🇨🇳 Heroes of Faith: Wang Zhiming, The Pastor Who Defied the Red Guard
The Shepherd Who Would Not Flee
Pastor Wang Zhiming (1907–1973) was a minister of the Gospel among the marginalized Miao people in Wuding, Yunnan, China. His life spans a period of immense upheaval, yet his faith remained an immovable rock against the tides of nationalism, invasion, and finally, the fierce, atheistic persecution of the Communist Cultural Revolution. His heroism lay not in grand battles, but in the simple, physical obedience of remaining faithful to his post and his flock when every earthly instinct demanded flight.
When the Communist Party began its campaign to replace all religious faith with state idolatry, Pastor Wang was pressured to join government-controlled religious bodies and denounce his faith. He refused these compromises, understanding that any union with unrighteousness would be a betrayal of Christ’s singular authority. He continued to preach, teach, and stand as a spiritual patriarch in his region.
The Trial of Unwavering Conviction
His unyielding conviction brought the inevitable wrath of the state. In 1969, he was arrested by the Red Guard. His four years in prison were a period of brutal torture and public humiliation designed to break his will and force a confession that Christianity was a “foreign, imperialist poison.”
He bore the persecution with a spirit that testified to the peace of God, demonstrating the spiritual principle:
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Romans 8:35, KJV)
Pastor Wang’s final act of faith, like that of the early martyrs, was his refusal to deny his Saviour. He was convicted not for any civil crime, but for his uncompromising adherence to the Gospel.
The Ultimate Testimony
On December 29, 1973, Pastor Wang Zhiming was led out for a public execution, reportedly with a plank forced into his mouth to prevent him from shouting the truth of the Gospel to the thousands of people gathered to witness his death.
His execution was intended to terrify the Christian community into submission, yet it had the opposite effect. The unwavering faith of the martyr proved stronger than the entire machinery of the state. His sacrifice became the seed for a massive, rapid expansion of the church in that region of China, transforming fear into zeal.
Pastor Wang Zhiming is a modern hero of faith because he offered the ultimate obedience—his life—to defend the truth of the living God against the greatest political pressure of the age.