Looking at the call of the Chinese to go westward to preach from "Zion's Highway"

Photo courtesy/Chen Yafang

(National Audiovisual Ministry Center)

▲Gao Quanfu, senior pastor of Xi’an Zion Light Church. (pictures from the Internet)

"Zion Avenue" Documentary

Gao Quanfu, senior pastor of Xi'an Light of Zion Church, has been promoting Mu Xuan for more than ten years. In the video "Zion's Road", when he shared how moved he was by the seniors of the previous generation of "Northwest Spiritual Work Group", he said: "They sacrificed their lives to point us in the direction of westward missionary work."

Pastor Gao Quanfu believed in the Lord at the age of 28 and has been preaching the gospel and serving the Lord for more than thirty years. In 2008, he and several pastors went to Kashgar, Xinjiang, and met the last seniors of the "Northwest Spiritual Work Group" who were still holding on to the westward march. In the following four years, he went to Kashgar many times, photographed the last scenes of these elderly people's lives, and combined them into a documentary "Zion Avenue" with a total length of three and a half hours in four episodes. He said: "I started to meet these old people back then, which gave me the biggest shock in my life, because their simplicity and persistence in vision affected me, allowing me to see the situation of my life and the original response to heaven. Calling requires a kind of simplicity.”

Episodes one to four of the documentary are: "West and West", "Big Family", "Forced" and "Inheritance". This is a group of missionaries who have received the vision and are willing to commit themselves to traveling westward to bring the gospel to Muslims and reveal the glory of God. From 1946 to 1949, more than 100 of them entered Xinjiang to open up wasteland and preach. They ate bitter herbs, wore sheepskins, built clay houses, worked hard to support themselves, never complained, never solicited donations, and preached the Lord's way by faith. Around 1950, some meeting points were established in various places. But soon many members of the spiritual labor group were arrested and imprisoned on unfounded charges. Four of its leaders, including Brother Zhang Guquan, were martyred in prison. Although they were later rehabilitated, the gospel has not been able to continue to spread westward.

In the autumn of 2012, a group of pastors met the 95-year-old missionary He Enzheng in Kashgar City. Pastor He said: "I am happy whether I leave or not. Even if I die here, I thank the Lord. This is God's missionary." No one who comes out in the name of the Lord regrets it; everyone who comes here is grateful for the Lord’s grace.” (Missionary He Enzheng on January 16, 2014. Return to heaven.)

▲Missionary Li Daosheng is 94 years old and lives in Qiquanhu Church in Turpan.

Examples of Early Chinese Missionaries

There are several booklets that record their mental journey and experience of divine grace, and also reconstruct what happened at that time from different angles. Because of their loyalty, we have a benchmark for learning. Although there are different opinions about them in history, their determination and confidence are still an example for us Chinese missionaries. Here are some excerpts of their thoughts:

Eat bitterness and taste sweetness for the Lord, be light and salt in the world,
How dare you delay in thinking about the suffering of the Savior’s cross?
Strive to embark on the road of self-denial, and do not turn left or right to the benchmark,
Serve the Lord faithfully until death, bear fruit a hundredfold before dedicating it to the Lord.
─Preface to "Walking on Zion Avenue - Memoirs of Lee Dosheng"

▲Pastor Zhao Ximen and his wife Wen Muling.

"We lie in chains, we were born in thorns; let us be shaped in chains, and let us seek the truth in thorns." This is what Pastor Ximen Zhao, a pioneer in spreading the gospel to the West, who has returned to heaven, thought in his mind when he was in prison. A few words. His poem "Recruiting People" is very representative and clearly expresses the aspirations of the "Northwestern Spiritual Works Group" at that time:

Looking westward, the vast fields are desolate.
My heart is sad every day, who is willing to go for me?
Tears in our eyes! Blood, in our chests!
Hold high the banner of Christ and rescue the lost sheep.
The coming of the Lord of the last days is near, and the trumpets of war are tense.
Get up quickly and put on your military uniform and break through Satan's snare.
Death, spread your wings of terror! Sin makes waves in the world!
We just move forward and resist until death.
Seize the hope of the future and go for it without losing your fortune.
Pick up the heavy cross and walk towards the battlefield of skeletons.
You must fight for your life for the Lord! My heart is in my eternal hometown!
Once the tent is broken down, life will be released.

