(Chengdu, China) Last week, Early Rain Covenant Church member Shu Qiong and her family planned to hold a memorial service for her father Shu Chunliang at a funeral home in the northern suburbs of Chengdu. However, the Chengdu police interfered and prevented many invited guests from attending.
The homes of many Christians in the church were guarded and blocked so that they would not be able to go out to attend the service. Authorities utilized COVID-prevention electromagnetic alarms to keep people in their homes. The alarms were designed such that if the doors of a home were opened, the alarm would sound and report to the police. Shu Qiong told her WeChat group:
The Chengdu police were so concerned about my dad’s funeral. But we thank the Lord. It may not have seemed good in the eyes of man, but God is good and He used my dad’s funeral to spread His good news to the police and other unbelievers. They cannot stop us from preaching to the world the good news of the coming Kingdom of Heaven. Thank you and praise the Lord!
Shu Qiong’s father was hospitalized for some time before his death and was extremely weak. During this period, Chengdu entered a period of extreme pandemic prevention and control. The Chengdu government adopted an abnormally strict level of control. Pandemic prevention personnel would come to homes every day to conduct nucleic acid tests on family members, including infants. A week passed, and Shu Qiong’s father’s condition worsened. It seemed that he could pass at any moment. But Chengdu’s COVID prevention regulations made it impossible for Shu Qiong’s family to visit the hospital or to say goodbye to her father. After his passing, Shu Qiong posted a video on her WeChat page, criticizing the government’s rigid prevention and control measures. For this reason, she was bullied online by her community WeChat group. A group of organized street personnel took turns to ridicule, abuse, and threaten Shu Qiong using obscenities and unsightly words. They finally kicked Shu Qiong out of the community group. Facing vicious cursing and swearing, Shu Qiong replied:
I will not respond to your bullying with equal verbal violence. But instead, I am able to bear your unreasonableness, because I know I am also a sinner. I used to attack others like the ways you attack me. But now that my Lord Jesus has saved me, He loves me and has died for me. Therefore, I am so satisfied with the love of Christ that I can endure your irrationality. I can still tell you the good news of eternal life: Belief in Jesus and you shall have eternal life! Repent and do not perish!
Shu Qiong’s father, Shu Chunliang, was suddenly diagnosed with advanced lung cancer on May 3 of this year. He immediately came to his daughter’s home in Chengdu from his hometown in Anhui. He began seeking the gospel at Early Rain Covenant Church, and then completely accepted the gospel. He was baptized on June 12. In the last period of his life, under the care of his relatives and the company of Christians from the church, although he experienced a lot of physical pain and suffering caused by the pandemic prevention in Chengdu, he was always confident and full of hope in the kingdom of God.
The funeral was expected to be held on the afternoon of September 21. Beginning September 20, several church leaders were interviewed by the police. Others reported having “guards“ stationed at the doors of their homes. Many members were unable to attend the funeral due to these disturbances.
Preacher Dai Zhichao recorded his experience of attending the funeral in his notes on the evening of the 21st. He had anticipated that the funeral would be obstructed the day before, so he wrote the sermon in advance. After getting up at seven in the morning on the 21st, he found that there were two unknown persons guarding his door. His wife went out with their two children, and the guards let them go after seeing that Dai Zhichao was not with them. The guards moved to the ground floor door to continue guarding Preacher Dai, so he prayed, asking God to open a way out.
Dai wanted to go to the funeral, but he also did not want to conflict with the guards. There were four or five of them outside his home. A policeman came to confirm that he was still home and told him not to go out.
He ended up leaving at 12:30. Police flattened the tires to his car and his bike, but he rode his bike anyway. No police were at his apartment by the time he left for the funeral.
Preacher Dai recounted that once he was out the gates of the compound, he saw a patrol car in front of the gate. There were still many others guarding, but it seemed that God had obscured their vision momentarily and no one saw him. He called a taxi which was followed.
When Dai Zhichao returned home, he found that the door lock had been violently damaged and a screw was jammed in the keyhole. His door had endured quite a few similar injuries already. But he still felt that he had experienced God’s wonderful grace:
These are real experiences and stories. And these are experiences of God’s presence. I have experienced the God of Bethel. And it is not just an experience for my immediate family, but rather, it is a shared experience. They are not persecuting my family; they are persecuting the Church; they are persecuting Christ. Every time I serve, although we are living in a great battle, I know that the God of Bethel is also my God. He is the Lord who protects and guides me in all ways. Although I am timid, weak and struggling, I know God’s love and calling for me. Though there is a lot of uncertainty ahead, the Lord has given me hope in this resurrected life.
The night is deep and the day is approaching. Lord, be our shield and give us weapons of light. Please continue to pray for our families. Despite the dire circumstances, I believe that the word of God will last forever. May the Lord lead us and the church. I pray that the Lord will have mercy on Chengdu and have mercy on this country. May He open a way out for this country. Today’s China is full of desperate people who do not know the God of Bethel. They have not yet met Jesus Christ or experienced His glory!
~Yu Bing, Special Correspondent of ChinaAid
