Chapter I

Chen-Ma: Tortured for Her Bible

CHEN-MA clutches a beautiful, new Chinese study Bible in what remains of her scarred, claw-like hands. Grateful tears fall as her mind rushes back to those terrifying moments when she last held a Chinese Bible.

It was almost 25 years ago, during the horror of Chairman Mao’s Great Cultural Revolution. She has forgiven her Red Guard tormentors a thousand times since. But the day won’t delete in her memory. She still blushes at the shame of public humiliation. She winces in pain recalling the Bible being crushed from her grip.

Chen-Ma’s Bible was actually beaten from her broken fingers as she lay — stripped nearly naked— on the dusty streets of Taiyun.

Once, she had the strong, perfectly formed fingers of a piano teacher. The remains of her hands ache as she recalls the cracking of bones —the sounds of torture meant to destroy her ability to ever again use her wrists.

The demon-possessed mob of Red Guards beat her hands with rods and pipes. Frenzied, they stomped on her fingers until they were not just useless — but almost unrecognizable. They wanted more than humiliation and pain. They wanted to make sure she could never hold a Bible again. Never play a piano.

In time, the flesh mended. Painfully. Slowly. But denied medical care by Communist hard-liners, the bones had to fuse without reconstructive surgery. There was no series of operations or rehabilitation to restore normal use. Today the remains of her hands extend from Chen-Ma’s arms as paw-like appendages, her fingers frozen into claws.

In 1996 Chen-Ma chuckled with delight to discover she could still use those broken “hands” to read the words of Jesus. That was when an American Bible courier was finally able to replace her lost Bible — the book for which she had originally sacrificed her health. She uses the side of her hand to first bow a page; then hook it with a finger to make the turn.

But the tears which fell when she at last replaced her old Bible were tears of gratitude, not self-pity or regret. She would gladly do it all over again for the sake of her faith in Christ.

Sharing the Sufferings of Jesus Christ

In fact, Chen-Ma never complains. Even during the painful months when her hands “healed” without medical care she used her pain devotionally for God. Her injuries are a gateway to heaven for her, and have become her way “to partake in the sufferings of Christ” according to 2 Corinthians 1⁷.

Chen-Ma, like many who live under antichrist controlled governments, comforts herself with the words of Peter and Paul for sufferers. The Bible has much to say to persecuted ones, much comfort for sufferers. That’s one of the reasons the Red Dragon hates it so. “For the joy that was set before Him, Christ endured the cross — so what is this?” she asks, quoting Hebrews 12².

“We must learn to accept the trials and tragedies that come into our lives,” says Chen-Ma, “and offer them as sacrifices to the Lord. As Christ accepted his death in Gethsemane — so must we offer our bodies and lives in obedience to the Heavenly Father.” So today, Chen-Ma shoves her stumpy hands into simple tasks like turning the pages of her new Bible and sweeping the floor. She wields them as trophies of her love for the Lord — and for His Word.

       My hands also will I lift up unto thy

commandments, which I have loved;

 and I will meditate in thy statutes.

Psalm 119⁴⁸

A Living Martyr for Her Lord

Chen-Ma’s story is not unique. It blends easily with millions of other persecution stories from the days of the Communist Revolution. All share the same theme. All tell of remarkable Chinese Christians who have learned to incorporate suffering into their faith.

Thousands of Chen-Mas in China today still suffer for the Bibles they love. And more are added daily under the new wave of persecution that began after the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

Of course, anti-Bible cruelty actually began long before the Communist Revolution and continues today for Chinese believers. But the Communist Revolution is especially important because it succeeded in creating the current famine for God’s Word; a famine still felt throughout China. Scores of millions of Bibles were burned on Red Guard bonfires from 1964 to 1976.

By 1997, only 15 million Bibles had been replaced by the government-controlled Amity Press in Nanjing — leaving less than one Bible for every thousand Chinese believers.

Because the government will not print enough Bibles to replace those destroyed in the Commu­nist Revolution, the only way for underground believers to get a Chinese Bible today is from couriers. These volunteers must carry them in by hand from Hong Kong, Taiwan or the free world — usually only 20-100 copies at a time!