The 87-year-old missionary Tang Yuanmo said this in the preface to "Notes on the Pioneer of Southern Xinjiang": "I was a lost lamb, trembling in fear in the wilderness full of dangers. It was the Lord who rescued me and searched for me to return. ... That year The servants and maids of God’s family who were ordered to come to southern Xinjiang to work have all dried up and died from their labors. Their bones are buried in the desert wilderness, waiting for resurrection. The result of their work is the emergence of churches in various parts of southern Xinjiang today. People The crosses you see standing on the roof of the church and the melodious singing you hear in the church are the works built and managed by God, and they are also the testimony of the footprints left behind by the hard work of His servants.”

Pastor Zhang Guquan was sent to the northwest and wrote his first hymn:

Ambassador of heaven, ordered to save the souls of the dead.
I am willing to endure the hardships of the journey, and I am willing to wear the wind and dust.
No crutch in hand, no gold or silver in waist;
Live like a bird in the sky, relying on God for all your needs.
What seems to be poverty makes one rich;
It seems that there is nothing and everything is beyond human beings.
Commend the new life of Christ and preach the true gospel of the cross.
The footsteps are beautiful everywhere, and they pass through the Kaien Gate;
Leading sinners to the Savior and prodigals to God the Father.
Work by spiritual power, not by tongue, teeth, and lips;
The lover is willing to sacrifice his life, not to talk about pen and paper.
Follow the Father’s will and choose God’s people, be considerate of the Lord’s heart, and do not want people to perish.
Only when you know that the flag of love is planted all over the world will you feel that your branch is complete.

▲Pastor Zhang Guquan was martyred in prison in 1956.

After being imprisoned, Pastor Zhang Guquan continued to write poems, embroidered them on old cloth with needle and thread, and put them in cotton-padded clothes and spread them out of prison. After he died in prison, his poems continued to circulate. In the transcript, some words are slightly different. Here are two excerpts from "Prayer of Longing" written in prison in Urumqi:

one,
Lord, my heart longs for you like a deer longs for streams of water.
All the good years have been wasted, when will we see the glory and beauty of the Lord?
Ask the Lord to take me into the inner room and experience the taste of love.
I am content with surrendering myself to the Lord, no matter how dark the sun sets.
two,
Lord, my heart goes to you, for you are full of mercy.
Although the earth shakes and the mountains move, your love will never change.
Anger disappears in an instant, but grace lasts a lifetime.
I will watch and my knees will bend, and my mouth will be filled with joy and praise.

The example of Elder Yang Jiashan in modern times

In addition to the early missionaries, there was an education missionary in modern times, Elder Yang Jiashan. He ran a school in Kyrgyzstan, a Muslim country, and provided us Chinese with different thoughts on missionary work.

Elder Yang Jiashan’s career and work throughout his life are closely connected with shipping. In 1995, he gave up his lifelong shipping career and the rich family fortune he had worked hard to build in the United States. He dedicated himself to becoming a full-time missionary and went to Kyrgyzstan to found Central Asia Sharing Aid and Christian Charity. Foundation (MCCF). At that time, he was already sixty-four years old. What kind of challenge was it to start over in a place with completely different language, race, environment, living habits and religion?

Kyrgyzstan is dominated by Islam, and Christianity is greatly restricted there. However, Elder Yang Jiashan, in the spirit of Christian faith - love, without fear of pressure, calmly worked in the local area for 20 years, established a Christian school, and devoted the rest of his life, even if he lost his fortune. No matter what, just to allow local children to receive education. Over the past two decades, Yang Jiashan has established five Christian schools, a school for disabled children, an orphanage, a summer camp, and even a university in Kyrgyzstan. This is extremely difficult in Kyrgyzstan, which is dominated by Islam.

