It was the morning of the 19th. With God’s
wonderful guidance, sister Zhao, one of the trainees, got
a chance and escaped out of the room where she was confined.
When the EL people found it out, they immediately sent people
out to intercept her from every direction. But because she
was quite familiar with that area, and of course because God
was shielding her, the EL people failed to find this sister
after a whole day’s searching. Finally she escaped the
hands of the evil ones. When Sister Zhao got home, the EL
people had already been hanging around nearby for a long time,
waiting for her, but they did not dare attack her. Sister
Zhao called the top leaders at once, and told them that all
the other thirty-three coworkers were still confined by the
EL. She told them about how she escaped from the meeting place,
about her three days’ experience during the confinement,
and about how the EL seduced her and made her take drugs.
She asked them to somehow rescue the other arrested coworkers
as soon as possible. Until this point, it had never occurred
to anybody that the teachers from Haggai Institute were all
EL people. Now, knowing that more than thirty coworkers had
all fallen into the evil hands of the terrorist EL, coworkers
just couldn't accept this fact. In no time, the news spread
across the families of the kidnapped. Everyone was filled
with burning anxiety. They were extremely worried about the
lives of their beloved ones, for they knew that the EL was
wicked and cruel. Brothers and sisters in churches everywhere
didn’t know what to do except to pray to God urgently.
They couldn’t send people to look for the kidnapped,
for they didn’t know their specific locations; neither
could they report the case to the authorities, for they were
not sure how the authorities would respond – Christian
house churches had always been regarded as illegal, and had
often been the targets of government persecution. It was such
a dilemma, and they didn’t know who to turn to.
The coworkers recalled what they had been through
since the church was established. Never had so many leaders
been arrested at once, even when house churches were most
severely stricken by the authorities. How can we just let
the EL cult wipe us out with such a simple blow? No! God never
does anything wrong! He will not let His name be insulted!
He would definitely let this seemingly insulting incident
work for His own glory, to fulfill His good purpose.
Thank God, He had kept two of our core coworkers
from going to this training. On April 21st, these two core
coworkers gathered the second-generation coworkers and the
family members of the kidnapped leaders together to discuss
what they would do for the next step. In the meeting they
made decisions on three issues: the first and most important
thing was to report the case to the police for the rescue
of the kidnapped coworkers. Second, they must inform the churches
across the country to beware of the Eastern Lightning’s
taking advantage of the situation and destroying the church.
Third, they must call for fasting and prayer across the church
family to ask God to protect and release the confined coworkers.
All who participated in the meeting bowed down on the ground,
confessing their sins, praying, worshiping and praising Him.
They encouraged each other, keeping each other’s spirits
up to accept and face the reality. The kidnapped people were
scattered in six different provinces. Since we didn’t
know their specific locations, how should we find any clue?
What steps should we take to rescue the kidnapped people?
Everyone felt upset, and the family members’ feelings
were even more indescribable. The coworkers had different
ideas, each one saying different things, yet nobody knowing
what exactly to do. Thinking about the reality, we were filled
with burning anxiety.
Very soon, the news about dozens of CGF coworkers
being kidnapped by the EL spread far and wide. Every coworker
and minister from home and overseas who heard about it was
very concerned for us. They all wanted to know the facts.
Some people lifted up their hands and prayed for us; some
coworkers came and visited us; some called to comfort and
encourage us; some came with support of love. Many people
were concerned about how our fellowship was going to survive
this calamity. However, while we were suffering, some people
took advantage of our suffering, slandering us and condemning
us. They purposely promoted themselves to cheat overseas coworkers.
Just imagine how hurtful this was to our coworkers!
