John Sung in Zhejiang
John Sung.
Acknowledged as the greatest Chinese evangelist of his generation, John Sung (Chinese name: Song Shangjie) visited Zhejiang several times during his powerful but short ministry, leaving behind a trail of churches and redeemed people who met Jesus Christ and had their sins washed away.
During his visits to Zhejiang, Sung suffered terribly from the illness that would ultimately take his life in 1944 at the age of just 42, but he preached the gospel of repentance with great passion and power, spurning strong criticism from some denominational leaders and missionaries.
A marvelous breakthrough occurred in 1934 at Huzhou, where a man named Chung was the wealthy owner of a textile factory that employed more than 200 workers. He was renowned for his violent temper and debauchery, and was married to three different women.
One day Chung fell sick, and was admitted to the Good News Hospital. John Sung visited the patients that day, but Chung loudly abused the evangelist when he tried to lead him to Christ. A short time later, Chung's daughter was declared insane, but was delivered of demonic oppression after local Christians fervently prayed for her. This miracle deeply affected Chung, and Sung's personal diary recorded what happened to the transformed businessman:
" Chung realized that the gospel was true, so he confessed and repented of his sins. In Huzhu, 54 evangelistic teams were set up and Chung was selected their leader. I advised him to stop work on Sundays at his factory and give a tenth of his income to the Lord. These evangelistic teams witnessed to 20,000-30,000 people. I told them that the more they witnessed, the more filled with the Holy Spirit they would become." 1
In December 1934, Sung visited the city of Jiaxing, where he stayed with the principal of the local high school. The man had been sharply criticized by many in the community for suspending the afternoon classes so that his students could attend the revival meetings. The Holy Spirit moved on the students' hearts, and before long a deep fear of God seized them. Thirteen ink pens were collected from students who had stolen them, while one boy who had received a cash prize for coming top in his class was convicted of the sin of cheating and apologized to the principal.
The meetings were open to the public, and one distraught man came forward and confessed: "My sin is too great. I set fire to the living quarters of someone I hated, and 72 people died." 2 John Sung assured the man that if he genuinely repented of his sins and surrendered his life to Jesus Christ, God would forgive him. He wasted no time in doing so.
The students had heard about the many miracles that accompanied Sung's ministry in other parts of China, and they desired to see God's power firsthand. Sung hadn't planned to hold a healing service in Jiaxing, but the evangelist's diary recorded:
"Miracles happened anyway. One 37-year-old beggar had 10 stiff fingers that couldn't bend. After he confessed his sins and prayed, the Lord healed him so he didn't have to beg anymore. A soldier who had been lame in the leg for four months could walk after being prayed for....
I went to Jiangyin to hold meetings. The girl students from a Junior High School were especially responsive, with 204 of them repenting. In the message I called on the youth to dedicate themselves to God's service." 3
John Sung's preaching style was often fierce and abrasive, and he didn't hesitate to rebuke other ministers of the gospel when necessary. At times, however, the Lord showed His servant that he had gone too far, and Sung was capable of applying balm to those whose conscience had been wounded by the sword of the Spirit. When Sung visited Hangzhou in May 1937, he noted:
"This time I did not upbraid the church leaders, but instead I exhorted and advised with love. Sure enough, Westerners and Little Flock members gladly met together in one place. 691 people received salvation, and 222 patients were prayed for. The deaf heard, the blind saw, hemorrhages were stopped, and the violently demented were pacified." 4
In 1938 John Sung returned to Zhejiang, but just after he crossed the Song River, the railwaybridge was blown up by Japanese soldiers and there was no way to proceed by train. He finally reached Hangzhou by other means after much effort, covered in coal dust and badly sunburned. Despite air-raid sirens wailing all night, Sung was so exhausted that he slept soundly.
On August 25 he arrived in Wenzhou, and as soon as the local church leaders knew he had made it, the first meeting was arranged for that afternoon. About 2,000 traumatized people attended, and many were saved and healed of their diseases. Sung then moved on to the city of Wenling in Taizhou Prefecture, where he wrote:
"Originally 3,000-4,000 had planned to attend, and room and board had been prepared for 600 delegates from various areas, but because of the dangerous circumstances and the threat of bombings only 100-200 came to the first meeting. Only a tenth of them could read the Bible....
After my urgent pleas to the Lord for help, the attendance increased daily, and I was able to help 572 persons to confess their sins and pray for salvation and the true spiritual gifts." 5
Footnotes:
1. Stephen L. Sheng, The Diaries of John Sung: An Autobiography (Singapore: self-published, 1995), p. 34.
2. Sheng The Diaries of John Sung, p. 44.
3. Sheng The Diaries of John Sung, pp. 68-9.
4. Sheng The Diaries of John Sung, pp. 115-6.
5. Sheng The Diaries of John Sung, p. 121.
© This article is an extract from Paul Hattaway's book 'Zhejiang: The Jerusalem of China'. You can order this or any of The China Chronicles books and e-books from our online bookstore.
