The Legacy of Pastor Lucky

I first met Pastor Ji ("Lucky") in Macau in 2003. I miss him dearly. This detailed obituary was written by a Chinese friend of Pastor Lucky, after his death from stomach cancer in 2007. It has been quickly translated into English with the help of Mr. Google Translate.

On January 20, 2007, Pastor Ji Zhaoqi of Macau Faith, Hope and Love Church passed away in Hong Kong due to illness and went to heaven. When I heard the news, I burst into tears. Although I had not known Pastor Ji for a long time, he helped and cultivated my faith life a lot. He was my mentor, good friend and spiritual father. I still don't want to believe that he has really left us. His words, deeds, voice and smile often appear in front of my eyes, as if everything happened yesterday.

1. Salvation and Calling

Pastor Ji was not born in a traditional Christian family. He was the first in his family to believe in the Lord and be saved, and his salvation and calling are full of legends.

Pastor Ji Zhaoqi was born in Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China in 1927 and spent his childhood in Xuzhou. Xuzhou is located at the intersection of Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan and Anhui provinces. It has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. The famous "Battle of Taierzhuang" in the history of the War of Resistance Against Japan and the "Battle of Huaihai" during the Kuomintang-Communist Civil War both took place nearby. Therefore, during the Anti-Japanese War, Pastor Ji and his family moved to Jiangxi to avoid the war. Shortly after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party broke out. After eight years of fighting, the Nationalist government, which was exhausted, was "a spent bow and arrow, and its momentum could not penetrate the silk cloth of Lu", and it quickly collapsed in front of the Communist Party's army supported by the Soviet Union. Pastor Ji was born in a farming and reading family. In the eyes of the Communist Party, he was a landlord class and was an object of repression, so the whole family embarked on the road of escape again. (His uncle did not have time to leave. During the "land reform", the land was confiscated and the people were executed.)

All their property was sold for a total of 200 taels of gold. The four people (father, mother, him and his sister) each took 50 taels and agreed to meet in Hong Kong if they were separated. Sure enough, the whole family was soon separated. Pastor Ji mixed in the refugee tide alone, and retreated with the Nationalist government's army all the way until he was captured by the People's Liberation Army in Guangxi. When registering, Pastor Ji lied that he was a Hong Konger and went to the mainland to do business, although he could not speak a word of Hong Kong dialect. (When he talked about this to me, he said, "I had not yet believed in the Lord, and lying was as easy as drinking water.") But the CCP was not stupid. All those who claimed to be Hong Kong people were escorted to a detention camp near Guangzhou for background checks. Fearing that the gold would be confiscated, Pastor Ji buried it under a large banyan tree near the detention camp, and deliberately sprinkled some dog feces and human feces on his face to prevent it from being discovered. From then on, "where the treasure is, there is the heart." Whether it was political studies during the day, learning to sing revolutionary songs, or sleeping at night, Pastor Ji's heart was always thinking about the gold under the banyan tree, tossing and turning, and the days were like years. He also knew that the investigation would eventually end, and if he was deported to his hometown at that time, it would be dangerous. There was a PLA platoon leader in the detention camp. He was from Shandong. Pastor Ji had a hometown relationship with him (Xuzhou is close to Shandong, and the CCP had already investigated that 90% of the refugees who claimed to be Hong Kong people were fake). He often "bribed" him with cigarettes. One day, he privately told Pastor Ji that they would be repatriated to their hometown in a few days. Although this news was within his expectations, it was still a bolt from the blue. When he was worried, a fellow prisoner came to Pastor Ji and said, "Our identities have all been investigated and we will be repatriated soon. I have found a way to escape to Hong Kong. The boss said that he would give 2 taels of gold per person, but all my money was confiscated. Now I am penniless. I know you have money, you pay for me, and I will take you to escape." Although Pastor Ji did not dare to believe him at the time, because no one dared to trust anyone in the detention camp (often people would report to the guards as meritorious service after speaking a few words to others), he was forced by the situation and could only try his luck. Through the relationship of the PLA platoon leader, Pastor Ji used an excuse to sneak out of the camp, dug out gold, paid a bribe, and fled to Hong Kong with the refugee.

