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. The piece below was written on March 5, 2024 and has been minimally edited for clarity.
Today is my first day of freedom after being released. Four brothers and sisters from Guangzhou came over, traveling over 700 kilometers to visit me, three of whom I met for the first time. As we talked, we all had connections to the Damazhan Church. In 1983, I was jobless and went south to Guangzhou alone to make a living. Unfamiliar with the place, without any friend, and unable to understand Cantonese, I could only set up a stall on the street, which was considered as “speculation and profiteering,” a kind of crime. It can be seen that my conflict with the law has a long history. Initially, I went to the Zion Church on Renmin Road, a public Three-Self church. It’s quite miraculous that God let me meet a sister from the Damazhan Church, which led me to attend services there and my first encounter with the house church. At that time, Pastor Lin Xiangao, or “Lin Bo” as everyone called him, preached in Cantonese at the Damazhan church. Interestingly, although I couldn’t understand Cantonese at all, I could basically understand his Cantonese preaching. Soon, I could speak a little bit of the Cantonese dialect.
Wang Mingdao, Watchman Nee, and Lin Xiangao pioneered the noble tradition of the Chinese house church. Now it is our generation’s time to inherit and carry forward their legacy.
Seeing brothers and sisters from Guangzhou feels particularly heartwarming. I wrote the following poem to express my feeling:
The joy of first meeting feels no strangers,
Years of spiritual fellowship has long been established.
Originating from the Damazhan church,
A beautiful tradition embarks on a new journey.
It’s pleasantly surprising to discover that despite it being our first meeting, there’s no sense of unfamiliarity. It turns out that we’ve had spiritual fellowship for many years, establishing a covenant relationship long ago. Our spiritual journey all began at the Damazhan church, and we’re committed to inheriting that beautiful tradition and embarking on a new journey together.
Among these four Christians, there is a sister named Teacher Chi, who is a missionary. In her early years, she went to Xinjiang for missionary work and also experienced imprisonment. She has a burden for the Jewish people, is proficient in Hebrew, and has visited Israel four times. She is an exemplary figure for all of us.
