The Song of Life in Tortures | The Church of Almighty God

Gao Jing    Henan Province

Christian

In 1999, I was fortunate to accept Almighty God’s end-time work. Through reading God’s word, I felt God’s holy, honorable, and righteous disposition, and knew that all these words are the expression of God’s life being. I had inexpressible moving in my heart. For the first time I felt the security and joy in the bottom of my heart brought by the working of the Holy Spirit. Since then, I desired more and more to gain these truths. After entering the Church of Almighty God, I saw that it was a new world completely different from the society. The brothers and sisters were all simple, kind-hearted, pure, and lively. Though we were from different places and had different social backgrounds and statuses, we were as dear as a family and loved and sustained each other, happily staying together. That made me truly feel that the life of worshiping God was so happy, joyful, wonderful, and sweet.


Later, I read these words of God, “As a member of mankind and as one of the godly Christians, we all have the responsibility and obligation to offer up our body and heart for the accomplishment of God’s commission, because our whole being comes from God and exists because of God’s sovereignty. If our body and heart are not for God’s commission and not for the just cause of mankind, then our soul will be ashamed to face those who were martyred for God’s commission and will be even more ashamed to face God who provides us with everything.” (from “God Is Sovereign over the Destiny of All Mankind” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) From God’s words, I understood that as a created being, I should live for the Creator and consecrate and spend my whole being for God, and only this is the most worthy and meaningful life. Thus, when I heard that in the remote areas there were still many people who hadn’t heard Almighty God’s end-time gospel, I resolutely said goodbye to the brothers and sisters in my hometown and took the train going afar.

In 2002, I came to a remote and backward mountain area in Guizhou Province to preach the gospel. There, almost every day we had to walk very long mountain paths, often through wind and snow, to preach the gospel. But with the presence of God, the brothers and sisters and I didn’t feel bitter or tired. Under the leading of the working of the Holy Spirit, the gospel work there spread quickly, more and more people accepted God’s end-time work, and the church life was full of vitality. Whenever I saw that the brothers and sisters read God’s word, sang hymns to praise God, and enjoyed God’s love there, with happiness and satisfaction on their faces, I was greatly comforted in my heart, feeling that it was worthwhile no matter how much I suffered. Though during that period, I was once weak and passive, God’s words had been encouraging me, “Have you ever thought how grieved and anxious God’s heart is? How could he bear to see the innocent mankind he created with his own hands suffering such torment? After all, mankind are the unfortunate who have been poisoned. Although they have survived today, who knows that they have long been poisoned by the evil one? Have you forgotten that you were one of the victims? Are you not willing to try hard to save all these survivors back out of your love for God? And exert all your strength to repay the God who loves man as his own flesh and blood?” (from “As to the Future Mission, How Should You Treat It?” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) Under the leading of God’s words, I spent six enriched and joyful years there until in 2008 a special environment suddenly came upon me. From then on, my happy and good life was broken….

It was around 11 a.m. on March 15, 2008. Two brothers and I were having a meeting. Suddenly four cops broke in and quickly pressed us to the floor. Without saying anything, they handcuffed us and pushed and pulled us into a police car. In the car, they all gave out a hideous and sinister laugh and brandished the electric batons before our eyes. And they struck our heads and bodies now and then with them and abused venomously, “You’re so young. What the fuck can’t you do except believing in God? You’re really looking for trouble!” Facing the sudden arrest, I was very nervous in my heart, not knowing what awaited us next. I could only call to God unceasingly in my heart, “O God! Today we encounter such an environment out of your permission. May you give us faith and keep us, so that we can stand testimony for you.” After the prayer, the words of God appeared in my mind, “In any circumstance, you should be faithful to me and go forward bravely. I am your solid Rock. Rely on me!” (from “The Tenth Piece of Word” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) Yes! God is my reliance and my strong and powerful rear guard. No matter in what circumstances, as long as I can hold on to my faithfulness to God and stand on God’s side, I can surely overcome satan and make it ashamed. The revelation of God’s words made me have faith and strength. I made a resolution inwardly, “I’ll hold on to the true way and stand testimony for God even if I have to die!”

