wfn.org | LCMS member Gao Zhan convicted ... and released

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

LCMSNews -- No. 63
August 14, 2001

Gao Zhan convicted ... and released

Gao Zhan, released last month after five months in Chinese detention
centers, knows firsthand that God answers prayer.

And she is convinced, she says, that "God listened and answered" her own
prayers and those of her fellow Lutherans on her behalf.

"God is the one who saved my life, who brought me back," Gao told worshipers
July 29 at her home congregation, St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Falls
Church, Va.  "I prayed three times a day at least.  And on the hard days, I
prayed countless times.  I thank God for sustaining me through this ordeal."

Gao, a Chinese citizen and permanent resident of the United States, had been
imprisoned in China since Feb. 11.  A researcher with American University in
Washington, she was charged by Chinese authorities with spying for Taiwan --
a charge she denied -- and was sentenced July 24 to a 10-year prison term.

One day later she was granted a medical parole and sent home, arriving in
the United States July 26.

Gao, husband Xue Donghua, and 5-year-old son Andrew have been attending
Chinese services at St. Paul's for more than a year.  Her homecoming was
cause for celebration at the church, where, according to a July 30 story in
The Washington Post, "joyous well-wishers surrounded the couple [July 29],
addressing them in both languages, first over croissants and coffee and
later over a traditional Chinese pork meal, all served in the church
basement.

"`It's a miracle, it's a miracle,' Xue told one informal group.  `She went
through so much, and it's a miracle.'"

"We definitely feel that our prayers have been answered," St. Paul's Pastor
Mark Shaltanis said via an e-mail interview.  Gao was greeted with a
standing ovation at the church, he said, and "many members reported to me
that they had tears in their eyes as she spoke."

Gao's experience, and the congregation's prayers for her, have "worked to
solidify the cooperation and mutual respect between our Chinese and American
members," Shaltanis said.  "People have been moved to a greater thankfulness
for the blessings of freedom and togetherness that they've been given by
God."

Gao's imprisonment also had been brought before the LCMS national convention
last month in St. Louis, where delegates voted unanimously to "show [their]
heartfelt support" for Gao and her family through their prayers and words of
encouragement.

The delegates' action also prompted July 23 letters from Synod President
Robert T. Kuhn to President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin
Powell to do everything in their power to work for the release of Gao Zhan
and others who are held unjustly by the Chinese government.

Gao, 39, told St. Paul's members that she had prayed for her release, and
for her non-Christian cellmate, that she "might believe, too," according to
The Washington Post.

Even while imprisoned, she had been given "the opportunity to preach the
Gospel to others," she said.

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