The Dragon’s War on Education and the

Truth of the Gospel

Like so many of the living martyrs from the Communist Revolution, Chen-Ma was the daughter of much-respected Chinese parents. Her father was a leading pastor, scholar, and teacher who never opposed the Communists. Her mother was an accomplished pianist and teacher. Both were university graduates and therefore scorned by the Red Guards as intellectuals — a charge still being made against Chinese Christians today.

Chairman Mao referred to “intellectuals” as “hairs on the skin of capitalism.” He promised that the Communist Revolution would destroy the skin and the “hairs would die.”

Chen-Ma, their only child, also became a music teacher. Like her mother, she taught at one of the many Christian schools that were confiscated from Chinese believers when the Communist Revolution swept through Shanxi. After their school was secularized, Chen-Ma and her mother continued to teach piano students at the school and in their home studio. Many children of Communist party officials were among their students. At first it seemed like life would continue as usual.

Chen-Ma and Her Father

Chen-Ma’s father was a patriot. He accepted the Communist Revolution — but viewed the struggle for political power as outside his job description and calling. He believed in the command of Christ to “render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and unto God the things which are God’s" (Luke 20²⁵).

Not understanding the Red Dragon — the supernatural evil power behind the Communist Revolution — he tried to remain a law-abiding citizen and get on with his work. As pastor, he saw his first duty as caring for the spiritual needs of his congregation. He accepted the military victory of the Communists, and their right to rule in the secu­lar realm. So as one leadership post after another was filled with Communist Party cadre, he soon found they wanted much more than mere compliance. They wanted control of the Church as well as the State. They saw the Church as a political entity, not a spiritual fellowship.

The Dragon Reaches Out for the Church

Still, he led his family and the flock in trying to cooperate with the new government.

The Communist idea of organizing church groups into something called “The Three-Self Patriotic Movement” sounded innocent at first. Many nationally known religious leaders joined Zhou En Lai in organizing it. On the surface, its main purpose seemed to be separating the Church in China from foreign control. So when the Communists demanded he join, he did so with the prayer that somehow it would satisfy the Dragon. Most of the other clergy in Shanxi did the same.

Besides, he could see it was futile to resist. Those pastors who refused to sign the “loyalty oath” of the Three-Self movement were branded as counter-revolutionaries.” Their prison sentences were automatically 15 to 20 years at hard labor.

Yet soon after joining, he realized that his political compromise gained nothing for the Christian believers. The party leadership was not going to let him pastor his flock. The Three-Self Patriotic Movement was merely another step down to the Dragon’s dungeon.

Lost in the Labor Camps of the Bamboo Gulag

In 1957, only a year after he joined the TSPM, he was ordered to report to a “re-education camp” along with most of the other local Christian leaders. There, he learned for the first time that he was a pastor of a “redundant” congregation! The pastors were all given paper and pencil. For weeks they were forced to write biographical confessions of real and imagined sins. Soon it became easy to admit to lies. Finally, he was forced to sign the ulti­mate Marxist confession of guilt — that caring for the souls of Christians was “unproductive labor.”

For this crime against “the people” Chen-Ma watched her father paraded through the streets in a dunce cap. He was sentenced by a “People’s Court” to “re-education through labor” in the “laogai” (Bamboo Gulag) forced labor camps. The family wept for him — and for themselves as well. Chen-Ma and her mother were branded with his “shame” in the community.   

They didn’t know it then — but he would never return to his family… his home… or his ministry. Like millions of others since, he disappeared into the death camps of the revolution. During the last 50 years, more Christians have died for their faith in China than all other nations on earth com­bined. Today, more people remain in prison for their faith in China than any country on earth. Over 1,100 laogai concentration camps house 170 million slave laborers.

The Chinese House Church Emerges

At first, Chen-Ma and her mother attended the new consolidated “Three-Self Church” for Taiyun. Their congregation was forced to merge with others into one ecumenical church. Chapels and houses of worship were confiscated. Church buildings were turned into warehouses, police stations, or government offices.

