Gospel Testimonies

Faith Perfected Through Trials and Tribulations

By Shu Chang, South Korea

My mom developed a health problem in 1993, and as a result my whole family gained faith in the Lord Jesus. After that, she experienced a miraculous recovery and I went to church with her every Sunday from then on. Then in the spring of 2000, the joyful news of the Lord's return reached our home. By reading 's words, we became certain that He is the Lord Jesus returned and we accepted Almighty God's work of the last days. We started reading Almighty God's words every day, enjoying the watering and sustenance they provide. This really nurtured me spiritually. Thinking about how many people longing for the Lord's coming still hadn't heard God's voice or welcomed the Lord's return, I knew I had to considerate and share the kingdom with them. I soon started doing my duty to share the gospel. But to my surprise, that got me arrested by the CCP.

It was January 2013 while I was in a gathering with six other brothers and sisters, when suddenly, more than 20 police officers burst in. Two of the men rushed to the front, guns in hand, and yelled at us, "Don't move! You're surrounded." Two others had electric batons and shouted, "Hands up and face the wall!" One of the officers with a gun said, "We've been following you for a couple weeks now. You're Xiaoxiao." Hearing this gave me a fright. How did they know my alias? And he said they'd been following me for a couple weeks, so did they know everywhere I'd been recently? Had all those brothers and sisters been arrested, too? I couldn't bear to give it any more thought. I just silently prayed for the others. Given the preparations the police had made, I knew they wouldn't let me go easily. Anxious, I called out to God. Then these words from God came to mind: "You should not be afraid of this and that; no matter how many difficulties and dangers you might face, you are capable of remaining steady before Me, unobstructed by any hindrance, so that My will may be carried out unimpeded. This is your duty.... Be not afraid; with My support, who could ever block this road?" ("Chapter 10" of Utterances of Christ in the Beginning in ). God's words brought me a sense of peace. I knew that all things were in His hands, even all those cops. God was my backup force, so I had to pray to Him and lean on Him. Realizing I'd been followed by the police all that time without realizing it, bringing such a big problem on the church, I hated myself for being so clueless and slow on the uptake. All I could do at that point was pray for my brothers and sisters. Setting my resolve, I said this prayer, "No matter how the police may torture me, I will never sell out my brothers and sisters. I won't be a Judas and betray God." I didn't feel as scared after that prayer. I was filled with faith and strength.

The police turned the entire house upside down, acting like bandits. They confiscated our cellphones, eight video players, four tablets, dozens of gospel books and 10,000 yuan. They took me and two other sisters to the living room and forced us to squat on the floor. Just then the sound of the police beating the brothers nonstop started coming from one of the bedrooms. Incensed, I demanded, "We just , we haven't done anything illegal. Why are you apprehending us?" One of the officers said hatefully, "Having faith is breaking the law, it's a crime. If the Communist Party says you're breaking a law, then you're breaking a law. The Party doesn't allow belief in God but you still dare do that in their territory. This is pitting yourselves against the Party. You have a death wish!" I said, "Isn't freedom of belief legally guaranteed?" Laughing, they said, "You don't know a damn thing! Freedom of belief is just for show, for foreigners to see, but this is what you believers get!" As he said this he gave me a slap across the face and a female officer came up and kicked me in the arm. I was infuriated and these words of God came to mind: "Religious freedom? The legitimate rights and interests of citizens? They are all tricks for covering up sin!" ("Work and Entry (8)" in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Having the Communist Party in charge is actually having Satan in charge. All of their laws are meant to deceive. They tell outsiders that there's freedom of belief, but the reality is that they don't allow anyone to believe in God and take the right path. They won't allow anything positive. They arrest and harm Christians on a massive scale. Those cops were just bandits and rogues in uniform. It was ridiculous of me to try to reason with them! When they put me into the police vehicle, I saw that there were more than a dozen police vehicles surrounding us.