Reflections from Pastor John Cao is a series of poetry and writings from the recently released Chinese Christian prisoner of conscience exclusively published by ChinaAid. To read more of Pastor John Cao’s poetry, one can purchase the collection written while he was imprisoned, Living Lyrics: Poems from Prison.
(Changsha, Hunan Province – April 22, 2024) On March 31, 2024, Brother Joseph, his wife Sister Ke, and their child Tianlu drove 900 kilometers from Shantou City, Guangdong province to Changsha, Hunan province for a two-day visit with Pastor John Cao, his co-workers, and fellow Christian brothers and sisters.
Pastor John Cao’s education and mission work in Myanmar was suppressed by the authorities to the extent that he was imprisoned for seven years, which was widely reported in international news media. Many brothers and sisters, including the Chengdu Early Rain Covenant Church, have had persistent prayers, public prayer requests, and private visits. For example, Sister Wang Xi had privately visited Pastor Cao’s mother before he was released from prison!
On the morning of April 1st, Pastor John Cao came to the hotel room where they were staying. Seven years of prison had obviously not crushed his spirit and will. Except for being thin, he looked normal, and his eyes were firm, gentle and humble.
After his release from prison, Pastor John Cao has continuously and publicly expressed his stance on faith, without shrinking back from the high-pressure situation formed by the current harsh social atmosphere. This is a stature and courage that God rarely gives to Christians in China!
In recent years, countless Christians who have been released from prison have chosen to remain silent, disappear from public view, and avoid visits from brothers and sisters. They believe that there are many ways and means to witness for the Lord, and they have a diverse understanding of the value of the gospel, closely embracing their own weakness and expressing various excuses.
The reason is being threatened by the authorities and fearing that their own situation will become worse, avoiding the risk of publicly witnessing for the Lord again, one way of cooperating with the authorities who persecuted them for their faith.
After Pastor John Cao was released from prison, he was sent back to his mother’s residence in Changsha. The local community management office, police station, and religious affairs bureau personnel came to the door and asked him to cooperate, saying that some people would come take photos every day to report to their supervisors. Pastor John Cao solemnly stated that he had completed his sentence and was a free citizen, and that it was impossible to live a life of daily reporting and cooperation.
From the morning of April 1st until the evening, Pastor John Cao communicated with brothers and sisters from Henan province, Wuhan city, Hengyang city, and Sichuan province, praying together for the churches and Christians in each place, giving short lectures on Bible verses, and answering questions. His words were full of devotion, firmness and confidence in God’s truth. Whenever brothers and sisters had doubts about their faith or difficulties in their ministry, Brother John Cao provided references with extraordinary wisdom and spiritual insight. The whole process was not disturbed by irrelevant people, and Pastor John Cao talked freely with the brothers and sisters in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. It can be seen that the rights of Christians can only be “fought for” by themselves, not by bowing and begging the authorities. In addition to having the identity of heavenly citizens, Christians also have the identity of citizens on earth. The two identities exist simultaneously, not that one’s identity as a Christian causes one to loses the rights of citizens and lose the courage to break with anti-Christ people for any reason. Today, they let you take photos and report every day, tomorrow they let you not go out, and you obey all that. The day after tomorrow, you will do obedient behavior of selling your brothers and selling the Lord without principles or bottom line. Pastor John Cao calmly and composedly clarified this point of view during the conversation.
National security agents once threatened Pastor John Cao, saying that they would put him back in prison and let him think twice about the pain and taste of prison life. Pastor John Cao replied that as long as they have collected enough evidence, they could come and arrest him, and he would not run away. The gospel of God still had to be preached and would not stop. In 1983, he was detained at Jiuyanqiao in Chengdu, which was the first time Pastor John Cao was imprisoned in his ministry. After being released, the public security agents told him that if he preached again, they would do something worse to him. He has been imprisoned repeatedly for the Lord, and has never stopped or retreated under various threats and temptations.
Some brothers and sisters asked Pastor John Cao that everyone has a physical body, so everyone is afraid of cold, hunger, pain, and losing freedom and going to prison. How come you are not afraid?
Pastor John Cao smiled and said, the Lord Jesus saved us and exempted us from the debt of death. We all have eternal life and resurrection, so since we have eternal life and resurrection, what am I afraid of?
Pastor Wang Yi once gave a talk on the relationship between state and religion during a Sunday service. The meaning was, “I don’t care about anything, I will do what the Lord lets me do, and I will not do what the Lord does not like!”