Christian

After we arrived at the police station, the cops dragged the three of us out of the car roughly and pushed us into a room. Then, they searched us all over from head to foot. From the bags of the two brothers, they searched out some gospel materials and a cell phone. Failing to find money, an evil cop pulled a brother to him and punched and kicked him, and beat him to the floor. After that, we were taken into different rooms and interrogated separately. Having interrogated me for a whole afternoon, they didn’t get any word from my mouth. A little past 8 p.m. that day, they sent the two brothers and me to the local detention house with the identity of “anonymous people.”

As soon as I entered the detention house, two female officers stripped off all my clothes, cut all the metal objects on them, and also pulled out my shoelaces and belt. I had to lift my trousers and walk barefoot into the cell fearfully. Seeing me come in, those female prisoners rushed forward like madwomen and surrounded me, asking me this and that. As the light was dim, they drew close to me and looked at me curiously with eyes wide open, and some of them even seized my arms and felt and pinched me here and there. I was stunned by the scene, standing there stiff and not daring to say anything. I was so scared. When thinking that in the future I would live in this demons’ room with these people, I felt so wronged that I just wanted to cry. Then, a prisoner sitting on the kang who was silent the whole time suddenly said loudly, “Knock it off! She has just come here and knows nothing. Don’t frighten her.” And after that, she brought me a quilt. I felt a wave of warmth, and was very clear in my heart that it wasn’t that this prisoner was kind to me, but that God was helping and looking after me through people around me. Actually, God was always with me and I wasn’t alone. In this ghastly and horrible “hell on earth,” with God’s love accompanying me, I felt great comfort. The night gradually grew late. All the other female prisoners slept, but I wasn’t sleepy at all. Thinking that in the morning I was performing duty happily with the brothers and sisters, but at night I lay in this awful tomb-like place, not knowing when I could leave, I felt an unspeakable distress and sadness. Just when I was immersed in my thoughts, suddenly a cold wind blew in, and I couldn’t help shivering. I looked up and found that the cell was open to the sky. Except that the kang where we slept had a roof above, the rest was an iron net made of welded thick steel bars. Cold wind whistled in, and now and then I could hear the footsteps of the cops patrolling on the roof. I felt my blood run cold. Fear, grievance, and helplessness came over me, and my tears flowed down despite myself. Then, a passage of God’s words floated into my mind clearly, “Do you know that all the surrounding circumstances are permitted by me and arranged by me? See this clearly. Satisfy my heart in the circumstances that I have given you. Do not fear this or that. The Almighty God of hosts will surely be with you. He will be your rear guard and shield.” (from “The Twenty-sixth Piece of Word” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) Yes, God is my rear guard, and what shall I fear? I’m ready to give up my life. I’ll commit everything into God’s hand. After understanding God’s will, I was much relaxed in my heart. So I prayed to God silently, “O God! Thank you for your revelation and enlightenment, so that I understand your will. I’m willing to obey your manipulation and arrangement and seek your will in this environment to gain the truth you want to give me. O God! But my stature is too small. May you give me faith and strength and keep the two brothers and me, so that no matter what tortures we may undergo, we’ll never betray you.” After the prayer, I wiped away my tears and pondered God’s words, waiting for the dawn quietly.

