The Testimony of Allen Yuan (Part 2)

By Tony Lambert, OMF China Researcher

Beloved house-church leader Allen Yuan passed away peacefully in Beijing in August last year. We continue with his life testimony, in his own words.

After the Japanese surrender in 1946, Pastor Solvoll helped us begin work in Beijing. We rented a place and started a church without church members. Like the Salvation Army we had meetings on the street. Three times a week we beat the drum to start our meetings. Many came and we gave out tracts. We had an immersion baptism in the summer and witnessed 20-50 people baptized each year.

In 1949 after China’s liberation occurred we could no longer have street meetings or preach on the radio. The new government ruled that the Bible could only be preached inside church buildings. All missionaries withdrew and many church properties were left empty. By 1950 the Three Self Patriotic Movement was started. It was headed by the government’s Religious Affairs Bureau which controls all religious activities. The idea was that all organizations, religious or secular, had to be led by the Communist Party. Christ is the head of the church and the church as a virgin cannot be aligned with the world. We therefore declined to comply.

Mr. Wu Yao-zong, a graduate of the New York Theological Seminary, was the chief secretary of the YMCA. He called himself a Christian but his loyalty was with the Communist Party. People at the YMCA were modernists and not evangelical. In 1950 Beijing had more than 60 churches of different denominations. All churches used to receiving foreign aid joined the TSPM. In Beijing there were eleven preachers who refused to join the movement including Watchman Nee, Wang Mingdao and myself. We met together and decided that there were three reasons for not joining the movement. First, we were independent and did not receive any overseas support. We paid our own rent and expenses. Second, we must not be yoked with unbelievers (2 Cor. 6:14). Third, we believed that politics and religion should be separated. Under the TSPM, the church became an instrument of the government, led by the Party and the Religious Affairs Bureau.

As a consequence of our refusal, the eleven of us were all imprisoned one after another starting from 1955. Wang Mingdao and I were both given life sentences. I was arrested in 1958 at the age of 44, leaving behind my wife, six young children and my mother. During the 22 years of my imprisonment, my wife suffered untold hardship in bringing up the children. I was sent to a prison in Heilongjiang near the Russian border. I did not receive any letters from my family for ten years. It was extremely cold there in the labor camp, with hard work and poor food. But praise the Lord, I never once got sick in my 22 years there. Though I was thin, I came back alive whereas many others died. For 22 years I did not have a Bible, nor did I meet any other Christians.

During those long years, two songs encouraged me: one was from Psalm 27 and the other was “The Old Rugged Cross.” It tells us to be faithful servants and to follow the cross, which was what I wanted to do. We had to work nine hours per day. Many would go into their cells to smoke during the break. As I didn’t smoke, I usually stood outside and sang those choruses over and over again.

Years went by and there was little hope of being released. When Deng Xiaoping came to power some policies were changed. There were far too many people in jail and the burden on prisons was too great. It was decided to release all those over 60 who had been in prison for more than 20 years. The reasons were that those over 60 would not be able to labor much longer, and 20 years of imprisonment was considered long enough to reform people’s minds to become harmless to the revolution. Wang Mingdao and I met those conditions and were released. I finally left the prison in December 1979 after 21 years and 8 months.

I was released under probation without the rights of a citizen. I was given a ten-year probation during which I stayed in Beijing as I had no freedom to travel. In those days people came everyday asking questions. I spent much time sharing with them about Jesus, and my wife cooked all day long entertaining visitors. We started a Bible study and later a house fellowship. People came from within China and overseas. I made a number of teaching and preaching tapes as there were no Bibles. We gave out hundreds of tapes for people to use in their services. We also bought a video recorder some time later, which is very useful for edification and preaching, especially in the countryside. Many watch the video “Life of Jesus” and weep. We have a great need for DVDs of Bible stories and preaching in Mandarin.

My work these days is mainly with the house churches. There are two kinds: those registered with the Three Self and those not registered. With our many limitations, the Word of God is advancing and saving many, especially in Henan, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces. Wenzhou district alone has about 600,000 Christians. They have signs and miracles just as in the days of the apostles. I am now (in 2002) an old man of 88 and my wife who was born in 1919 is 83. As we live each day we want to work for Him until he returns, as we know He is coming soon. If He comes today, I am fully prepared, as everybody must give an account.

Many friends come and ask what they could do to help the Chinese church. The answer is in this one word: PRAY! First, please pray for the millions of Chinese that are still lost sheep. Second, pray for new believers and people who are interested. They need grace and growth to be built up and edified in the body of Christ, to stand firm against persecution. We have great need for preachers and pastors in China. We thank God for those offering their lives to serve in the countryside and for the radio broadcasts from outside China. Third, please pray for the leaders of China (Proverbs 21:1). Pray that China will be opened just as in Russia and eastern Europe. God will answer our prayers for China as He will have mercy on its large population and send the world’s greatest revival. Allen Yuan, Fengtai District, Beijing.

MARRIAGE COUNSELING IN CHINA
Breakdown of marriages and divorce are becoming very common in China. But what is shocking is that this is increasingly common among Christian workers. Recently, a visitor giving training on marriage counseling on the Mainland met a 53-year-old evangelist. This brother has already served God for 27 years, preaching all over the country. He is away from his family for several months at a time. During those 27 years his wife never once went to church and has rejected God. Yet he could not understand the reason why and even blamed his wife for “pulling a face” each time he returned home. After hearing his story the visitor immediately saw the crux of the problem. He told him about the harm of relentless “ministry” regardless of his family. After hearing this, the evangelist immediately returned home and confessed his sin to his wife. The next day she finally agreed to go to church with him. (CCL Hong Kong)

In another case, a Western Christian teacher in China reports how a promising young convert has been led astray into an unhealthy relationship with an unconverted Westerner. Many Chinese believers studying at college or university are under strong pressure from their peers to co-habit or otherwise compromise biblical principles in sexual relationships. Many college students live together by renting apartments off campus. Since September, the Department of Education now allows college students to get married while at college. Many students now openly display intimacy in public. It is even considered “odd” not to be dating. All this puts great pressure on Christian young people at college.

There is sometimes a sharp dualism in Chinese evangelicalism which gives priority to “spiritual” matters, and “seeking to avoid worldliness” can seem irrelevant to young people struggling to live as Christians in the real world. There is a real need to return to reformation and biblical principles which see the whole of human existence as infused with meaning and purpose. The wonderful truths of Christ’s incarnation and full humanity need to be taught with their profound implications for the sanctification of every facet of human existence—work, sex, marriage, the family etc. There are now more Christian books (often translations of books written overseas) on the importance of establishing strong marriages and families rooted in Christian values. Many overseas organizations and individuals are also giving seminars and counseling in this vital area.

OMF has published a number of booklets in Chinese simplified script dealing with marriage and dating which are suitable to give to students and other young people, whether in China or studying overseas. Here are the titles now available:
Ten Principles for a Happy Marriage
Guys and Gals (a guide to relationships)
The Challenge of Singleness
Marriage and Personal Restoration
The Family (for group discussion)
Why not write to the OMF office and order a selection to give to your Chinese friends? We have lots of other suitable evangelistic, apologetic and discipleship training literature in Chinese. Ask for a free catalog!

Correction:
In last month’s GCM, we in-accurately reported that Josh McDowell’s book New Evidence that Demands a Verdict was published in Hong Kong as well as China. CCL colleagues alerted us to the fact that it is published only in Hong Kong. Our apologies to CCL for this mistake.

Copyright 2006 OMF International