The Heavenly Man (12 page)

The guard felt ashamed for what he’d done to me. The fact that I’d fasted for 74 days without food or water was well known throughout the whole prison and also among every officer in the local Public Security Bureau.

From that time on things got easier for me in prison. The persecution stopped and I was even promoted to be the cell leader.

The birth of Isaac brought hope and joy to my family, and brought sunshine to our lives in the midst of a very dark year.

Every day I taught the new believers in our cell. Righteousness and truth flourished. The men grew daily in grace and knowledge. Some of them testified that when the Holy Spirit convicted them and they repented of their sins, their lives and evil deeds flashed before them as if on a movie screen.

One morning the director of the prison called me to his office. He courteously offered me a cup of tea and asked me to sit on a soft chair. He said, “Yun, I know you believe in Jesus. Today I’ve decided to give you a special assignment.”

I thought he was going to ask me to report on other prisoners, but the director continued, “In cell number nine is a murderer named Huang. Every day he tries to kill himself. He is crazy and tries to bite the other prisoners. We’ve decided to send him to your cell. From now until the day he is executed we want you to watch over him and make sure he doesn’t harm himself or the other prisoners. If you don’t remain alert, and he kills himself, we will hold you fully accountable.”

When I heard this news I immediately felt Huang was a precious soul the Lord had given us to rescue.

I broke the news to my cell mates and everyone was terrified. They didn’t want to receive him. One said, “He is not a man, but a devil.” After everyone had voiced their protests I waited for a moment and calmly said, “Brothers, before we believed in Jesus we were just like him. We too were like demons. But Jesus rescued us all when our souls were about to die. We need to have mercy on this man and treat him as if he was Jesus himself.”

My cell mates realized my words were true, and everyone changed their attitude. They waited for Huang to arrive like people waiting for a long lost friend.

When Huang was brought into our cell the next morning, I thought he was like the man possessed by a legion of demons, in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark. He was handcuffed behind his back and had chains manacled around his ankles. He spoke filthy words and kept trying to mutilate his body by cutting himself with his ankle chains. He was ferocious and full of hatred, and just 22 years old.

Huang couldn’t use his arms or legs, but if another prisoner would get too close to him he would try to bite his ear or nose off. Even though he was tightly bound, Huang jumped up and down until his white anklebones were visible through the skin.

In cell number nine the prisoners had treated him like an animal, kicking and punching him. They’d refused to feed him for days. Instead, they mocked him by deliberately pouring his food over him. His clothes were covered with food stains.

One day, out of sheer desperation and pain, Huang waited until nobody was watching and rammed his head into the wall as hard as he could, in a bid to kill himself. He survived, but left a dent in the wall.

The moment Huang entered our cell he knew something was different. All of us showed him love and sympathy. We welcomed him with open arms, placing his possessions in neat order next to his bed.

For many days he had not washed because of his chains, so he smelled terribly. Because of the love of God in our hearts, we loved Huang. The cell mates pointed to me and told him, “This is Yun. He is our leader and a Christian pastor.” I told him, “Brother Huang, we’ve all been criminals. Do not fear. We will take care of you.”

I encouraged him to sit down and be calm. I asked everyone to give Huang some of their precious drinking water. We filled a basin and I carried it to Huang’s side. I tore off part of my shirt and dipped it in the water. Then I gently cleaned the dirt and dried blood from his face and mouth.

After drying his face I tore off part of my blanket and cleaned the cuts formed by his handcuffs and foot chains. I used a little toothpaste to disinfect his raw wounds, then carefully bandaged them.

Huang didn’t say a word. He just sat there with his eyes wide open and stared at everyone. I knew the Lord was already touching his heart.

At lunchtime we each gave some of our rice to our new cell mate. Then we all said the Lord’s prayer and began to eat. I used a spoon to feed Huang.

After lunch we all softly sang a song I had taught them, based on Matthew 6:25–34,

Then I spoke about the words of Jesus from Matthew chapter six, comparing the difference between our earthly fathers and the Heavenly Father, and emphasizing the value of a human life.

Dinner that evening happened to be the time for our weekly
mantou
. All the brothers looked at me. I knew they were so hungry. I told them, “Today we’ve already shared our rice and water with our new friend Huang, so we can eat our own
mantou
tonight, but I hope you’ll share some of your soup with him tomorrow.”

I fed Huang first and then started to eat my own meal.

When I took the first bite of my
mantou
I felt like crying. A tender voice welled up inside me, saying, “I died for you on the cross. How can you show me that you love me? When I am hungry, thirsty, and in prison, if you do these things to the least of my brethren, you do them unto me.”

Immediately I knew God wanted me to sacrifice what was left of my
mantou
and give it to Huang. I bowed down and wept. I said, “Lord, I’m also starving. I feel so hungry.”

A Scripture from the Bible came to mind,
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” Romans 8:35.

I wrapped the rest of my
mantou
in a handkerchief and placed it inside my clothes, saving it for Huang. Immediately peace and joy returned to me.

The next morning’s breakfast consisted of watery noodle soup, containing just a few strands of noodles. We all shared with Huang, but he wasn’t happy even with his larger portion so he shouted to the guard, “I’m going to die! Why don’t you give me a good sized meal? Are you trying to starve me before you execute me?”