Early the next morning, with clangs the iron door of the cell was opened. An officer shouted, “The anonymous one, come out!” I was confounded for a moment before I realized that she was calling me. In the interrogation room, the cops asked me again about my name, address, and the things of the church. I kept silent and sat on the chair with my head bowed. They interrogated me for a whole week. Finally an evil cop pointed at me and abused, “Damn you! We’ve accompanied you for so many days, but you didn’t say a word. All right. You just wait, and see what awaits you!” After he finished his words, the two evil cops slammed the door and left. One evening, the evil cops again came to interrogate me. They handcuffed me and stuffed me into a police car. Sitting in the car, I couldn’t help feeling somewhat scared, “Where will they take me? Will they take me to the field and trample me? Or will they just put me into a sack and throw me into the river to feed the fish?” I was so scared. Then, these words of the hymn of life experience “The Kingdom” resounded in my ears, “God is my rear guard; what shall I fear? I will war against satan to the end. God uplifts us, so we should give up everything and have a part in Christ’s sufferings. I will ready my love and offer it all to God to descend with God in glory. …” Immediately, an unfailing strength spontaneously rose in my heart. Raising my head, I looked out of the window, silently pondering the words of the hymn in my heart. Seeing that I was always looking out of the window, an evil cop suddenly drew the curtain and roared at me fiercely, “What are you looking at! Bow your head!” I was so frightened by his sudden shout that I shuddered and then bowed my head. Four evil cops kept smoking in the car. Immediately the car was smoky. I was choked so much that I kept coughing. Then, an evil cop sitting in the front row turned around and seized me by the chin with his hand, blew a puff of smoke into my face, and said with an ill intention, “I tell you. As long as you confess everything, you can go home without suffering. You are a little young girl and look pretty….” While saying that, he felt my face with his hand, winked at me, and said with an obscene smile, “Or let me find a boyfriend for you.” I turned my face aside and warded off his hand with my handcuffed hands. He immediately became exasperated, saying, “Quite tough, ah? You’ll behave well when we arrive there!” The car continued driving on. I didn’t know what I would face and could only call to God silently in my heart, “O God! Today I don’t care what it takes. No matter what ways these devils may use on me, as long as I have one breath, I’ll bear a strong and resounding testimony for you before satan!”

Over half an hour later, the car stopped. An evil cop dragged me out of the car. I staggered and then stood firm and looked around. Then, it was already completely dark and there were only several empty houses around, without any light, so it looked especially ghastly and horrible. I was taken into one of the empty houses. There was a desk and a couch in the room, and an incandescent lamp was hung from the ceiling, lighting the surroundings dreadfully pale. Ropes and iron chains were on the floor, and a chair made of thick iron blocks was at a distance. Facing such a ghastly and horrible scene, I couldn’t help feeling flustered and my legs went limp. So I sat on the couch to ease my mind. Then, several cops came in. One of them scolded me loudly, “Where are you sitting? Is it for you to sit on? Stand up!” While saying that, he came up and kicked me several times. Then, he seized the clothes on my chest and pulled me up and dragged me to the iron chair. Another evil cop said to me, “I tell you. This is a good thing. As long as you sit on it for some time, it’ll ‘benefit’ you all your life. This is specially prepared for you believers in Almighty God, and ordinary people aren’t allowed to sit on it. As long as you are obedient and answer our questions honestly, we won’t have you sit there. Speak up! What did you come to Guizhou for? Did you come to preach the gospel?” I said nothing. A sturdy evil cop nearby pointed at my nose and abused, “Don’t you fucking act dumb! If you still don’t tell, we’ll let you sit on it and have a taste of it!” I still kept silent.

