I Stand With Christ - Book Review (Revisited)

Note: This book review was originally posted here on January 8, 2018.

A review of I Stand With Christ: The Courageous Life of a Chinese Christian. Zhang Rongliang, with Eugene Bach. New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 2015.

The former leader of one of the five largest house church networks in China has penned a story that gripped and moved me greatly. Endorsed by prominent Chinese Christians who know the author, this fast-paced narrative covers the decades from the dark days of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), rapid church growth and persistent persecution in the 1980s and 1990s, consolidation and further expansion in the slightly more relaxed conditions of the late 1990s and early 2000s, to the continued outreach, even to foreign countries, along with government pressure, of recent years.

Zhang does not just give us his personal testimony. As he says, he represents thousands of Chinese Christians who risked everything, and suffered terribly, for the sake of the spread of the gospel. That is why one endorser said that reading this book will give you “details from the last forty years of history in China’s church.”

Born into a poor farmer’s family, Zhang “ate bitterness” from his earliest days – if, that is, there was anything at all to eat during the great famine caused by the ill-conceived “Great Leap Forward” (1958-1961). Hard work on an empty stomach inured him to hardship and forged a steely character that strengthened him for incessant labors as an evangelist and pastor, as well as almost unimaginable suffering.

In 1961, when the boy was about twelve, “Grandfather Sun,” who was his grandfather’s brother, explained the gospel of salvation from sin through faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ, as foretold in Isaiah 53. Then he gave Zhang a Bible and urged him to guard it with his life, for, indeed, “this book is a heavenly book. It is your treasure in this life . . . Consider it more precious than your own life.” Touched deeply by the old man’s earnest words, Zhang gave his life to Christ.

Zhang witnessed Grandfather Sun suffer and die for his faith not long afterwards, so he knew the risks of following Christ and preaching the gospel, but he had committed himself. Despite the threat of public disgrace, beatings, imprisonment, and even death, he began to communicate the Christian message in his own village and then in nearby villages. Through a bizarre misunderstanding, he was asked to join a Communist gang, and then the Communist Party. In his youthful ignorance and zeal, he saw no conflict between Christianity and the revolution led by Mao Zedong, but soon faced a choice between the Party and Christ.

“I stand with Christ,” he responded, thus plunging himself into a ceaseless round of jail terms, torture, continued preaching when he had the slightest opportunity, followed by even worse suffering. Zhang was only a man and came close to giving up several times. The reader appreciates his candor and marvels that the barbaric treatment he received didn’t kill him. Each time, however, God “showed up” in a way that reminded Zhang that Jesus would never fail him nor forsake him. When his strength returned, he would be at it again, knowing that horrible, excruciating pain would soon test his faith to the uttermost.

Meanwhile, the gospel was spreading like wildfire, not only in Fangcheng County, where he presided over an ever-widening network of house churches, but in nearby counties and throughout the province of Henan. From there, evangelists fanned out to other parts of China, where God was preparing millions of people to receive the gospel and identify themselves as Christians. Braving brutal persecution, young evangelists conveyed the core gospel of reconciliation with God through faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ, the now-risen Savior of all who trust in him. They prayed for, and saw miracles of all sorts, especially healing, but also amazing incidents of provision for their needs and protection in times of danger. Transformed lives attracted family and others to the faith.

Bibles were scarce and highly prized. Zhang followed the exhortation of Grandfather Sun to treasure the Word of God as his very life, poring over its pages day and night and instructing others to do the same. Lacking other Christian books, he became a man of one Book, the words of which instructed, guided, comforted, and motivated him to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, regardless of the cost.

In time, Zhang met the leaders of the other networks and began to admire them. He learned, too, from older preachers whom he met in prison or in brief encounters outside. In 1996, Zhang and leaders of the four other largest networks formed the short-lived Sinim Fellowship. Their shared experiences of conversion, preaching the gospel, and suffering for Christ overcame substantial differences in practice and even beliefs among them. Later, several leaders issued a Confession of Faith that set the boundaries of orthodox Christian doctrine, united disparate groups under one common set of beliefs, and testified to the government that they were not a heretical “evil cult.”

A loosely connected movement re-kindled the earlier “Back to Jerusalem” vision that had sent a few Chinese Christians to the western regions of China as a staging-point for taking the Christian gospel through Central and South Asia all the way back to its place of origin. In recent years, a formal Back to Jerusalem organization, based in the United States and the United Kingdom, has emerged. Both Zhang and Brother Yun, the “Heavenly Man,” now have ties to this organization, which published Zhang’s book.