Catechism, youth groups, Sunday schools, and evangelism were banned. Bibles, hymn books, and all Christian literature of any kind disappeared along with women’s groups, men’s groups, and the many Christian social services once operated by the Church. As Marx and Lenin predicted, the institutional church was dying.

Chen-Ma and most other Christians dropped out of the organized “church.” It didn’t seem authentic anymore — or even safe for that matter.

She threw herself into her music and teaching— avoiding discussion of her faith whenever possible. She didn’t have to lie. She simply went “underground” and let everyone assume she had given up the “superstition of Christianity.” But she didn’t stop reading the Word of God or secretly praying.

Then something happened that almost blew her “cover.” Some of her mother’s friends began gathering in their houses to pray and study the Bible. The group grew. Soon, her mother found herself leading a regular meeting in their “living room” piano studio. Dozens of similar house meetings were beginning all over town. The Holy Spirit was doing something new. But it wasn’t going unseen. The Communist Party assigns party members as “safety watchers” on every block.

One of their duties is to spot unusual movements of people. And they were making regular reports on the large numbers of people at the piano studio. Chen-Ma’s mother didn’t know it yet, but she was breaking the law. In the eyes of the Communist Party, this was not a home Bible study. No, indeed. She had opened what the Religious Affairs Bureau in Beijing called an illegal, unregistered, “House Church.” And she was no longer a middle-aged school teacher but an “undesignated” pastor. The inevitable happened.

PSB (Communist KGB) Raids Begin

The first raid came with little warning. Chen­Ma was upstairs. She wasn’t a part of the meeting, but she could hear that the singing had ended. Elder Zhang had began to preach. Then she saw them from her window. Uniformed city police were gathered in little groups at each end of the lane. Plain­clothes detectives gathered near them.

Suddenly there was an explosion of shouts below. Men were pounding on both front and back doors at the same time. The attack was well planned. “Open up!” they screamed, banging loudly on the doors with their batons. This is the PSB! Open up!”

The PSB (Public Security Bureau) Police are the “thought police” of China. Mao modeled them after Stalin’s KGB in the former USSR. They are the secret police who handle political and religious “crimes” against the Communist Party.

It sounded like the doors exploded off their hinges. The police were inside. There was a lot of noise. She could hear some of the women scream as the police began to beat Elder Zhang.

Later, she learned that this was standard procedure. Whoever was speaking when the raiders arrived was automatically beaten by several police. It was a warning to the others. The doors were blocked. The Christians were not allowed to leave the room. They were forced to watch as the preacher was bloodied. Others who appeared to he leading the meeting were also beaten — then dragged out to a waiting van. Bibles, books, and song sheets were confiscated.

That night, they also took down everyone’s name and address. Then they took Elder Zhang and Chen-Ma’s mother into the detention center for interrogation. They beat them again. In the morning they let them go without pressing any charges. This was only meant to be a warning.

Sometimes, police would beat leaders on the head, knees, elbows, and feet. This can cause crip­pling dislocations that take months to heal. Longer beatings — sometimes including water torture, electric shock, and rape — are often used.

The PSB raids on house churches are requested by the Religious Affairs Bureaus in Beijing and provincial capitals. They are designed to scare, ter­rorize, and intimidate “good” people — not catch violent criminals. The RAB uses them to force underground “house church” leaders to register —the first step toward closing down their meetings. The plan didn’t work on Chen-Ma’s mother.

Mother Sent to Prison

At school, Mother was reassigned from classroom teaching to janitorial work. She was held in “administrative detention” all night. Like Chen-Ma’s father, she was asked to write her autobiography and “self-criticisms.” In them, she had to confess her “class sins” against the revolution.

“Struggle sessions” were held for hours with Communist Party officials on the faculty. In these sessions, co-workers were encouraged to scream at her — yelling insults, slapping her face, and ridi­culing faith in Christ.