Then, a woman lasciviously dressed came in. She was sent by the evil cops to be a lobbyist. She tried to persuade me with feigned kindness, “Little sister, you’re a stranger here and have no relatives or friends. Just tell us! If you tell us, I’ll find a job for you, and you can find a boyfriend here and marry him. I assure you that I’ll introduce a good one to you. Or you can be a housekeeper in my house, and I’ll pay you every month. Thus, you can settle down here.” I raised my head and gave her a glance, but didn’t respond to her. I thought, “The devils are the devils. They don’t acknowledge God but can only do bad things unscrupulously for money and interests. Now they want to buy me off with interests and make me betray God. How can I fall into their scheme and become a shameless Judas?” Seeing that her “earnest and patient” words were resultless, she felt that I made her lose face before the evil cops, so she immediately showed her true colors. She took off the belt from her bag and whipped me hard several times. And finally she threw her bag onto the couch fiercely, shook her head, and stood aside resignedly. Seeing that, a fat evil cop came up and seized my hair and knocked me against the wall hard several times, and he roared through gnashing teeth, “How dare you not appreciate our kindness! How dare you not appreciate our kindness! Speak up or not?” I was knocked so badly that I saw stars and my head buzzed, feeling that the sky and the earth were spinning around, and I fell to the floor. Like lifting a chick, he pulled me up and threw me onto the iron chair. I rested for a while and then opened my eyes slightly and saw that there was a strand of my hair in his hand. I was fixed onto the iron chair from head to foot. A thick iron board was stuck before my chest, and my handcuffs were connected to the iron chair. With shackles weighing dozens of kilos around my ankles, my feet were also fixed onto the iron chair. Like a statue, I couldn’t move at all. The ice-cold and heavy iron chains, iron lock, and iron handcuffs stuck me fast onto the iron chair, making me unbearably miserable. Looking at my painful state, the evil cops mocked me smugly, “Isn’t the God you believe in almighty? Why doesn’t he come to save you? Why doesn’t he save you from the torture-rack? You’d better tell us. Your God can’t save you, and only we can save you. If you tell us, we’ll release you. You don’t live your good life but believe in God!” Facing the evil cops’ ridicule and mock, I was very calm in my heart, because God’s words say, “In the end time, God perfects people with the word, not with signs and wonders, and by speaking, he exposes, judges, chastises, and perfects people so that they can see his wisdom and loveliness and know his disposition in his word and see his deeds through his word.” (from “Knowledge About God’s Present Work” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) Today what God does is a practical work, not supernatural. God wants to perfect man with his word, making his word become man’s faith and man’s life, and wants to transform my life disposition with the practical environment. Such practical work can better reveal God’s great power and wisdom, and can defeat satan more thoroughly. I’m willing to obey all the environments God permits to come upon me. My silence irritated that gang of evil cops. Like mad, they gathered around me and beat me violently. Some of them struck my head hard with their fists, some kicked my legs wildly, and some tore my clothes forcefully and felt my face. Facing their indecent acts, I was very angry. If not fixed fast onto the torture-rack, I must fight them to death! I burned with anger and hated the CCP in power, this arch-criminal, to the core. I couldn’t help making a resolution inwardly, “The more it persecutes me, the more I’ll believe in God and believe to the end! The more it persecutes me, the more it proves that Almighty God is the true God and that the way I walk is the true way!” At that time, before the facts, I clearly realized that it was a war between justice and evil and a battle between life and death. And what I should do now is to pledge my life to hold on to God’s name and God’s testimony and shame satan with my actual actions and let God gain glory. The evil cops interrogated me by cruel tortures for several days in succession but still didn’t get any information about the church from me. In the end, they said resignedly, “She is really tight-lipped. Having interrogated her for so many days, we can’t draw a word out of her.” Hearing their talk, I knew it was God’s words that supported me to pass through one gate of hell after another and it was God who kept me to stand testimony. I thanked and praised Almighty God silently in my heart!