Right then the Lord told me, “Hurry, take the
mantou
from your shirt and feed him.” With my back turned towards Huang I broke the bread and placed the pieces of
mantou
in his soup bowl. Immediately Huang’s stony heart broke. He dropped off his chair, knelt down on the floor, and wept. He said, “Older brother, why do you love me like this? Why didn’t you eat your bread last night? I am a murderer, hated by all men. Even my own parents, my brother and sister, and my fiancé have disowned me. Why do you love me so much? I cannot repay your kindness now, but after I die and become a ghost I’ll come back to your cell and serve you for the good deeds you’ve done.”

I knew this was the time the Lord wanted me to share the gospel with him. I told Huang, “It’s because Jesus loves you that we are treating you nicely. If we didn’t believe in him we would have treated you the same way as the men in cell nine. You should thank God for his Son, Jesus Christ.”

Immediately Huang said, “Lord, I thank you for loving a sinner like me.” This hardened criminal tearfully accepted the love of Jesus into his heart. He was released from his burden of sin.

All the other prisoners were so happy. They realized that only the love of God can give true hope to those bound by sin.

After Huang received God’s salvation the atmosphere in the cell greatly improved. Everyone began to sing together. Huang was so eager to learn all he could. I taught him about Jesus: his life, teachings, suffering, his resurrection and the Second Coming.

I warned Huang, “Suicide is a sin.” When he heard this he fell down and wept, confessing his sin. He asked me to lift up his shirt collar, where he had hidden a small razor blade, intending to use it to kill himself when he got a chance.

Completely broken, Huang shared his story with me. His father was the wealthy manager of a large company and a Communist Party member. After high school, Huang was assigned to a job as a technician in a power plant.

When he was twenty years old Huang was engaged to be married. His fiancée loved him very much, but he was drawn into a local gang. He was quickly led astray. Every day he drank heavily. They looted stores, murdered innocent people and raped women.

One of the gang members was arrested and interrogated. He told the PSB that Huang was also involved. They arrested him. Because of the intervention of his father, the judge was lenient and Huang received a sentence of only three years, even though he was found guilty of murder. On 1 May 1983, Huang’s father paid a large bribe to get him released early from the prison labour camp.

Although he was now “free”, Huang’s life was aimless. He felt there was no reason to live and was deeply depressed. He hooked up with some bad company again. One night he and a friend went out to drink. They said, “Life is so hopeless and insignificant. If we cannot live together, let’s die together.”

The two intoxicated friends made a suicide pact. They decided to steal two bags of dynamite, with eight kilograms
of explosives in each bag, from the storehouse at the power plant where Huang used to work.

They decided to fight each other until one died, and then the survivor would carry the dead man’s body to a large power transformer, where the dynamite would be detonated. The two comrades would die together.

The two started to fight, using metal truncheons. Huang’s shoulder was hurt but he struck the other man’s head, killing him instantly. His friend’s skull split open and his brain spilled out. When he saw this, Huang was terrified and ran away. He didn’t go back to retrieve the dynamite.

Huang knew the authorities would hunt for him so he decided to travel all over China and enjoy the pleasures of a sinful life. When he finished, he planned to return home to see his family one last time, before killing himself.

Huang purchased a sharp knife and robbed shops to finance his journey. He travelled around and raped many young innocent girls. He visited several famous Buddhist temples to worship idols, hoping to find peace in his heart. His foray into sin and lust did not satisfy him and only made his condition worse.

After his travels, he boarded a train taking him home to see his family one last time. He purchased two bottles of sleeping pills in order to take an overdose. His train stopped before his destination, so he jumped off. He didn’t want to return home before dark so he hid in some bushes.

The police saw him and arrested him. In his bag they found the knife he had used to murder and also his suicide letter, which contained a confession to many of the crimes he had committed.

This time there was no way Huang’s father could help him. The final straw that broke Huang’s heart was when his father sent a shirt to the prison for him. On the back of the
shirt was written, “I’m unable to see you now, but I will see you at the execution!”

Now Huang had fully repented and become a new creation in Christ. He loved to sing a song I’d taught him,

Because of his change of heart, we renamed him Huang Enguang (“Grace and Light” Huang).

Even though he knew he would soon die, Huang asked many questions about how he could live out his remaining days to bring the most glory to Jesus.

Usually, if we made too much noise, the guards would punish us cruelly. They made us stick our heads through a small hole at the bottom of the cell door, just large enough for a man to put his head through. The guards would kick us or use their rifle butts to beat our heads. Therefore we always worshipped and prayed very quietly, ensuring there were no guards outside our door. Huang worshipped Jesus so loudly that often the guards came and told him to be quiet, but because of his impending execution they didn’t punish him.

Because Brother Huang had nothing to lose, he sang at the top of his voice all the time. Cell number two became a praise and worship centre! Many of the prisoners in other cells were touched by the words they heard.

Huang asked me to carve a cross into the wall of our cell. The cement was very hard, but we all worked together to
bless our brother. Huang told us if the guards noticed the cross he would take full responsibility. Whenever we were allowed out into the yard we searched for broken glass or old nails that we could use to scratch marks on the wall.

I etched a large cross into the wall. We also drew a picture of the world and wrote the words, “For God so loved the world” horizontally beneath the cross. Huang also asked us to etch out a picture of a grave below the cross, with a gravestone displaying his new name, to show that he belonged to Jesus.

When we had finished, Huang wept and shouted for joy. We continued our drawings until all four walls of the cell were covered with numerous Bible verses, such as “The prodigal has returned,” “In tribulation trust in the Lord,” and
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:23–24.

Strangely, even though the guards saw our “work of art” they never said a word about it. The cross and Bible verses remain in that cell to this day. Hundreds of prisoners have read the words and many have repented and placed their trust in Jesus.