Time flies. Today, Yang Jiashan is eighty-nine years old. People often ask him if he has a designated successor. He always points to a picture on the wall of his office that says "loyal until death to meet the Lord" and says with a smile: " This is God’s business. God will choose a successor. God is responsible for my whole life. When the time comes, there will naturally be a successor.” (Editor’s note: Elder Yang was consecrated in Chicago on February 12, 2017. Take him back to his home.)

▲Elder Yang Jiashan.

Preaching Thoughts

In the past thirty years, Christianity in China has developed rapidly, and there have been some attempts and efforts in missionary work. Especially in recent years, the Chinese church has attached great importance to missionary work and paid attention to how to spread the gospel to all nations. So is traveling westward the calling and destiny of us Chinese? Most churches agree that the Chinese church needs to promote its own growth and maturity through missionary work, while most of the churches in the western countries are China's strong buddies.

Once when I was in Afghanistan, the locals asked me where I was from. I said I am from your neighbor China. He said you are not neighbors, but partners. My short-term missionary experience in Central Asia made me feel that they have the same faces as us. They embrace us and accept us. Even though they know you are a Christian, they are still very friendly. Why? I think God has opened a door for us at this stage. Through the "Belt and Road" platform proposed by the Chinese government and the all-round strategic partnership, large state-owned enterprises are actively building railways, highways, airports and other infrastructure for the 10/40 degree country. Facilities, a large number of Chinese people walked among them, bringing blessings into their lives. When a large number of professionals in the workplace join them, we have a good chance of leading them to know God. This is God’s commission and destiny for the Chinese church!

Psalm 84:5 says: "Blessed is the man who has strength in you and whose heart is to go to the highway of Zion!" In recent years, a hymn called "The Highway of Zion" sung:

We have no regrets about embarking on this path;
We have no regrets and have gone through this journey.
Although rugged and rugged, covered with thorns and stones;
Although the gate is narrow and the road is narrow, the scars of the cross are everywhere.
We have no regrets and devote ourselves entirely to the Lord;
We never regret that our first love was in vain.
Although the gate is narrow and narrow, my benefactor leads my way;
Although the road is narrow and rugged, my companions are surrounded by each other.

We still stand erect, our clothes are not scorched;
We remain firm and our faces are always raised.
Give up the world under the sun, run forward and rejoice;
The further we go, the more hopeful we become, and the further we go, the more glorious we become.
We are here now to witness a pure heart;
We are here now to bear witness to the spirit of integrity.
Love Him without regret, because He laid down His life for me;
Believe in Him all the more firmly because He never breaks His faith.

Lord, I would like to give myself to you again!
Be my grace, that I may be pleased.
Shine your light true,
Lead me along the highway of Zion.

Our forefathers fought the good fight on the missionary journey, and it is time for us to get going. In the process of cross-cultural missionary work, it is suggested that it will be less strenuous to go from a recent culture to a different culture. For the members of China, Xinjiang is the best training ground. It has a Turkic and Persian language environment and is supported by national policies. Therefore, it is easy to do workplace missionary work there, and it also reduces the burden on the church. In Silk Under the guidelines of the Road Economic Belt, it is not only integrated with government development policies, but also due to the arrival of missionaries, it can help local people in an all-round way, improve their living standards, and bring the gospel to them. Most importantly, missionaries can be prepared for cross-cultural missions. So I made a couplet on the limbs in Xinjiang:

Following in the footsteps of our forefathers, the second wave of evangelical immigrants from the Chinese is just around the corner!

Author’s profile: Chen Yafang, head of the National Audio-Visual Ministry Center. Chairman of Chenguang Imaging Development Association, pastor of Taipei City Light Church, and documentary producer of GOOD TV.