In the over ten days of interrogation, I sat on the cold torture-rack day and night. I felt as if my whole body were in an icehouse. The cold directly penetrated my marrow, and I felt as if my joints all over had split. Seeing that I kept shivering with cold, a young evil cop seized the opportunity to persuade me, “You’d better speak quickly! No matter how strong one is, he can’t endure sitting on it for too long. If this continues, you’ll be disabled for the rest of your life.” I was somewhat weak and worried, so I called to God silently, asking God to give me strength, so that I could endure the inhuman tortures and wouldn’t do things of betraying God. After the prayer, God inspired me to think of a hymn of life experience I liked to sing most at ordinary times, “I don’t consider what my future path will be. I only take carrying out God’s will as my bounden mission. I even less consider whether my future is to receive blessings or suffer adversities. Since I’ve chosen to love God, I will be faithful to the end. No matter what great dangers and tribulations lurk behind me, and no matter how rough and rugged it is before my eyes, since my goal is the day God gains glory, I will cast everything far behind me.” (from “Marching on the Path of Loving God” in Follow the Lamb and Sing New Songs) Every word of the hymn encouraged me. I hummed it in my heart over and over again, and couldn’t help thinking of the vow I made before God in the past: No matter what sufferings or tribulations I may undergo, I’ll spend for God all my life and be faithful to the end. But now when I undergo such little suffering, I become weak and timid. Do I have any faithfulness? Haven’t I fallen into satan’s scheme? Satan just wants me to care for my flesh and thus betray God. I can never fall into its trap. Today I can suffer for believing in God and this is the most worthy and meaningful thing and is a glorious thing. No matter how hard it is, I can’t be a perfidious mean person and betray God. When I made up my mind to satisfy God, gradually I didn’t feel so cold and the misery in my heart disappeared. Once again I saw God’s wonderful deed and tasted God’s love. Failing to achieve their purpose, the evil cops didn’t give up, so they took turns torturing me and didn’t allow me to sleep all day and all night. As long as I slightly closed my eyes, they would whip me hard with wickers, or jab me forcefully with an electric baton. Every jab sent electricity through my whole body, and I kept twitching, feeling worse than death. While beating me, they abused, “You fucking don’t confess honestly and still want to sleep. See whether I’ll torture you to death today!” They tortured me more and more severely and cruelly. My shrill cries constantly echoed in the room. Because I was stuck fast onto the torture-rack, unable to move, I could only let them trample me as they liked. They became even smugger and laughed wildly now and then. The long-time whipping and shocking left me with wounds all over. My face, neck, arms, and hands were covered with black and blue bruises, and my whole body was swollen. However, my body seemed to be numb and didn’t feel so painful. I knew that God was caring for me, relieving my pain. I kept thanking God in my heart.

When it was almost one month, I really couldn’t hold on. How I wanted to sleep soundly, even if for only a little while. However, those devils didn’t have any humanity. As long as they saw that I closed my eyes, they would throw a full glass of water on my face, and I was startled and struggled to open my eyes. I was exhausted and my life seemed to come to its end. But God kept me the whole time, so that I was very clear in my mind, and had a firm faith that I would by no means betray God. Failing to get any information from me and fearing that I might really die, they had to carry me back to the detention house. Five or six days later, before I recovered, they again drove me out and handcuffed me onto the torture-rack, with shackles weighing dozens of kilos on my feet. They again interrogated me by cruel tortures and beat and maltreated me for over ten days. They didn’t send me back to the detention house until I really couldn’t hold on. Five or six days later, they did that again. Just like that, in half a year, I didn’t know how many times they repeated it. I was tortured until I was exhausted and gave up the hope to live from my heart. I began to fast and didn’t eat or drink anything for several days. Then, the evil cops forcibly poured water into me. One of them held my head, and another seized my cheek and pried my mouth open and poured water into it. Water flowed along the corners of my mouth and my neck into my clothes, and my upper clothes were soaked. I felt cold all over and wanted to struggle, but I didn’t even have the strength to move my head. Seeing that fasting didn’t work, I wanted to use the opportunity of going to the restroom to kill myself by hitting my head against the wall. Dragging the shackles weighing dozens of kilos, I went to the restroom step by step with the help of the wall. As I hadn’t eaten anything for a long time, my eyes were blurred and I couldn’t see the way clearly. I didn’t know how many times I fell on the way. I dimly saw that my ankles had been rubbed bloody by the shackles and bled unceasingly. When passing by the window, I raised my head and looked out. Looking at the crowd coming and going in the distance, I suddenly had wonderful moving in my heart, “Among those thousands upon thousands of people, how many of them believe in Almighty God? But I’m one of the fortunate. God chose me, an inconspicuous person, among the numerous people and watered, supplied, and led me until today step by step by his word. I have received the great blessing bestowed by God; why do I seek death? Won’t this grieve God’s heart too much?” At that moment, God’s words resounded in my ears, “…in the last days, you should bear testimony for God. No matter how great the sufferings, you should walk to the end. Even if you have just one breath left, you should be faithful to God and submit to God’s manipulation. This is truly loving God, and this is a strong and resounding testimony.” (from “Only After Experiencing Painful Trials Will One Know that God Is Lovely” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) Every word of God, with encouragement and expectation, warmed and encouraged my heart, making me feel greatly moved and have the courage to live on. I encouraged myself in my heart, “The devils can only torture my flesh, but my heart belongs to God forever. I must be strong and can by no means collapse!” So, I walked back step by step trailing the heavy shackles. In haziness, I thought of the scene that the badly wounded Lord Jesus carried the heavy cross and went to Golgotha with difficulty. I thought of Almighty God’s words, “On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus felt extreme pain as if a knife were being twisted in his heart, but he did not have the slightest intention of turning back in his heart, and there was always a strong power directing him to walk toward the place of crucifixion.” (from “How to Serve Is After God’s Heart” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) At that time, my tears couldn’t be held back any more and streamed down my cheeks. I prayed to God in my heart, “O God! You are so holy and supreme, but for saving us, you were personally incarnated, underwent all kinds of humiliations and sufferings, and were crucified. O God! Who has ever sensed your grief and pain? Who has ever understood and felt the painstaking effort and price you have paid for us? Today my experiencing such a suffering is for me to be saved, and it’s even more your perfecting for me, so that I can see clearly the CCP devil’s evil substance in its tortures and will no longer be deceived and blinded by it and thus break away from its influence of darkness. O God! You are expending and suffering for us mankind at any time, having dedicated all your love to us. O God! Now I can do nothing. I only wish to consecrate my heart completely to you. However great the suffering is, I’ll walk to the end and stand testimony to satisfy you….” Because in over two months, no matter how I was beaten and tortured, I had never shed a drop of tear, therefore, when I went back to the interrogation room, seeing my tearful face, the evil cops thought that I had compromised. That fat evil cop asked with a smug smile, “Have you come around? Confess or not?” I didn’t respond to him. His face became purple at once. He suddenly swung his arm and slapped my face fiercely countless times. I felt hot pain in my face, and blood flowed from the corners of my mouth unceasingly and fell to the floor drop by drop. Another evil cop threw a full glass of water on my face, and roared through gnashing teeth, “We’re not afraid that you don’t confess. Today it’s the world of the CCP. Even if you don’t tell, we can still sentence you!” But no matter how they threatened and intimidated me, I didn’t speak all the time.