It can be seen that no matter what time or cultural background, the understanding of Christians on the Lord’s truth will not deviate. Pastor John Cao’s faithfulness to the Lord and his understanding of God’s truth are surprisingly highly consistent with that of Pastor Wang Yi.
Pastor Cao spent 7 years in prison, Pastor Wang Yi 9 years, Pastor Yang Hua and others. Pastor John Cao knows the price paid by countless servants who went to prison. He Cao clearly knew from the beginning that they would do something to him, with too many threats and warnings from national security agents and police officers. But the process of realizing the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven must necessarily have countless people to bear the cross and move forward with the yoke, and it is impossible to have no price. Without a price, how can there be a witness? The glorious cross is flowing with the blood of the Lord Jesus, and everyone must bear the cross on the way to the kingdom of heaven. If they do not pay the price, the door of the kingdom of heaven will not open.
Today, China faces an extremely serious “degeneration” of house churches. As the mouthpiece of the Lord’s words, co-workers and servants dare not speak the truth, and avoid risks by selectively preaching, consuming the lives of the Lord’s disciples. There is a widespread phenomenon of dictatorial governance and patriarchal system in the church, losing fairness and justice and dragging the Lord’s church into darkness and chaos, turning the church into a club, a comfort nest, and even a company.
Regarding these situations, Pastor John Cao said that he had experienced similar situations in Chengdu more than ten years ago when he returned to China. He prayed for God’s mercy, and he was also heartbroken to see many cases that were not pleasing to the Lord. He silently prayed and intensified his preaching, mission, service, and cultivation of the next generation. He is also willing to provide help to those who are willing to listen to opinions.
There is a phenomenon among Chinese people and Chinese house churches, and the same is true for prisoners in prison. They do not revolutionize, or dare not revolutionize, but they will negatively criticize you, yet still want to enjoy the fruits of the revolution. If your revolution fails, they will mock you and give you the cold face… Pastor John Cao has a deep understanding of this. He usually does not pay attention to these things, and firmly holds his stance on faith. If someone’s personal righteousness can be freely decided with a clear conscience, then the righteousness of the kingdom and the public, which is related to God’s fairness and justice, he will resolutely uphold and defend the Lord’s way. As for the result, it should be entrusted to God, and will not be shifted due to the darkness in human nature. God keeps the record, and we do it for God to see, not for people to see. You may stumble, but God will reshape faith and strength when you look up open Him.
Pastor John Cao attaches great importance to Christian education. He has a metaphor: we preach the gospel to Gentiles every day, but we hand our own children over to the devil Satan, and secularize the family, which is not a good witness to Gentiles and also ruins our own next generation.
Children are the property that God has entrusted to every family. Not listening to God’s words, but instead listening to the words of the devil Satan, is sinful for parents.
On the day of the visit, there was a sister from Hengyang city. She was the mother of a brother who was martyred while on a mission in Pakistan. The pain of losing her son made her unable to live a normal life for a while. Brothers and sisters fasted and prayed for her, and she slowly regained her faith in life in the Lord. When she learned that Pastor John Cao had been released from prison, she immediately came to visit. After listening to Pastor John Cao’s testimony, she was deeply comforted. Regarding the Lord’s calling, she saw the truth of God’s way, truth, and life in her son’s martyrdom, and was willing to cultivate the next generation to become suitable vessels for the Lord’s use.
Finally, Pastor John Cao led brothers and sisters to pray and bless this heroic mother, and he encouraged brothers and sisters to actively and bravely preach the Lord’s words, serve and minister to society, and respond to society’s expectations for fairness, justice, and conscience.
After in-depth communication, it can be seen that Pastor John Cao is a pragmatic, faithful, courageous, intelligent, and highly capable precious brother. His words are easy to understand and have a clear philosophical and dialectical significance. If he had his own ministry field, he might be able to nurture more disciples in his preaching ministry!
Observing the brothers and sisters who went to visit Pastor John Cao, most of them were ordinary believers, and there were almost no full-time co-workers or church leaders. It is indeed a matter of personal choice to visit him or not. But it reflects a phenomenon in the Chinese Christian community: there is always an invisible gap or dividing line between servants who are oppressed by the authorities and churches, Christians, and co-workers and pastors who are in times of peace. They automatically keep their distance from them!
Brothers and sisters from all over the country went to visit this servant of the Lord, which also fully explains that the Lord’s truth must flow out from the disciples who are suffering and being refined. During the two-day visit, the members who came from all over the country had no distance in their personal interactions, which undoubtedly pleased the Lord.
