Deborah's testimony
Deborah has visited 20 of the 30 provinces in China as a missionary. We had a chance to talk with her to hear her story. We share it with you here. I became a Christian when I was 14 years old. Before that, I was just mocking and making fun of Christianity. After I was saved, Jesus opened doors for me to testify and lead many people to him. We were extremely poor and couldn’t afford to take the bus, so we walked many miles every day., Along the way, we told everyone we met, ‘Jesus loves you. You must believe in him or you will go to hell.’ People listened to us, and the spirit of God was present, so many repented.
I had not learnt how to preach at that time, so I could just say those few words that I knew and understood. When I was 16 years old, I had become famous enough for the police to look for me. They spread posters with my picture on it on walls and trees where it said ‘this girl is mad. She is wanted by the police’.
One day I was in a meeting with over 70 other Christians. More than ten police officers came and arrested all of us. We were brought to the police station and I was placed in a small prison cell with many others. In Chinese prison cells there is absolutely nothing. Only the floor made of dirt. And some blood on the floor and the walls. There was nothing to sleep on, other than the floor, and they had painted lines to indicate the area each of us were to sleep inside – about 50 centimetres wide. We had nothing to eat for three days, and on that third day the police came and asked who our leader was. Everyone pointed at me. I confirmed and said that I was the leader. After this, all but three of us was released, and the three of us still under arrest were brought to a bigger prison.
After being moved to this new prison, I was placed in a prison cell with a dozen of prostituted girls. The conditions there were horrible. For two months I could not brush my teeth, because we weren’t given any toothbrush or any toothpaste. We didn’t get any kind of drying paper either, which makes it really hard for girls. All the clothes were used by anyone and everyone. Even our underwear was shared among us. But God kept his hand over me. Many of these prostitutes were seriously ill. One of them was about to lose her life, most likely to AIDS. She had been a prostitute since she was thirteen, and really had a bad mouth. She used to inform the police whenever I bowed my head to pray, so that they would come and beat me.
One of the times they were really mad. Two policemen screamed at me and asked me who had commissioned me to go and preach the gospel. I told them that it was God. ‘We are communists’ they said ‘and it is the communists that are god in this country. Are you planning to preach to us as well?’ he asked. I answered him: ‘Yes I am planning to tell you that if you don’t repent you will go to hell’. He was furious. He told me my life was like an ant on the ground.
They made me kneel on the ground, which was full of small stones and pieces of glass. They forced me to keep my arms straight forward, and they kept mocking me all the time, asking why God didn’t save me if he was real. Eventually, when I got tired and my arms fell, they would beat my face, every time. In the end I almost fainted, and I told the Lord: ‘Your daughter is weak, show me your glory’. Suddenly, it was as if I could see two angels entering the room, and they took place one on each side of me to hold my arms up. My face was white from the pain and tiredness, but now my face suddenly turned warm and red. Both of the officers got scared and called for help to get me back to my cell.
The 17 years old girl who used to sell me out when I was praying, was very curious when I came back why they had beaten me. I told her it was because I believed in Jesus. She asked me ‘If Jesus really is real, can he help me too?’ Yes, I answered, and I laid my hands on her and prayed for her. She started shaking, and she shouted, ‘electricity is moving through my body!’ Moments later she said, ‘now I can feel that I’m well!’ She was jumping around, celebrating. When she talked to other prostitutes, she told them that they had to believe in Jesus, and they had to let Deborah pray for them! She became somewhat of an evangelist herself, and many times we sang together and worshipped the Lord. Many of the other prostitutes also became Christians. God was able to turn this situation into salvation for many lost girls.
In China they cannot legally imprison children. Since you are considered a child until the age of 18, I was released after some weeks. I was given one month to write a letter stating that I was misled by believing in these things and admit that it was superstition. That never happened, what happened however was that I was taken into custody by the police several times.”