Although the evil cops couldn’t find the evidence to convict me, they didn’t give up and still interrogated me by tortures constantly. One midnight, several evil cops came to the interrogation room drunk. One of them stared at me with a licentious gaze and gave an advice, saying, “Let’s strip her naked and hang her up and see whether she will come clean.” Hearing his word, I was very frightened, and called to God desperately in my heart to curse those beasts, so that their scheme couldn’t succeed. They freed me from the torture-rack. With heavy shackles on my feet, I couldn’t stand steadily. They surrounded me and kicked me back and forth like kicking a ball. They also spat out the husks of sunflower seeds on my face and shouted unceasingly, “Confess or not? Since you give us a hard time, we won’t let you live! Where is your God? Isn’t he almighty? Ask him to strike us down!” Still someone said, “Or simply give her to Lao Wang for wife! Ha ha….” Seeing their devilish look, I hated them so much that I was already tearless. The only thing I could do was to pray to God, asking God to keep my heart, so that I wouldn’t betray him and could submit to his manipulation whether I would die or live. In the end, that gang of evil cops exhausted their tricks yet didn’t get anything from me. Having no choice, they had to call their superior and report, “This woman is too tough. She is the contemporary Liu Hulan. Even if she is beaten to death, she won’t confess. We indeed can do nothing with her!” Seeing their dejected look, I kept thanking God in my heart. It was the power of God’s word that made me overcome their cruel tortures time after time. All the glory be to Almighty God!

Although the numerous interrogations were resultless, in the end the CCP government still sentenced me to seven years on the charge of “disrupting the enforcement of the law.” The two brothers arrested together with me were sentenced to five years on the same charge. After being inhumanly tortured for eight months, when I heard the judgment at that time, I wasn’t tormented or worried because of being sentenced to seven years, but on the contrary, I felt secure and even more felt honored, because during that period, I experienced God’s leading step by step and enjoyed the endless love and keeping of God, which enabled me to miraculously endure the cruel tortures beyond my limits and stand testimony. This was the greatest comfort bestowed to me by God. I thanked and praised God from my heart!

