By Kemu, South Korea
Deceived by CCP Lies I Stand in the Way of My Wife’s Faith
“I’m telling you one more time—don’t keep talking to me about that God stuff, and you’re not allowed to have anything to do with those religious people anymore. If I see that you’ve been in touch with them again, I’ll smash your phone to pieces!”
“Why? Why are you standing in the way of my faith?” My wife asked me this, her face full of confusion.
“Why?! It’s for your own good and the good of our family. Don’t you know that the CCP is seriously cracking down on and suppressing The Church of Almighty God? Don’t you know about the May 28 Zhaoyuan Case in 2014? It says online that Zhang Lidong, the main offender in the case, was a member of The Church of Almighty God. If you hang out with those people aren’t you just putting yourself into the lion’s mouth?”
She responded resolutely, “Zhang Lidong and those others weren’t with The Church of Almighty God—you just can’t believe that stuff they say online. I’ve been in contact with brothers and sisters from The Church of Almighty God for two or three months and what I’ve seen is that they’re all upstanding people who are kind and sincere toward others. They help each other out whenever anyone has difficulties. It’s not like what they say online at all.”
I was incensed and remained unconvinced. “Go online and see for yourself, then you’ll know whether I’m right or not.”
My wife then led me over to a seat and said, “You’re the sort of person who thinks things through. You have to approach this reasonably and speak according to the facts—you can’t just listen to one side of the story! Every major media outlet in China is just a mouthpiece for the CCP; they’re just tools for the Party to deceive the people. What kind of credibility do their reports have? Don’t you remember the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989? The students in Tiananmen Square were protesting against corruption and advocating for democratic freedoms, but the CCP sought out some unknown people and had them infiltrate the students’ ranks, then had them start to hit, smash, loot, burn, and overturn military vehicles. They created a lot of chaos, and then they planted those crimes onto the students. After that the CCP used media like TV and radio to flood the airwaves with their reports, slandering those students as counterrevolutionary rioters, and then pulverized thousands of living and breathing students with their tanks. Anyone who knows about the history of the CCP knows that they’ve always struck down righteousness, that they don’t tolerate the existence of any groups or individuals that have different political views or opinions. In order to achieve a dictatorship they’ve always struck down and condemned those groups or people, even suppressing them or wiping them out. Every time the CCP has violently suppressed a religious faith, a movement for democratic rights, or ethnic minority protests, they first start by fabricating false cases, and then they create a huge public outcry, stirring up the people, and then they violently suppress them. That’s a fact. The May 28 Zhaoyuan Case is also the CCP framing The Church of Almighty God—they carefully concocted yet another false case.”
I couldn’t refute what she had said at all, and thought to myself, “She’s known some of the family members of victims of the Tiananmen Square protests and knows the inside story. Everything she’s said is true. But still, even if that Zhaoyuan incident has nothing to do with The Church of Almighty God, I’ve never been in contact with their members and I don’t know what sort of church it is. We live in such a troubled world now—what if she’s conned?” So, I told her again that she wasn’t allowed to have contact with anyone from The Church of Almighty God, slamming the door on my way out and leaving her there in tears.
It was a particularly dark night with no moonlight and no stars. I felt really awful as I walked along the road. I thought of our ten years of marriage—from meeting, to falling in love, to getting married, we had been through a lot, but no matter what we faced we had talked things through and supported each other. We’d never had any huge battles. Yet, I had just really laid into her for her faith—I felt I shouldn’t treat her that way. But then again, it said online that The Church of Almighty God is no good, so not letting her practice her faith was better for her. Why couldn’t she understand me? At that moment I felt incredibly tired and irritated. I got out my phone and a wonderful photo of our happy family flashed in front of my eyes—our daughter’s sweet smile momentarily dissolved my feeling of fatigue. I thought of how I’m the backbone of the family and that preventing my wife from practicing her faith was protecting her and was for the good of our family, so I had to hold firm to my stance.
Over the period of time that followed, I was afraid of damaging my wife’s feelings for me and thus didn’t dare start any major conflicts, so I just told her not to talk about anything having to do with God. Even though we seemed to get along normally on the surface, there was already a chasm opening up between us.
The Church of Almighty God’s Incredible Dance and Song Video Arouses My Curiosity
One day just as I had walked in the door after getting off work I heard the sound of cheerful music wafting out from the bedroom, plus bursts of happy laughter from my wife and daughter. Curiously, I thought, “Hm? I haven’t heard such a joyful sound at home in so long. Ever since my wife came to South Korea, she’s never really gotten used to the environment here because it’s a different lifestyle and language. In particular, she left behind her elderly mother and a job that she loved, and she doesn’t have any relatives or friends by her side—she often sits alone and cries. I’ve seen my her looking pained and upset but have never known how to comfort her, so what kind of song could be bringing her so much happiness now?” I very quietly opened the door and saw a dance and song video produced by The Church of Almighty God, “The True Love of God.” Six young women were joyfully dancing and singing with such feeling, and their faces brimming with such joyful smiles were particularly moving. I was immediately drawn in. I was full of curiosity, thinking, “What sort of church is this, and what kind of group of people is this? Why is it that their songs and dances are so infectious and so soothing? If they really were bad people, how could they have such kind, genuine smiles?”