Chen-Ma had avoided her mother’s house meetings. Now she had to shun her mother as well. This kept her from such struggle sessions and from prison.

Spies from the Three-Self movement must have convinced the party that Chen-Ma’s mother was beyond “rehabilitation.” After the next raid on the house church, she did not return. She was held in "judicial detention" without trial.

Detention time was needed for her tormentors to torture further confessions from her and work up a case. In 1961 she was sentenced to 20 years at hard labor. Chen-Ma never saw her mother again. Both her mother and father eventually died in la­bor camps.

“Blacklisted Daughter”

For the next five years, Chen-Ma lived almost peacefully and without incident. She avoided all worship services — both in the Three-Self move­ment and house churches. She continued to teach music and was popular with students. There was never a question about her professional qualifications. Other faculty at school treated her with cool but distant respect. She was a classic “old maid” school teacher.

However, Chen-Ma’s parents were still well remembered in the community. And because of that, she was a “black child.” That meant she was named on the party’s “black list” of potential enemies. Because of her family background, she was always passed over for promotions or commendations. That was fine with Chen-Ma. She had no ambitions except to be left alone with her Bible and piano. Her sole comfort was a deep but secret devotional life — and the precious Bible she read daily. Chen-Ma loved the Lord Jesus and that was all she needed. She continued daily prayers. She studied her beloved Bible morning and night. It was a habit begun when she was a child. Now, the Bible became her life jacket in a sea of chaos, turmoil, and despair. And she was about to need that life jacket more than ever.

The year was 1966. Chairman Mao, who claimed to be one of the only true disciples of Marx and Lenin left, was ready to begin a second generation of Communist rule. The youth of China were trained to treat him with god-like reverence. He decided to use this power to destroy Christ and the Bible once and for all. He canceled classes, closed schools and universities, named the students “Red Guards” and sent them on a book-burning rampage. This was the start of the Great Proletarian Communist Revolution. Millions died in the years of mayhem and vandalism that followed.

The Maoists announced that they would de­stroy “The Four Olds”: old culture, old customs, old habits, and old ways of thinking. Belief in God was the oldest “way of thinking” — even older than China itself — and therefore it had to be destroyed.

The Communist “Red Book” of Atheism

The Red Guards had their own “anti-Christ Bible” to guide them in selecting “old” victims to destroy. It was called The Thoughts of Chairman Mao. The little red book looked like a pocket New Testament. But instead of Christ’s message of love and forgiveness, it taught Red Guards to covet, envy, hate, and seek violent vengeance on those Mao feared.

Maoist hard-liners studied “Mao Thought” in all training sessions, much like Christians studied the Bible. Afterwards, they went out into the streets to take “revolutionary action” against other Communists, small business owners, Christians, and anyone else who refused to bow to the Dragon (see Revelation 20²⁰).

Like all school teachers, Chen-Ma was ordered to suspend classes and help draw “big character” posters with the Red Guard students. In huge, bold Chinese letters the students were urged to identify people who represented “The Four Olds” in Taiyun.

No one, it seemed at first, was exempt. Using the little red book to guide them, they targeted authority figures for persecution. Parents, pastors, priests, and teachers were first on the list. Gradually tile campaign reached out to entertainers, journalists, and government and Communist Party officials who were out of favor with Maoist hard-liners.

The Reign of Terror Begins

Chen-Ma was handicapped by her own family background, and soon her name began appearing on posters as “a puppy of the running dogs of superstition.”

Beating drums and gongs, the Red Guard students paraded around the city for months. They usually plastered posters on church buildings, homes, offices, and temples of their victims first. This came days and sometimes weeks before an attack. The violence was premeditated. Calculated. Cruel. To take such “action” against respected older people, the Red Guards seemed to need some justification. That’s why the posters began by mak­ing charges of crimes — using curses, obscenities, threats, and warnings.

Christians and Buddhists were especially targeted because Communists said their beliefs came from outside China — conveniently forgetting that their doctrines also came from Russian Communist missionaries.

One of the typically vulgar posters on Chen-Ma’s house accused her of “Smelling foreign winds and calling them sweet.”