They have not neglected the vast unevangelized areas of China, however. As the largest human migration in history has taken hundreds of millions of rural Chinese into cities, the house church networks have intentionally planted churches among urban migrants.

Conditions in China relaxed under the “Opening and Reform” programs of Deng Xiaoping (after 1978) and his successors, creating openings to receive foreign visitors like Dennis Balcombe, a missionary based in Hong Kong. Under an alias, Zhang was able to procure passport that allowed him to make eleven trips to other countries, including the United States and England, where he was able to express his gratitude for the sacrifices made by the early missionaries to China. He thrilled audiences with stories of the rapid increase of the number of Christians in China and the miracles they had witnessed.

Not everything went well, however. Zhang’s “imperial” style of leadership provoked resentment and finally rebellion, leading to a split in his church. Deeply hurt, he acknowledged his faults, and came to see this split as God’s way of multiplying the number of new churches.

The law finally caught up with him, and he spent another seven years in prison. This time, however, there was plenty of food, the guards refrained from torture, and the sick received medical treatment. As before, the prison became a hothouse for the conversion and spiritual growth of even more people. When he regained his freedom, Zhang found that his church had flourished in his absence. Though he enjoys friendly relations with the local police, he remains under surveillance and wonders what will happen to him if they ever obtain a Chinese copy of his story.

Evaluation

The “Simple Gospel” Applies to Chinese

The first thing that strikes me is how Zhang’s story completely refutes the increasingly popular theory that, since the Chinese “have no concept of sin,” we must alter our message to them. (For reviews of two books advocating different versions of this approach, see Saving God's Face: A Chinese Contextualization of Salvation through Honor and Shame and Theosis, Sino-Christian Theology and the Second Chinese Enlightenment.)

In stark contrast, Zhang’s conversion, the message that he and others like him have preached, and the response of millions of Chinese, demonstrate that the “old, old story” of salvation from sin through faith in the atoning death of Jesus continues to draw Chinese to Christ. The same is true, by the way, of China’s urban Christians.

Power Corrupts

As his influence grew and more and more people responded to his preaching, Zhang, like most Chinese church leaders, followed the only model of leadership he knew – the “imperial style” that Chinese had seen in their homes and in society for millennia. Predictably, this concentration of power in one man leads to resentment, rivalry, and even rebellion, as happened with Zhang.

Money Does, Too

Reliable Chinese Christians have accused Zhang of telling one story to audiences overseas and another story to people in China. They attribute this to the influence of his foreign “handlers” in the Back to Jerusalem organization, and to Zhang’s ignorance of the ways of Western “Christian marketing.” Brother Yun, the “Heavenly Man,” has come under criticism as well.

Only God knows the truth of the matter, and no one is saying that either Zhang or Yun has personally profited from their public speaking or the publication of their books by the Back to Jerusalem organization, despite allegations of lack of transparency and accountability in the use of funds by their Western sponsors. Perhaps all that has changed in response to such criticisms. One hopes so.

Greatness Through Suffering

Zhang frankly admits that he has made mistakes. Who has not? From his narrative, however, several things emerge with compelling force:

Persecution and suffering refine, strengthen, and enable Christians to bear witness to Jesus Christ and to draw others to believe the gospel.

The Christian church can grow despite massive opposition from the government. As China begins to impose another round of restrictions on religious expression by Christians outside the “official” church, we do not have to worry that the Word of God will cease to spread.

Zhang and his fellow believers have experienced God’s presence, power, provision, and protection in ways that most Western Christians have not. Despite our greater access to resources in theology, biblical studies, and church history, our multi-million-dollar buildings, and our slick promotional programs, Western Christian leaders would do well to sit at the feet of people like Zhang as humble pupils in the school of Christ.

This book has “the ring of truth.” When I finished my second reading of it, I burst into tears. I recommend it as a valuable resource for understanding the recent history of Protestant Christianity in China.

For a brief biography of Zhang Rongliang based on this book, go to http://www.reachingchineseworldwide.org/blog/2017/12/28/zhang-rongliangs-stand-with-christ

Guizhou: The Precious Province - Book Review

Hattaway, Paul. Guizhou: The Precious Province. In The China Chronicles: Inside the Greatest Christian Revival in History. London: SPCK, 2018.

Popular author Paul Hattaway (The Heavenly Man; Back to Jerusalem; An Asian Harvest – his autobiography) plans to write one volume on the history of Christianity for each province in China. So far, he has published books on Shandong, Guizhou, Zhejiang, Tibet, and Henan. I have read all of these, and I find them to be not only most informative but also fascinating and deeply moving.

