Early Faith and Courage
If the apostles and those with them had been afraid of the threats of the Jews, then they would not have dared to preach and teach in Jesus’ name. Where then would the church be today? Wang Ming-Dao, referring to Acts 4:1-31. Wang Ming-Dao became a Christian at age fourteen while attending the London Missionary Society’s primary school. As an outspoken Christian, he remained a thorn in the side of China’s Communist Party from the 1950s through the 1970s.
Founding the Christian Tabernacle
Unwilling to bend his Christian views to the party’s liking, he spent a total of twenty-two years in prison between 1958 and 1980. In the 1920s, Ming-Dao founded a church called the Christian Tabernacle. It was non-denominational and not dependent on foreign funds. He didn’t want any such alliances to influence what the church believed or how its people worshipped. When Japan occupied northern China from 1937 to 1945, it organized a Chinese federation that every church was required to join. Ming-Dao refused, putting his life on the line. The federation threatened him, but he stood nose to nose with the Japanese imperialists. He believed it was wrong to form an alliance that included nonbelievers.
Standing Against Communism
When Chinese Communists attained power in 1949, they instituted a state-sponsored, state-controlled church that Ming-Dao would have nothing to do with. The Party continuously threatened him; he continuously refused to join. In 1955, the Party imprisoned him. During interrogation, Ming-Dao was threatened with torture and execution. After months of such treatment, he was so mentally broken that he confessed to crimes he knew he hadn’t committed and promised to support the party’s state-controlled church upon his release. But after being granted his freedom and regaining his health, he again refused to join.
To be continued…
Date: 30th August 2025
Martyr: Wang Ming-Dao (Part 1)
Location: China (1900-1991)
Source: The Voice of the Martyrs ‘I am n
Author: Not specified
Suffering Saturday 158
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