Seeing me, my daughter said happily, “Dad, isn’t this a nice song? Mom and I really like it. Sing and dance with us!” I picked her up in an embrace and kissed her little face, then said indulgently, “Sweetheart, I like energetic, powerful songs and dances.” She shook her head and thought for a moment. “Dad, you like tap dancing, right? Mom, put on that really exciting song for him.” I couldn’t bear to interrupt her—I figured I’d watch it for just a little bit even if it was from The Church of Almighty God—these days this kind of harmonious atmosphere was hard to come by in our home. Holding my daughter, I sat next to my wife and started watching. The dance and song video “God Has Brought His Glory to the East” was powerful and energetic with a delightful rhythm. There was a really exciting spirit expressed through the dancing; I’ve always loved dance, so I was really drawn in. Seeing how engaged I was, my wife said excitedly, “These songs and dances have all been arranged and recorded by brothers and sisters with The Church of Almighty God. None of them are professionals.” I couldn’t help but seriously reflect on this. “How could people without professional training dance so incredibly well?” Smiling, she said, “It’s amazing! Without God’s own work and guidance, would non-professionals be able to dance like that? You’d be even more surprised if you saw the films that they’ve made. The Church of Almighty God possesses the work of the Holy Spirit—it has God’s blessing. That’s why their dances and films are so well made, and on top of that, all the truths communicated in their films are beneficial for human beings. All that negative propaganda online is just the CCP spreading lies about The Church of Almighty God. They’re not at all true. The reason they’re spreading these lies is so that everyone will become hostile to The Church of Almighty God and won’t dare to look into God’s work of the last days. Then they’ll lose God’s salvation.”
Hearing what she said and seeing the glowing look on her face, I became even more curious. I thought about how since she had started believing in Almighty God she had recovered from her depression from homesickness and missing her mom. I also saw that she had become more patient with our daughter and no longer lost her temper; she had also started to take care of me incredibly well. Could it really be that Almighty God had changed my wife? Was The Church of Almighty God really as great as she said? As I thought through all of this my heart felt tied up in knots—I didn’t know if I should let her continue practicing her faith. After a bout of this internal struggle, I decided to go check it out for myself. If it wasn’t like what they said online, I wouldn’t stand in her way anymore.
While Investigating the Church a Musical Moves My Heart
Over the weekend when I was free from work, I approached my wife and told her that I wanted to go have a look at The Church of Almighty God—she was both surprised and pleased. Once we got there the brothers and sisters received us warmly, and I felt from their words, mannerisms, and how they interacted with others that they were kind and sincere. My sense of guardedness gradually relaxed. Then, a sister told everyone excitedly, “Brothers and sisters, the musical, Xiaozhen’s Story won an international award!” I asked out of curiosity, “Can I watch it?” They all voiced their agreement in unison and started playing the musical. Xiaozhen’s ups and downs in the story really touched my heart and I thought of how I myself was another “Xiaozhen.” I drifted through society when I was little because of a tumultuous family situation, suffering all sorts of bullying and humiliation and others’ coldness just to get by. And now I was struggling, working hard to make a living and had gone through all sorts of things, sweet and bitter. I had suffered a lot through ups and downs over the years, and I felt tired and sad, but in front of my wife and friends I acted strong. Who could really know the pain in my heart? Toward the end of the musical this song was sung: “The Almighty has mercy on these people who have suffered deeply; at the same time, He is fed up with these people who lack consciousness, as He has had to wait too long for an answer from humanity. He wishes to seek, to seek your heart and your spirit, to bring you water and food and to awaken you, that you may no longer be thirsty and hungry. When you are weary and when you begin to feel something of the bleak desolation of this world, do not be lost, do not cry. Almighty God, the Watcher, will embrace your arrival at any time” (“God Is Seeking Your Heart and Your Spirit” in Follow the Lamb and Sing New Songs). Every line of the song warmed my lost, suffering soul, and every note sung felt like a mother stretching out her hand to her long-lost child. What I felt was the call of love—I was incredibly moved. I couldn’t stop the tears flowing down my face as the musical ended. It was the first time I had cried in front of so many people and I felt a bit awkward, so I quickly and quietly turned my head to wipe away the tears. I exclaimed sincerely, “That’s such a wonderful musical!” I started clapping for Xiaozhen’s Story.
My wife looked at me and said to me happily and with great emotion, “Your heart being touched by Xiaozhen’s Story was from God moving you! I know that the May 28 Zhaoyuan Case had an impact on you and that you’ve had a lot of misunderstandings about Almighty God’s work of the last days. I also know that you’re concerned for my and our daughter’s safety, so today we can look and see what really happened with that case.”
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