At that time, Hong Kong was in chaos due to the influx of refugees from the mainland, the population exploded, and there was chaos. When Pastor Ji first arrived, he had no relatives and did not understand Cantonese. He had nothing to do during the day and slept on the streets at night. His relatives were separated and his future was bleak. He was in his early twenties and couldn't help crying every time he thought about it. Later, the Hong Kong government arranged for them to live in the refugee camp, and several local churches often went to the refugee camp to distribute food, daily necessities and gospel tracts. At this time, Pastor Ji had the opportunity to really come into contact with a little Christian faith. But the stubborn nature of man made him resist the gospel in his heart, just as "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not comprehended it" (John 1:5). Every time the brothers and sisters in the church came to distribute things, he always left the food and supplies, and threw the gospel tracts into the trash without even looking at them. However, God loved him and chose him and used him at this time. A Christian middle school in Hong Kong was recruiting physical education teachers. Pastor Ji, who had loved sports since childhood and was good at basketball, signed up for the job. At that time, dozens of people were competing for a position, and they all filled in their academic qualifications very high, with college graduates. Pastor Ji only attended the Central Political University for one year before he became a refugee, so he filled in that he graduated from high school. During the interview, the principal asked: "Why do others of the same age as you have college degrees, but you only graduated from high school?" He answered truthfully. That afternoon, he received a notice that he was admitted by the school.

With a job, you have a good income, but the bad thing is that this is a middle school with a Christian background. Almost all the faculty and staff are Christians, and most of the students are believers. In addition to normal teaching, there are frequent spiritual exercises, prayers, gatherings, sharing, Bible study, and singing, which was really annoying for Pastor Ji at the time. But in order not to make himself an outlier and avoid being entangled by those who are enthusiastic about preaching the gospel, Pastor Ji had to "believe in the Lord by force." But he didn't expect that believing in the Lord would be more troublesome. He had to go to every gathering, Bible study, prayer, etc., so he had to bite the bullet to participate, but he would fall asleep when the pastor preached, and read novels when others prayed, and never read the Bible. At one gathering, the pastor was speaking about Genesis on the stage, and he actually looked for it in the New Testament.

There were several old sisters in the church who were very concerned about him, worried about his spiritual condition, and prayed. Pastor Ji did not buy it at the time, but was annoyed by them, especially a lady named Xia, because she often mentioned Pastor Ji's name in prayer, saying: "God, please have mercy on Brother Ji, he has not been truly saved, he follows you to eat bread and be full!" It made him very embarrassed. One day at noon, an old sister invited Pastor Ji to her house for dinner in the evening, and Pastor Ji went. When he arrived, he found that there were several other sisters who often prayed for him. Mrs. Xia was also there. She wanted to leave but felt bad, so she had to stay reluctantly.

After dinner, everyone took turns to pray for him. Each of them knelt before God and prayed with tears: "God, please forgive our sins! Because we don't have a good testimony of life and don't live out the image of Christ, Brother Ji has not been saved until now." Pastor Ji thought to himself, what does it have to do with them whether I am saved or not? They are so sad and crying. Suddenly, a warm current surged from his heart, as if he had been electrocuted, causing him to tremble all over, unable to restrain himself, and tears welled up in his eyes. He felt that the whole room was filled with white light, and he could not see anything. All the sins and transgressions from childhood to adulthood were like a movie, unfolding before his eyes one by one, even the scene of swimming to the vegetable garden on the other side of the river at night to steal radishes and leeks when he was a child was clearly seen. "I am a sinner, I want to confess and repent!" He prayed loudly, confessing and repenting. At this time, in a vision, he heard a voice saying to him: "Ji Zhaoqi, I have forgiven you. Come and follow me!" That day, Pastor Ji was truly saved and reborn. From then on, he completely changed. He read the Bible, prayed, sang hymns and praised every day, and his enthusiasm for preaching the gospel was unstoppable. He distributed flyers everywhere and preached the gospel to everyone he met. Not long after, he decided to devote his life to being a servant of God.

The church recommended Pastor Ji to study theology, and a theological college in Hong Kong also accepted him. But at this time he had to leave Hong Kong, because Pastor Ji's family's application to settle in Taiwan was approved (his parents and sister also came to Hong Kong within two years after going through untold hardships). After Pastor Ji arrived in Taipei, he received a notice from the Central Political University (renamed National Political University after moving to Taiwan) that he had been reinstated as a student and was required to continue his studies. So he registered at the National Political University and continued his studies. At that time, the president of the National Political University was Chiang Ching-kuo, who specialized in training elites for the party and the country. From the perspective of the world, the students of the school undoubtedly had a bright future. However, the determination to be called by God and to devote his life to being the Lord's servant not only did not disappear, but was strengthened day by day, which always tormented him and made him have no peace and joy. At this time, a theological seminary in Taiwan sent him an application form for admission. He ignored the opposition of his family and the retention of teachers and students, and did not hesitate to go through the withdrawal procedures of the National Political University, embarking on the road of dedicating his life to the cross.

