In the Face of Persecution, What Will I Do? (Part II)
Pastor Wang Yi Shares His Pre-Arrest Resolutions (4-6)
The original article was first posted on Wang Yi’s personal blog in October 2018. I will be working through Wang Yi’s 14 “Resolutions” in four installments both here on the China Call Substack (with less commentary) and on the China Compass Podcast (with more commentary). Please continue to earnestly pray for Wang Yi and the other brothers and sisters in Chengdu.
Go back and begin with the First Installment if you’d like to re-read Wang Yi’s Introduction to these Resolutions. My thoughts can be found below each point below.
4. Not Signing
I will not sign any document of administrative decision sent by the Religious Affairs Bureau, nor will I sign any documents by any other government agencies partnering to persecute the church.
Similarly, I will not sign any police transcripts or any other document when I am interrogated on matters related to faith and church.
— The purpose of this resolution is not to admit or give any credence or authority to the so-called “Ministry of Religious Affairs”, since such ministry has no real authority over the church and its ministers (matters of faith and church).
5. No Confession
With the exception of sharing the gospel, I will not accept or answer any question related to the church and faith from the administrative investigation by theReligious Affairs Bureau.
Except for providing my personal information and sharing the gospel, I will not answer any questions the police ask or interrogate me with regarding my faith and the church, and I will not provide any documentary evidence that the administration and law enforcement could use to convict my faith and the church, unless the police torture me brutally to the point of crushing my health and spirit.
— This is very similar to the #3, with the diffence being he is here referring to verbal vs written confessions/interrogations. But note his caveat at the end: unless I am tortured brutally to the point where my spirit is crushed. He hopes and prays that this doesn’t happen, but he is not so prideful as to assume he is strong enough to withstand.
6. Request to Read the Bible
From the day the coercive measures are taken, I will request the freedom to obtain and read the Bible during my break from inquiry and interrogation.
If I cannot acquire or am forbidden to read the Bible, I will disobey in a peaceful manner and will not cooperate with the police’s inquiry and questioning, either until I acquire the Bible or until the police torture me brutally to the point of crushing my health and spirit.
— All three of today’s resolutions go above and beyond what most Chinese Christians are willing and able to endure. To be fair, most do not see the purpose behind such rigid resolutions. Even I did not, during my interrogation and deportation. At least not to this extreme. However, I agree with and am challenged by Wang Yi’s determination to take the offensive and demand God’s Word be provided before any further conversations could be had.
Feel free to skip ahead and read all 14 of Wang Yi’s decisions/resolutions here:
https://chinapartnership.org/blog/2018/12/in-the-face-of-persecution-what-will-i-do/