Other posters accused her in vulgar street language of “Prostituting superstition, exorcism, and healing the sick.” Chen-Ma laughed as she read them. If only the posters were true! Most of the time she was hiding her light under a bushel, not witnessing for her faith as she knew she should. She was certainly not delivering the possessed from demons or healing the sick.

“Help me today,” she prayed one morning at dawn. “If they’re going to accuse me of evangelism, help me to be a witness for you when my turn comes!”

Little did she know how God would answer her prayer before nightfall. The swelling volcano of hatred was going beyond words. She heard the marchers coming. Chen-Ma knew that the time had come for “revolutionary action” against her person. That always meant at least looting and vandalism — sometimes injury and death.

“Lord, will You give me the courage to speak for You? How can I witness in my hour of trial?” She remembered the Bible promise that the Holy Spirit would give words to witness when we are dragged before kings.

Communist Burn the Bibles

Chen-Ma heard the angry students chanting their hatred from blocks away. There was no escape now. She prayed for grace to face them. To show the same love Stephen and Jesus Christ had when they forgave their tormentors.

She still couldn’t believe it. How could some of her own students — children she had taught and tutored — now be coming to loot her house?

What would she say? Would she be strong enough to show Christ’s love? She met the teenagers calmly at the gate.

A youthful leader, bullhorn in hand, led several hundred students in chants against her:

“Criticize religion! Promote atheism!” he cried.

“Down with the imperialists!” replied the mob.

The chanting picked up cadence.

“Criticize religion!

“Down with the capitalist running dog!

“Promote atheism!

“Long live our Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution!

“Criticize religion!

“Long live our great leader Chairman Mao!

“Promote atheism!

“Down with superstition!

“Criticize religion! Promote atheism!”

Finally, the eyes of the Red Guards were filled with enough self-righteous anger and indignation that they could go on with the next step. “We are the Red Guards!” they announced triumphantly. “We have come to take revolutionary action against you. Stand aside!”

The Chaos Begins

Chen-Ma stepped politely aside and the “revolutionary” vandalism began. The youths went room to room. Apparently anything in print was suspect. They turned drawers and cabinets inside out.

Soon they appeared with armloads of books and sheet music. They stripped the walls of Christian art and her mother’s framed scripture texts. Her father’s library books were all added to the growing pile on the street. Tears came into her eyes. It was definitely a bonfire in the making — but so far they hadn’t found her precious Bible and diaries. She could hear the smashing of glass and furniture in the house. Then came the unmistakable sounds of piano strings vibrating. The Red Guards were dragging her piano across the floor and into the Street.

“That is only a musical instrument,” said Chen-Ma, careful not to show emotion as the piano appeared. “Has Chairman Mao asked you to destroy pianos too?”

Suddenly, a hand shot out to slap her face. More blows fell. She could taste the blood run­ning down to her lips from her bleeding nose.

The leader motioned wordlessly for the piano to be added to the pile. Then Chen-Ma was forced to climb up barefooted on the piano stool and face the crowd while the chanting continued. Clods of mud and dog feces hit her face, mixing with her blood and tears.

A Spectacle for Christ

But before the bonfire could be lit, the Red Guards had to publicly “struggle” against her. This was part of the program. A poster was hung around her neck reading “Whore of the Imperialists” while various teenagers took turns accusing her of being a spy for the Americans and teaching the Bible.

Her arms were held painfully behind her back, forcing her to bow forward with her face to the ground as the youth verbally abused her.

Finally, the fire was lit and the teens took turns feeding the flames with books and the sheet music of Brahms, Beethoven, Handel, and Mozart.

Chen-Ma saw her prayer diaries tossed onto the flames but her Bible was not with them. Then she saw it. The Red Guard leader dramatically held up the Bible. Just as he was about to throw it onto the flames, Chen-Ma jumped down.

“No!” she cried, snatching the Bible from his hands and clutching it to her chest. “Please let me keep this: You can burn everything else!”

Fury appeared in the eyes of the astonished leader.

