a more subtle form of testing through the Communist Party of China (CCP) government.
Therefore, I introduced pastor Wang Mingdao (王明道) who I considered as a good example of Chinese household church leader. He spent decades in a prison after clarifying that the head of the nation is the Lord Christ, not Mao Zedong when Mao Zedong was in power. There have been not a few such pastors in China. Thanks to those pastors, Satan’s persecution against the church using Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution eventually had failed. But now the Chinese church is being tempted by material things. This is the second temptation of Satan. Further, the Chinese church will be persecuted by the more sophisticated Chinese communist government. How will the Chinese church overcome and get over such things? However, such persecution will tell who are grains and who are weeds in the Chinese church.
Farewell with a big bow at the airport
18th of January. The day came. All the church members came to the airport to say good bye to my wife and me. Each household of them took pictures together with us as a kind of farewell. My face looked sad in the pictures. I bowed down on the floor before them, saying “This is the Korean style of saying last good bye.” I had thought I would cry but when I bowed down to them, I cried more than I thought I would. The Chinese church members also bowed on the floor when I bowed down. Then, as soon as I stood up, I walked to the airport security, still crying. I hurried because I couldn’t keep looking at the church members. When the plane took off, I cried because I thought I will not be able to come to China at least for five years. I also cried when the plane landed at Republic of Korea. ‘Did I really come back to Korea, leaving China?’ I felt sad because the things I felt it like a dream was the real, and I cried again. Like that, the mission in China which lasted for 18 years was finished. <Continued>
Missionary Yong-Sun CHO | A member of Global Mission Society (GMS). After he was expelled from China, he has been continuing mission for China on the Internet and he teaches students at World Mission Seminary. [Gospel Prayer News]
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