Decades later, his classmates at the National Chengchi University, many of whom had become lieutenant generals and major generals in the National Army, all sighed when they chatted with him and looked back on the past: "You chose the right path! Although we are rich and powerful, and look glamorous, we live too hard. Every day we are either calculating others or guarding against being calculated by others. In the end, it's all in vain!" After graduation, Pastor Ji served in Taipei, Chiayi and other places, and later went to Hong Kong, South Korea, and the United States to pastor. For more than half a century, his footprints have almost covered Chinese churches in Europe, America, and Southeast Asia. In his later years, he settled in Macau and founded the Macau Faith, Hope, and Love Church, which specializes in preaching the gospel to mainland workers and supports a large number of preachers in house churches in mainland China. Pastor Ji has been on the road to heaven all his life until his last breath.

2. Love for China

Pastor Ji has been obsessed with China all his life. No matter where he serves, he always has an unsolvable Chinese complex. When China just opened up in the early 1980s, he went to mainland China to preach the gospel to his own flesh and blood, build churches, and train preachers.

In early 2006, Pastor Ji was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 79, and his health was getting worse. Every time I went to Macau to see him, he was always full of peace and joy, and kept asking about the church's ministry and the brothers and sisters, especially whether I had any financial difficulties after leaving the unit, whether my relationship with my wife was affected, etc., as if it was not him who was sick but us. Once he invited me to dinner and ordered a lot of dishes, but his esophageal cancer made it very difficult for him to swallow, and he could only eat two bites and couldn't eat anymore. I felt sad when I saw this scene, but he said, "It's okay. If you can't finish it, pack it up and take it back to the brothers and sisters in the church as a midnight snack." Then he hummed a song we often sang during gatherings: "Who else can I have in heaven except you? I have no attachment to anything else on earth except you. Who else can wipe my tears apart from you? Who else can bring me comfort apart from you? Although my flesh and my heart are gradually declining, God is the strength of my heart and my blessing forever!" Tears flowed down my cheeks, but Pastor Ji patted my shoulder and said, "We believers in the Lord have an advantage. Although we don't know what the road ahead will be like, we know that the Lord is with us every step of the way. I don't know how long I can live, but I know clearly where I will end up."

3. The Lord is the source of supply

Pastor Ji often reminds us, especially young preachers, to see through money and to firmly believe in and rely on God's supply. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." He himself has practiced, fulfilled and witnessed this promise throughout his life. He often said that preachers are servants of Jehovah and royal priests. They should "open their mouths to God all their lives and never stretch their hands to others." Jehovah our God will surely have a wonderful provision.

Once, Pastor Ji and several co-workers went to the rural areas of northern Shaanxi to train preachers. For the sake of confidentiality, they stipulated that all students must not leave the cave where they gathered during the training period. They had to eat and live in it for seven consecutive days. On the 6th day, a sister in her 60s insisted on going home, saying that she had something important to do, so she had to go. The next day, she brought a clay pot of chicken soup to Pastor Ji and his friends, saying, "We are poor here. We only eat vegetables and steamed bread every day. You come from a long way, and I want to give you some nourishment." Under the insistence of this sister and everyone else, Pastor Ji and his friends obeyed respectfully. After drinking, I asked about the situation of this sister. Others said she was a widow. Pastor Ji asked again: "How does she make a living?" They said she raised five old hens and usually made a living by selling eggs at the market. Pastor Ji was deeply moved by this, and felt guilty for eating up 1/5 of someone's property in one meal, so he gave all the cash he brought with him to this old sister and the church (because he had bought a round-trip ticket when he left Hong Kong). However, before boarding the plane in Xi'an to return to Hong Kong, he found that he had forgotten to leave money for the airport construction fee (90 yuan per person, a total of 360 yuan for 4 people). The flight was about to take off, but they could not board the plane. Everyone was very anxious, and it was inevitable that some people complained about Pastor Ji. Pastor Ji asked everyone to pray together, saying that since God has led us to the mainland for training, and we are also faithful and obedient, and work hard, God will definitely not abandon us! After the prayer, they saw a foreign tour group just got off the plane. Pastor Ji was suddenly moved, so he went up to an elderly white woman and said to her, "I am a pastor. We came to the mainland to conduct disciple training. Now we have to return to Hong Kong, but we don't have enough money to pay for the airport construction fee. Can you lend us 360 yuan and leave your address? We will definitely return it in full after returning to Hong Kong." Then he showed her his passport, Bible, etc. After reading them, the old lady took Pastor Ji's hand and said, "Thank God, praise the Lord! I am also a Christian. For many years, I have been praying for mainland China, asking the Lord to open the door of the gospel and send more missionaries to China. Today I see that God finally heard my prayer and let me have a share in your ministry!" She immediately took out 400 yuan and gave it to Pastor Ji, and refused to leave her name and address no matter what, saying that this was a gift dedicated to God. When Pastor Ji talked to me about this, tears welled up in his eyes. He said, "It's not easy for you young people to dedicate yourself to being preachers, but the road of the cross is not easy to walk. No matter what difficulties you encounter in the future, please remember that our God is the God of Jehovah Jireh. Look to God for provision in any situation."