Suddenly from behind, Chen-Ma felt two hands grab the yoke of her loose-fitting blouse. In one painful jerk, it was literally torn off her back.

She was dressed only in her baggy trousers now. She clutched the Bible against her small, naked breasts. Using her arms and the Bible, she tried to preserve her modesty as the crowd jeered in laughter.

Passing the Trial of Faith

“If you know what’s good for you,” threatened the leader, “you’ll throw that book of superstition and lies onto the fire. Don’t make me take it from you.”

Chen-Ma instinctively knew that this was the test she had prayed to pass. The Red Guard leader could not back down. The mob and her neighbors stood in total silence, waiting to see how Chen-Ma would answer. Would she obey God or man? 

Not to throw her Bible on the fire would be a terrible act of defiance — but a powerful way to witness to her first love.

Everyone would know that Jesus Christ was first if she refused to surrender the Bible now. The Red Guard leader had unwittingly given her a chance to witness to her neighbors and everyone. She spoke clearly but gently. She wanted even those hiding behind locked doors to hear — but not to seem arrogant.

“You can do whatever you want to me,” she said with a courage that she knew could only come from the Holy Spirit. “This is the only book I need. You can burn all the rest.”

The Red Guards hesitated. The leader tried to judge the mood of the crowd. He was clearly on the spot. Only the crackling sound of the burning piano could be heard.

A Whole Night to Deny the Faith

Murder was in his eyes as he spoke. “I’ll give you the night to think about it,” he shouted. “You’ll stand here on your stool all night and think about it. Tomorrow, we’ll be back to get your Jesus book.”

Red Guards were posted with orders to keep her on the stool. So Chen-Ma stood all night, topless and barefoot, on the piano stool. She held the Bible firmly as darkness fell and the chill fall air turned numbing cold.

She fell asleep and crashed to the ground a couple times but was forced back on the stool. She was not allowed to get down, even to go to the bathroom.

Christian neighbors must have prayed. In the morning she was filthy and tired — but still strong in spirit. She didn’t even consider surrendering her precious Bible.

By 10 a.m. the mob returned again — only twice as large as before. Many carried bamboo sticks and the kind of iron bars used to reinforce concrete walls. They marched and chanted, repeating yesterdays whole performance again. They held another “struggle session” against her— cursing and ridiculing her faith in Christ. They mocked her love of classical music and her devotion to God’s Word. She was denounced as a superstitious turd. Finally, the moment of truth came.

“Even though you don’t deserve pity, we have tried to show revolutionary mercy, and restraint,” said the cadre, holding an iron bar menacingly before her eyes. “You have had time to surrender your old ideas and this old book of superstition. Give it up now and you can go inside and rest.”

Chen-Ma remained silent.

Someone must have understood her silence for what it was.

Before the cadre could even reply, she was tackled from behind. Her whole body went flying forward off the stool. Somehow she managed to hold onto the Bible as she hit the ground.

A hundred hands grabbed her body. Her arms were stretched out in front of her. As she was dragged forward across the ground, she could feel her trousers being pulled down. She realized she was now wearing only her underwear as the bam­boo rods began flailing away at her legs and back. But she still held onto the Bible.

Then, while others held her forearms down, the leader began using the iron bar to deliberately beat her hands and wrists. The Bible slipped from her fingers. The pain in her hands replaced all feel­ing. Then the sky went black. Even after she lost consciousness — the blows did not stop.

When she awoke from the cold, she was in the house alone. It was night again. She was covered with blankets but still freezing. There was no fire — but she couldn’t even move her hands to start one. They were swollen, smashed, and broken. Even the slightest attempt at movement sent arrows of pain shooting to her brain. She held her hands as still as she could.

Her Bible was gone.

At first Chen-Ma thought she might die there. Yet the presence of the Lord was in the room —and she knew that she would live. Unconsciousness mixed with shock came again, the only pain­killer she would have.

Sometime in the night, “angels” dressed her wounds. Christian neighbors appeared in the shadows to care for her in the months she was held under house arrest.