Editor’s note: This January, we are praying for persecuted Chinese Christians. This is part 2 (see part 1 here!) of an interview with Lu Rongyu, who was recently released from jail after spending more than two years inside. Although he is still under state supervision at home, he is continuing to shepherd his church, love his family, and is seeking to witness to the gospel, even with those who persecute him.
Detention and Probation
China Partnership: Your days in the detention center must have been hard.
Lu Rongyu: Actually, it was better than prison. Many inmates I met had been to prison several times, and they’d rather stay in the detention center – because in prison, you have to work. But, the conditions in the detention center are worse: the food is worse, and it’s not easy if you need to buy anything.
Now [that I’m out of prison], the state controls me – I have five years probation, which means five years under supervision. People like me are supposed to check in every day and report our location when we go out. My phone has a tracking app, which I can’t uninstall. I also can’t turn my phone off.
CP: So all your movements are monitored. Are church gatherings monitored, too?
Lu Rongyu: If I cooperated, then yes. But I told them I wouldn’t cooperate. I told them that, if there was punishment for that, I was willing to accept the punishment. I held that line for about a month, and then they dropped it. I still have to call once a week and meet with them every other week.
Often, when we are in contact with officials, it’s actually a good opportunity to bear witness to the gospel.
[In my city, there are probably three of us facing this kind of monitoring.]
Gospel Witness Under Pressure
CP: How can we pray for these leaders and their families?
Lu Rongyu: Pray for our interactions with officials. Often, when we are in contact with officials, it’s actually a good opportunity to bear witness to the gospel. We do not need to relate to them with anger or hostility.
For instance, I know state security people are the ones who put me inside. But when I see them, I don’t respond with resentment. I talk with them at length, and they ask many questions to understand my situation. I believe that, if we pray for a friendly attitude as we communicate with government officials, we can bring the gospel to them. We want them to see that trusting in Jesus doesn’t make us the kind of “anti-state” people they imagine us to be, thinking we are just doing politics.
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I believe that, if we pray for a friendly attitude as we communicate with government officials, we can bring the gospel to them.
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Pray for our families. We ourselves often face pressure, but in some ways, our families may be the deeper victims. When I talk with the others who are being monitored, I don’t feel any of us are in deep misery. But our families live in the ordinary world. There are places in their hearts that haven’t yet been touched by the gospel – they wrestle with losing face, pain, fear, and so on. Pray for them.
Pray that we can shepherd our churches wisely. After going through these experiences, how can we comfort fearful brothers and sisters? How can we use our experiences to help them live in the gospel? Often we can’t counsel people as well as we’d like, so pray for our shepherding.
Pray for pastors in our area. A pastor in my city told me that what he is most afraid of is church growth, because if the church grows, it will become a target. Pray for pastors to prepare their hearts to take up the cross and follow the Lord. When we’re comfortable, we can develop a mentality of avoiding hardship.
If you can’t work out what the gospel is, then it’s hard for it to help your ministry or bring blessing to your growth. It’s been helpful to rethink what the gospel actually is, and how to view your life, family, church, and environment through the gospel.
Pray for a “Welcoming Heart”
CP: How can we pray for you, your family, and your church as you are under persecution?
Lu Rongyu: Pray that our church members will continue to be public-facing. I often feel that only ministry leaders and elders insist on this, because we believe it’s right. But many ordinary members panic and are afraid. Pray for members to understand why we want to remain public-facing. Of course, we also have to teach and explain this.
Pray that we will have love, forgiveness, and a welcoming heart as we relate to believers who gave false testimony. Sometimes, people reject those Christians. But pray that we will continue to love one another, even taking the initiative to call and invite them.
Many people here carry a constant desire to immigrate so they can escape this predicament. They think going overseas will solve everything. Young people are saving money [to leave] and doing language prep. Some want to send their children out so the children don’t have to endure what we’ve endured. We all face this desire for ourselves or our children to “run.”[1] Pray for people to see God’s calling on them, and to live in this land with greater clarity and joy.
Pray that we will have love, forgiveness, and a welcoming heart as we relate to believers who gave false testimony. Sometimes, people reject those Christians. But pray that we will continue to love one another, even taking the initiative to call and invite them.
Pray that God will continue to use me to faithfully shepherd his church. Pray that, as I preach and serve, I will minister with God’s grace. I don’t want to just expound texts or denounce sin, but learn how to interpret and apply Scripture from a Christ-centered perspective, in this context, in China. That’s hard.
Pray for my family to better offer themselves to the Lord. May their lives be challenged as they face their weaknesses and rely on the Lord for strength.
[1] “Run” philosophy is a pun based on the Chinese word “润学” (pronounced rùnxué). The phrase, which became popular during the pandemic based on its phonetic similarity to the English word “run,” is used to express the desire of many Chinese people to “run” away from their homeland and emigrate to another place.
Lu Rongyu is a pseodonym for a Chinese Christian who recently spent several years in jail due to his faith.
Pray for persecuted Chinese Christians to persevere in holding a welcoming heart toward officials, imperfect Christians, family members, and neighbors.