Hattaway’s scholarship is impeccable but unobtrusive, for you are caught up in the thrilling narrative of God’s work among the people of China over the centuries. “My intention is not to present readers with a dry list of names and dates but to bring alive the marvelous stories of how God has caused His kingdom to take root and flourish in the world’s most populated country” (xiii). To put it another way, he simply wants to compile “a record of God’s mighty acts in China” (xiii). In other words, the focus of these books is squarely upon God.

For these stories, he has not only read more than a thousand articles and books but has also conducted “hundreds of hours of interviews . . . throughout China, with many testimonies that have never been shared in public” (xiii).

Guizhou: The Precious Province

Each volume opens with a brief description of the province under consideration.

“Guizhou” means “precious province” in Mandarin, but it can also mean “land of demons.” Indeed, the progress of the gospel in this mountainous and rainy province has been fiercely contested by the forces of evil. More than 80 different ethnic groups live in an area the size of Missouri and Oklahoma and larger than England, Wales, and Northern Ireland combined. The population is several times greater than the American states named above and 60 percent of the British kingdoms, however.

Because of the heavy, constant rains and the ubiquitous mountains, Guizhou is “indisputably one of the poorest regions of China” (6). Many people have migrated to other parts of China and countless girls are sold to human traffickers looking for brides to supply the shortage of females caused by the female infanticide and abortion during China’s one-child policy. Centuries of internecine warfare and Han Chinese aggression against the tribal peoples have left deep scars and suspicion toward outsiders.

Hattaway, an expert on China’s minority ethnic groups, pays special attention to the diversity and crucial distinctions within Guizhou’s immensely diverse population. He quotes Revelation 5:9–10 to remind us of the importance of each people group to God.

The growth of the church in Guizhou has not generally been marked by the kinds of massive revivals recorded in the volume about Shandong, but today there are about 2.7 million Christians, representing exponential increases since the Communists took over in 1949, despite all the obstacles and attacks upon Christians.

As in other books in the series, Hattaway traces the story of Christianity decade by decade, interposing chapters dedicated to a particular person or group. This book begins with a look at the mysterious origins of the Miao people, who trace their ancestry back to Adam and whose cultural memory includes a narrative of beginnings closely parallel to the one in Genesis.

Throughout the history of Christianity in China, followers of Christ have endured fierce opposition and, often, cruel persecution. In Guizhou, terrible suffering came upon believers from the beginning and continues to this day. A chief cause of hostility toward Christians was their refusal to participate in ancestor worship rituals and their unwillingness to contribute money to the many idolatrous festivals held throughout the year. In the twentieth century, the government attacked those who would not renounce their faith in Jesus.

Hattaway’s graphic stories are replete with accounts not just of cruel torture and death, but of indomitable courage and a refusal to deny Christ, no matter the cost. He does not spare us the gruesome details; these only serve to highlight the faithfulness of Christians and the power of God to sustain his people through suffering to glory.

Missionaries also suffered harsh and sometimes brutal treatment from Han Chinese literati, who feared that the new religion would diminish their cultural and political power. The first China Inland Mission (CIM) worker to be killed was William Fleming, in 1898, the victim of rumors that the foreigners were smuggling weapons to the tribal people in preparation for a revolt against the Chinese government. False stories about missionaries have continued to cause opposition throughout China, down to present day.

The first evangelical missionaries arrived in 1877 with the coming of CIM missionaries Charles Judd and his brother-in-law, James Broumton. Others from the CIM followed them, including George Clarke, “who proved to be a key instrument in bringing the gospel to the unreached minority groups of southwest China. Clarke’s wife was the first foreign woman to live in Guizhou” (36).

The first converts were women reached by CIM workers Charlotte Kerr and Jane Kidd, who had started a school for girls. They established a clinic to help opium addicts break free. These two methods – primary education and opium clinics – joined evangelism and the distribution of Christian literature as primary means for planting churches.

Hattaway does not only tell the stories of intrepid missionaries, but he brings to light the unknown sagas of Chinese Christians, who were by far the more important agents in the growth of Christianity. Chen Xiguang was the first evangelical believer and the first evangelical Chinese pastor. His story and photo remind us of the transforming power of the gospel. At least a dozen other Chinese Christians are memorialized with both words and pictures in this volume.

Though many believers stood firm despite persecution, the Hmu, who were members of the Miao people, stopped being open to the gospel after government soldiers killed many of their tribe in 1900. Thereafter, they were afraid to associate with foreigners.

