Pastor Lou & the Encouragement of the Cross

Pastor Lou Yanqui and his family host a house church in Qingshuihe, a town in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. He was arrested on 17 May 2008 on charges of “utilizing superstition to undermine the law,” and on 15 December 2008 he stood trial. The judge ruled that the evidence was insufficient and the case was not clear, and even though the prosecutor asked that the case be dismissed due to “changes in facts and evidence,” Pastor Lou’s case has been sent back to the Public Security Bureau for more investigation and he remains imprisoned. Pastor Lou’s daughter, Lou Tiantian, 18, was beaten by court police when she tried to speak with her father as he was being put into a police car after the trial. She was taken to the hospital where she received medical treatment and then released. Despite Pastor Lou’s imprisonment, his house church, his wife, Wang Wenxiu, and his children continue to meet. When told that Christians around the world were praying for their family, Wang asked friends to pass on this message to the international community: “Please thank them for us because this [imprisonment of Pastor Lou] is God’s best will. It is His promise. It is the grace of the Lord. How could we be worthy of awakening so many brothers and sisters’ prayers for us? The Cross of Jesus encourages us to move forward. I am very joyful and full of gratitude for all of the prayer support. ” It is an amazing testimony in the midst of such trial to say, “It is the grace of the Lord. . . The cross of Jesus encourages us to move forward.” Apart from Christ, often going thru trials have the opposite effect of stopping and halting, even a shrinking away in the face of obstacles. And yet the call of the Lord is to go on, finding in Christ alone the resource to go thru all things in this world. The apostle Paul knew great suffering, yet his stance in this world, was “. . . I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3) Sufferings and troubles and trials in this world press so hard against the soul and apart from Christ are meant for disabling and destroying. And yet in Christ, in union with Christ, is found the power of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. . . that the Lord means life even in the hardest of things. For all the conflict that this world means for the follower of Jesus, there is God’s “but not”. . . “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; stuck down, but not destroyed. . .” (2 Corinthians 4) For everything in this world that is meant for stopping and turning back and turning away, there is in Christ a way forward and a going thru. Paul’s testimony in Philippians 3 is . . . “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. . . that I might gain Christ, and be found in Him. . . that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death...” It is grace to have such a revelation of Christ within that everything that this world views as a way forward is rejected. . . that in going thru this life suffering in this world can be embraced as grace from the Lord. . . something given for our good, even necessary for our growth and a greater measure of the Lord within. To view the cross of Jesus as encouragement. . . that there’s a moving forward by way of the cross. . . is to have come into spiritual riches that this world neither sees or understands or offers. How much life is there in Christ, and a testimony of the Lord Jesus, in those who in view of all the hardness and trouble and suffering, embrace it and bear it and press on. . . not that hard things are merely endured but rather embraced. James wrote, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. . .” Paul wrote in Romans 5, “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings. . .” Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5) May the Spirit give sight and bring revelation and knowledge of the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ. May the cross be a banner that will lead on. . . something embraced and taken up, even to the denying of self and a following of Jesus. May hunger and thirst for righteousness be satisfied on the path of faithfulness that often means hardship and trouble and suffering . . . and life in Christ. Remember Pastor Lou, his wife Wang and their family and church, pray for them. It is the testimony of such as these brothers and sisters that is so needed in the church and to the world. Pastor Lou can be remembered in a tangible way by writing to him in prison. Often prisoners do get the letters and it is an encouragement to press on, that they are not forgotten. Sometimes the outside attention brings about their release. Pastor Lou Yuanqi Huocheng County Detention Center Yili City Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China