Meeting a Hero

This evening I met and shook hands with one of my heroes. His name is Shi Weihan, better known as John Stone.

John Stone was a pastor and a successful businessman in China who was very much involved in translating and printing Bibles and Christian books in his country. He spent three years in prison, where he was tortured and suffered all kinds of hardships, for printing and distributing materials not sanction by the Chinese government.

I actually have not heard of Pastor John until today, so I am very thankful that we got invited to this event at a missionary couple’s home. (We showed up not knowing what to expect and were surprised to see so many in attendance, some missionaries, even our head pastor and his wife.) I feel extremely blessed to meet John’s family and hear his most powerful, poignant testimony. My husband and I were deeply moved beyond words, and this man’s story has forcefully impacted me, to say the least. You just have to read his story.

We took home a Christ for the Nations newsletter from the meeting and I am just glad to find this copy of the newsletter online so I could share it with you. John Stone’s story is on pages 7-9.

Tonight I got reminded of how Jesus loves China. How God works in situations for His glory, for the good of those who love Him, for those who are called according to His purpose. He is working day and night in China. John’s eleven-year-old daughter, Grace, is a testament of that and I am delighted to meet her in person also. The circumstances of her birth, of her being a US citizen, of her being a second child, SECOND daughter to be exact, in a Chinese family in a country where only one child is allowed- all that are an awesome testimony that God is in control! John’s story also reminded me of Joseph’s, how even in captivity God was able to use him and prosper the works of his hands. Even in prison, John was salt and light. God mightily worked through him in the lives of the prisoners with him- to set them free from spiritual bondage, so that they are FREE indeed.

I love divine connections. Meeting present day heroes for the sake of the Gospel. Hearing their stories and the amazing things God does in their lives and the lives of others through them. And now God is bringing the persecuted in our very midst. We are in the brink of something BIG… I am glad to be in the middle of it.

I couldn’t have thought of a better way to spend this rainy Saturday evening. It truly is a night to remember.