On November 3, 2008, I was sent to No.1 Women’s Prison to serve my sentence. From then on, I began my long prison life. The management system there was very strict. We began to work from 6 a.m. when we got up and worked until dark. Even when we had meals and went to the restroom, we were pressed for time, feeling as if going to the battle, and we weren’t allowed to slack in the least. In order to profit more from the prisoners, the prison guards didn’t let go of one second and made the prisoners heavily overloaded with work, and they were especially crueler to believers in God. Living in such an environment, I was in constant fear and felt that days wore on like years. There, every day I did the hardest and heaviest work and ate meals worse than those of pigs and dogs—a small black underdone steamed bun and some dry and yellow vegetable leaves. In order to get extra points for a commutation, I often overworked from dawn to night and even had to work all night to finish the production quota beyond my limit. Every day, I stood in the workshop for fifteen or sixteen hours operating that half-automatic sweater machine without stop. My legs often felt sour, weak, and swollen. Even so, I dared not to slack in the slightest, because the prison guards inspected and supervised us in the workshop with electric batons in their hands all the time. Whoever was seen to slack slightly would be punished and not be given points. The busy, hard, and tiring work made me extremely tired both in body and heart. Though young, I had much grey hair. I didn’t know how many times I almost fainted on the machine. Without God’s care, I would really have died. Finally, under God’s keeping, I got two opportunities to have my sentence reduced and got out of that hell on earth two years in advance.

Having experienced eight months of cruel tortures from the CCP government and five years of prison life, I was severely damaged both physically and mentally. For quite some time after getting out of the prison, I was afraid to see strangers. Especially when I encountered the chaotic occasion with many people, the scene that the evil cops tortured me that year would appear in my mind, and I would become fearful and uneasy involuntarily. Because of sitting on the iron chair for a long time, my period was in disorder and I was held up by illness. In those long and painful days, although I underwent sufferings and hardships, I thoroughly saw clearly that the CCP government’s repeated claims that “the religious belief is free” and “citizens’ legal rights and interests are protected by the law” are all tricks to cover up its crimes. This even more made me have a true experience and taste of God’s almightiness, sovereignty, authority, and power. This is the abundant treasure of life God bestowed to me. God’s work is practical and normal. God permitted the persecution of satan the devil to come upon us. However, when the devil tortured us frenziedly, God had been caring for and keeping us silently, inspiring and guiding us with his word full of authority and power, perfecting our faith and love, and conquering and defeating satan the enemy and gaining glory.

Now, I’ve come back to the church and the brothers and sisters. Led by God’s love, I live the church life and spread the kingdom gospel with the brothers and sisters in one accord, and my life is full of vitality and vigor. Now, I’m even more full of faith in God’s work, as if I’ve seen the wonderful prospect of God’s kingdom being realized on the earth. I can’t help singing and praising God! “The Millennial Kingdom has descended among men, God’s word has conquered the whole earth, reigning on the whole earth, reigning on the whole earth, and everything has been established and accomplished because of God’s word, because of God’s word, for us to see with our own eyes, for us to see with our own eyes. We shout for joy, and we sing, singing of the Millennial Kingdom having descended to earth. We shout for joy, and we sing, singing of the New Jerusalem descending from heaven. God’s word is among us and lives with, lives with us, accompanying our every act and move and every mind and thought. … The beautiful prospect of the kingdom is bright and even more infinite. All God’s people are beaming with smiles in heart, for what has long been expected has now become a reality. How could we not dance for joy and give glory to God? We shout for joy, and we sing, singing of and praising God’s almightiness and wisdom. We shout for joy, and we sing, singing of God’s work having been crowned with success. We shout for joy, and we sing. The practical God is personally leading us into the good land of Canaan to enjoy God’s riches, to enjoy God’s riches.” (from “Singing of the Millennial Kingdom Descending Among Men” in Follow the Lamb and Sing New Songs)