ling
Willing to Suffer
It was 1973 and nine-year-old Ling watched her father die of cancer, wondering if there really was a God at all. Ling and her family lived in a tiny bamboo hut in China. They had always been poor, unsure of when the next meal would come. Once her father had passed away, surviving was even more difficult.
Ling’s mother and father had been inseparable. They never exchanged harsh words. The children saw their deep love for each other and for God. Ling knew her mother was deeply distraught at losing her husband, but nothing seemed to shake her faith in God.
Winter was setting in and the hut was cold. Ling’s mother asked her to kneel down and pray with her one morning. Ling resented the request, as she really couldn’t see any evidence that God cared for them. Her mother continued to pour out her heart to God with great fervor. Ling just knelt quietly, not wanting to say anything to God, even if He did exist.
Ling’s mother realized that they would not be able to survive financially. She told the children that the family needed to move in with their grandmother. In Chinese culture, women depended on men for their well-being and happiness, but Ling’s mother was not interested in remarrying. She wanted to go to work and get a job. Her mother was very opposed to the idea.
After two years, Ling’s grandmother announced that she had arranged another marriage for her mother. “Mother, I don’t want to marry again. I could never love anyone the way I loved Jun.” Her mother’s pleading did no good, and she had to heed her parent’s wishes. Ling and her siblings had to adjust to a new stepfather.
Shu-tan did not treat the children well. Ling despised him but kept her feelings to herself. She was strong and healthy and began working as soon as she was allowed. In the fields she earned almost as much as any man. She also helped design a machine that made tofu. At fifteen, she desperately wanted to get away from her stepfather.
Ling didn’t hear her mother pray as often as she once did. The prayers she did overhear occasionally were for Ling and her sister, who labored many hours under Shu-tan’s orders. Her mother was one of the few secret believers in the village of Ru Tain. Disdain grew stronger each day between Shu-tan and Ling. Finally, he suggested she find a husband. He didn’t care for her and wanted one less mouth to feed.
Ling continued to work harder and harder, avoiding her stepfather’s path. He didn’t press the idea of marriage. Ling was grateful and just kept working all she could. Work took her mind off her family’s situation. She knew her mother was not happy, but she knew she could not change Shu-tan.
But one day, Ling saw her mother beam with a hope she had not seen in some time. Her mother excitedly told her an evangelist was coming to the village. All Ling felt toward God was bitterness, but to please her mother, Ling attended the evangelist’s meeting.
While the evangelist preached, Ling felt her heart soften and she began to listen intently. Though she had heard the gospel before, it had never made sense to her. But that night was different. Her heart was stirred and she knew God was real. She wept, realizing the pain she had caused her mother, mocking her prayers and rejecting her faith. Ling’s mother embraced her, offering forgiveness and assurance that God had a plan for her life.
For the next year, Ling attended Bible meetings with her mother. Her outlook changed, and she felt joy in her life for the first time. Then she began to have dreams about wheat fields. She didn’t know what they meant, until at a prayer meeting, Ling and her mother read Luke 10: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (v. 2). Ling knew God was calling her to preach the gospel. Her mother knew it was time for her to obey God’s call.
At seventeen, with little money and no Bible, Ling set out to preach to the lost souls of China. She walked from village to village, sharing her faith. Some of the villages she visited had a Bible, so she studied and tried to memorize Scripture when she could. Ling preached with charisma and conviction, and young people particularly were drawn to her ministry. The people of China were starved for a message of hope.
Ling’s ministry continued to grow. Hundreds gathered to hear her preach and share her faith. Many house churches formed in the villages, and the government began to take notice. Ling was put on the “most wanted” list. Her life on the run began.
For a while, she was able to keep running, sharing the gospel wherever she went, but finally officials threw her into prison. She became very ill but continued to labor with the other prisoners. Officers beat her at her interrogation, but she never gave them the answers they wanted. Finally, after five months of brutal treatment, they had to admit they had no evidence that she had done anything wrong. Reluctantly, they let her go.
Ling enjoyed her freedom and continued to preach and encourage the house churches. Later, she faced prison once again. She suffered severe loneliness, illness, and hardships of every kind. But whenever possible, she shared her trials and challenged the crowds to live for Christ, no matter the cost.
Life on the run hasn’t gotten easier for Ling. But she is well educated in the school of suffering and knows danger will always loom over her path. The house churches of China continue to grow because of faithful believers like Ling. Two-thirds of the evangelistic teams sent to remote villages were women during the early stages of this movement. Who would have thought God could use a skeptical, bitter young girl to bring hope to the villages of China?
Ling’s ministry continues today, as she continues to look for opportunities to plant more house churches. Imprisonment, illness, hunger, and persecution seem inevitable, but Ling remains resolved to take on the dangerous work of evangelism. She is willing to suffer because she knows the cause is worthy.
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
(Philippians 4:12)