Hattaway has a great burden for unreached peoples, including those numbering only a few thousand or even less. With obvious love, he tells the story of the remarkable ministry of CIM missionary James Adam to minority groups. As he got to know the Miao better, Adam noticed differences among them. One tribe, the A-Hmao, cherished an ancient legend that they once had a written language and books in that language, but that these had been destroyed. When Adam learned their language and eventually had the New Testament translated for them, their joy was immense. A powerful revival broke out and many became believers. Later, Samuel Pollard produced a translation in a script that was even easier to read and is used even today.

Within a year, Adam, Pollard, and two other missionaries died. The believers were shaken, but the Miao church survived, and now numbers over 500,000.

Later in the book, he tells us about the Ge, the Hmu, the Nosu, the Bouyei, and the Dong – all considered “Miao” by the Chinese government, but each one with a distinct language and culture. In my opinion, the story of the conversion of thousands of Nosu is alone worth the price of this book.

The 1930s

For several decades, missionaries concentrated their efforts upon these triable groups, who were much more receptive than the Han Chinese. Their outreach to Han Chinese centered upon cities. In the early 1930s, however, God began to work among Han Chinese in isolated villages. When CIM missionary Harry Taylor learned of this, he urged missionaries in the capital city of Guiyang to extend their work to villages. The movement to Christ continued to grow, and was greatly enhanced by the visit of the Bethel Band Mission in 1934.

The Holy Spirit worked through these revivalists to convict multitudes of sin, and to confess these, even the most terrible offenses, in the presence of those whom they had offended. People who had been cold-hearted for years were broken in spirit, crying out to God for forgiveness and receiving profound joy and peace. Churches were revived, families reconciled, and many new people brought to faith in Christ.

Another preaching band that made a powerful impact was composed of five men from three different tribes.

Missionaries were among those who suffered when the Communists traveled through Guizhou on the famous Long March in 1934. Rudolf Bosshardt and Arnolis Hayman were captured and forced to accompany the Reds. Though they had to endure great trials, God preserved their lives.

The 1940s

Hattaway candidly records the ups and downs of church growth in Guizhou, noting that sometimes the Christian witness seems to have almost died out.

Faithful Christians labored on, however, including the sisters of the German Friedenshort Deaconess Mission, who quietly lived among the tribes as associated members of the China Inland Mission. They demonstrated the love of Christ through medical ministry and education for the children of the impoverished tribes. Later, they reached out to lepers. Their mission to the tribes came to an end after 1949, but they had made a profound impact.

Meanwhile, Christians among the A-Hmao tribe held fast. They experienced a breakthrough when they decided to attend the large festivals with their fellow tribesmen and share the gospel with them.

In 1940, after he recovered from his ordeal, Rudolph Bosshardt and his wife returned to serve in Guizhou. They preached the gospel faithfully, seeing much fruit, until they were forced to leave China in 1951.

Nothing daunted, they relocated to Laos, where they worked among Chinese until they had to retire. After his wife’s death, Bosshardt emigrated from Sweden to England, where he founded the Manchester Chinese Christian Church.

By 1949, Christians in Guizhou numbered around 100,000, almost a fivefold increase since 1922.

The 1950s and 1960s

When the Communists came to power, they unleashed upon the Miao Christians the worst persecutions in the history of their much-persecuted church. “At this time, with all foreigners removed from Guizhou a black curtain descended, and for many years little or no news emerged from the Christians in the Precious Province” (149–150).

“Thousands of pastors and devoted believers died because they stood firm in their faith. Additional thousands were sent to prison where they suffered various forms of torture, hard labor and starvation” (150–151).

Despite extremely cruel and harsh persecution, the church in Guizhou survived, and even grew. The Word had been planted deeply and could not be rooted out. Scriptures had been widely distributed, were treasured, and were hidden in secret places until the time would come when the Bible could be read openly again.

The 1970s

“By the early 1970s, China had become a place of misery for the masses. . . In the midst of this harsh environment, the Holy Spirit was still at work in Guizhou, drawing men and women with open hearts to Jesus Christ” (155).

In the face of repeated revivals and the bold stand for Christ made by the Miao believers, murderous persecution fell upon them. On one occasion, hundreds were mowed down by army machine guns during a prayer meeting. Others were imprisoned and tortured. Nevertheless, the church continued to grow.

The 1980s

Persecution continued in the early 1980s, but the numbers of Christians among several different tribes also continued to increase. In a new development, evangelists from a large house church network in central China went to Guizhou to share the gospel. Despite danger and even death, they were able to minister with power.

Although the government-sanctioned Three-Self Church had often betrayed Christians, some churches in Guizhou decided to register with the government. In 1987, a government survey counted 100,000 believers in Three-Self congregations. The unregistered churches had about 250,000 adherents at this time.

