Li was a little girl in China, years ago. Through some missionaries, she heard about Jesus and came to trust Him as her Saviour. How happy she was!
But, through no fault of hers, when still a child she had been married to a man who was not a Christian and who was very cruel. Li had to help his mother who also was not a Christian and who made Li work very hard.
The old mother was vexed when she learned that Li was a Christian and beat her when she would not bow down to idols.
Li liked to go to the Sunday morning services at the mission, for which she was given a beating by the cruel mother. Nevertheless, Li still went. Then one Sunday morning the mother hid Li’s shoes, hoping this would keep her from going. But Li went regardless, in her bare feet. The boys laughed at her as she walked along the street, and before she got home her feet were bleeding. But to Li the joy of being with kind friends who cared for her, and of praising the Lord Jesus together, was worth all the suffering and shame.
When she got home she expected the mother to beat her again. But no, the mother thought, “If Jesus means that much to Li, so that she is willing to suffer for Him, He must be worth knowing. Perhaps He really is the Saviour.”
So she asked Li to tell her about the Lord Jesus, which Li was only too glad to do. From then on, things began to change in that home. The Lord worked in the heart of the mother who listened to the stories of Jesus that Li told, and the time came when she trusted Him as her Saviour. Later on, the husband too became a Christian, and now that was a happy Christian family.
ML 04/07/1968