One day, Pastor Ji went to Hong Kong for work and met an old sister on the street. More than a month later, this sister came to Macau to find Pastor Ji and said she wanted to visit his newly founded church. At that time, the Macau Faith, Hope and Love Church was just starting out and did not have a fixed gathering place. It temporarily borrowed someone else's carport for repairs and would use it after the other party finished work. The church's entire property was just a few dozen small benches. When this sister saw that Pastor Ji was preaching the gospel to mainland workers in Macau under such simple conditions, she was deeply moved and asked, "How much does it cost to buy a house in Macau to open a church?" Pastor Ji thought she was just asking casually, so he said it would cost about 1 million Hong Kong dollars. Then she asked Pastor Ji to take her to see a house before returning to Hong Kong. A few days later, Pastor Ji received a check for more than 1 million Hong Kong dollars from this sister, saying that it was donated to him to buy a house and run a church. Pastor Ji was so moved that he shed tears.

In his later years, Pastor Ji had difficulty going to the mainland due to health reasons. After repeated prayers, Pastor Ji had an idea: to compile all his life's sermons into CDs and give them to mainland house churches for free. This may have a better impact and effect than going to the mainland in person. However, in addition to technical difficulties, the biggest difficulty is where to get the funds? Pastor Ji took the first step with faith. Miraculously, God's supply has been abundant and uninterrupted in the past few years. As of 2006, when I left mainland China, Pastor Ji told me that the huge amount of money spent on the production and donation of CDs was all donated by brothers and sisters in the Lord. Hallelujah!

4. Don't go back

I met Pastor Ji in the spring of 2004 when I attended a discipleship training class organized by American Baptist missionaries in Macau. Since then, we have become close friends regardless of age. At the end of 2004, I was expelled by the authorities for preaching the gospel to students on the university campus. After that, I became a full-time preacher in a house church. Preachers in mainland house churches do not have any fixed income. Fortunately, my wife is a doctor and her income can support the whole family. But in the summer of 2005, the state-owned hospital where she worked suddenly did not renew her contract, and our family's source of income was completely cut off. Although there were still savings from the past, life would not fall into trouble immediately, but the psychological pressure was greater than the actual difficulties. Soon, there was another incident where the National Security Bureau and the Religious Affairs Bureau entered the university campus and forcibly disbanded the student fellowship and arrested the students in the fellowship. Although I was not at the scene that day for some reason, and everyone was released in the end, the news became more and more intense, and I was under pressure from all sides. In addition, my application for a visa to study theology in the United States was rejected many times, and my determination to become a preacher began to waver. At this time, an old classmate of mine came to me from Shenzhen and said that a company needed an advertising manager. I had worked in the advertising industry for 6 years before, and they hoped that I would take the position. The income was said to be quite good. I prayed to God, "Lord, I have followed you to such an extent. I lost my job for you, and I have no complaints, but you can't let my wife lose her job too! How will our family live? I want to go to the United States for further studies, but you won't open a way for me. Now I have to go to Shenzhen to work. From now on, let me be a part-time preacher who makes tents."

Before leaving, I went to Macau to say goodbye to Pastor Ji. After listening to my stuttering statement, he said to me, "You do have your difficulties, but which preacher has not encountered difficulties on the road of ministry? Please remember that God's grace is always sufficient for us!" Later, he became more and more excited, "God called you to go from part-time to full-time ministry to move forward, and you are going to Shenzhen now to go back. I tell you: preaching and changing careers will surely lead to destruction!" Then he took my hand and asked me to kneel down with him to pray to God. At that time, Pastor Ji was nearly 80 years old, and his legs and feet were already very inconvenient, but he still knelt down and prayed with me. I repented and confessed my sins to God in tears, and I was determined to walk the path of the cross for the rest of my life no matter what difficulties I encountered in the future. Before leaving, Pastor Ji forced me to pay for 1,000 RMB and encouraged me to apply for a visa at the American Consulate in Guangzhou. He also donated the fees for the visa applications several times afterwards.

After coming to the United States, Pastor Ji still cared about my study, life, and internship. Before he died, he entrusted a Pastor Xu from the American Missionary Society, hoping that he could give me appropriate help when I encountered difficulties. I did encounter some difficulties in my study and life in the United States, and the road ahead will not be smooth, but every time I think of Pastor Ji's earnest teachings, I have added strength to overcome difficulties. What I ask before God is that God may move Pastor Ji's spirit to move me even more.

*Chen Yahan is from mainland China and is currently studying theology in California. Here is the original post in Chinese: https://web.cclife.org/View/Article/964