The church grew by meeting in homes; praying for the sick and seeing many healed; casting out demons; distributing Bibles; showing love by engaging in works of practical help, such as giving money to the poor and building a road; prayer; and zealous evangelism in the face of fierce opposition.

Letters and pictures

From the beginning of the history of Christianity in Guizhou in the late 1800s, photographs illustrate this fast-paced narrative. We see the faces and dress of tribal people, Han Chinese, and foreign missionaries.

Starting with this chapter, Hattaway includes excerpts of letters from Christians in each province that have come to the outside, often to the Far East Broadcasting Company offices in Hong Kong. These letters run the gamut of joyful faith, to confusion about how to behave as a believer, to intense sadness. Many of them express the desperate need for Bibles and for trained teachers of the Word. They paint a picture of the Christians in China that cannot but move the reader.

The photographs and letters form an essential part of Hattaway’s history and are a major strength of the books in this series. The author has searched archives for older pictures, but he has added to these many more taken with his own camera and reflecting his extensive travels.

The 1990s

“Christianity in many areas of Guizhou continued to flourish throughout the 1990s. The decade saw a further softening in attitudes against the Church compared to the brute force used in previous decades, but life continued to be desperately hard for many tribal believers” (180).

Though the Communist Party strictly forbade its members from becoming Christians, this decade witnessed a large number of cadres joining the church. In another change, Han Chinese and members of other, previously unreached and apparently uninterested tribal groups began to turn to Christ.

Government pressure eased a bit during this time, but materialism started to distract people from spiritual things. Tribal Christians who moved to urban centers for better jobs often found it hard to retain their faith.

Nevertheless, by the end of the century, evangelical Christians in Guizhou were estimated to number 300,000 to 400,000, explosive growth since 1987.

The 2000s “Decade of Harvest”

Beginning in the early 2000s, foreign Christians from the United States, Singapore, Malaysia, and other parts of the world began to travel to Guizhou on short-term mission trips. Through the working of the Holy Spirit, these visits often brought the gospel to places that had never before heard about Jesus, or served to revive existing churches.

Foreigners, usually working through interpreters, shared God’s love in various ways: testimonies, teaching, Bible distribution, Christian literature, evangelistic video and audio resources, and gifts of goods and money. Hattaway reports that the Mo, the Ge, the Shui, and the Dong tribes received the good news about Christ for the first time and responded. Again, these stories demonstrate the power of God in the lives of his people when they are obedient to his leading.

At the same time, visitors were themselves blessed. As they witnessed conversions, heard stories of zeal and martyrdom, and listened to the stunning singing of tribal Christian choirs, they experienced God’s goodness in new ways.

These and previous efforts paid off. By 2010, there were about 2.6 million Christians in Guizhou.

The 2010s: “The Church Pushes Back”

The first five years of this decade were relatively calm for Christians in Guizhou, but bitter suffering was not unknown. Hattaway records several instances and tells of how the Christians began to push back by bringing lawsuits against illegal police actions.

In 2016, a storm was unleashed: After new laws against Christianity were enacted in 2015, “China dramatically reversed its policies, and full-scale persecution of house church Christians broke out in many parts of the country, including Guizhou” (214). The authorities demolished church buildings, threatened to deprive believers of their rights to pensions, and brought immense pressure upon church leaders. Pastors and others faced arrest, imprisonment, beating, and torture.

Nevertheless, the church kept growing, as Christians met in homes and in twos and threes. The Horned Miao (so called because their women wear horns on their heads) and the Hmong Shua experienced an amazing influx of new believers, for example.

“The Future of the Church in Guizhou”

No one knows exactly what will happen, but Hattaway believes that the kingdom of God will never cease its advance among the peoples of Guizhou.

While noting significant advances in the past 150 years, Hattaway concludes by saying that “dozens of small tribes remain isolated from the good news, with many groups containing no known Christians at the present time. The Hmu remain the largest unreached people group in Guizhou. . . [Finally,] less than 8 percent of the population professes to be Christians” (224–225). 

As in all the other volumes of the China Chronicles, an Appendix at the end includes a county-by-county survey of the province, showing how many professing Christians there are in each region. Hattaway explains that he has used the most rigorous and in-depth research to arrive at his numbers, and considers these appendices to be essential features of each book.

Conclusion

With each installment of the China Chronicles, Paul Hattaway solidifies his position as one of the outstanding scholars of Christianity in China. Though not an academic, he is producing books of high academic value.

Perhaps just as importantly, he writes with clarity, vividness, balance, accuracy, and passion.

G. Wright Doyle