4. My Father Believed in the Lord Too

Though my father had chosen to stay at a respectful distance from either ghosts or gods, he preferred Buddhism. He especially respected the old monk Hsu Yun who was at the Nan Hua Temple in Fujian. After we believed in Jesus, we always dragged him to church for the sermon. He was very arrogant and usually listened to it for awhile. Then he would leave. He looked down on what the preacher said because he regarded himself as very learned and high in status. He thought it was worthless to listen to the sermon. It was not until the political situation became tense, and the army of the Communists approached, that he turned to Jesus for help. Since he was one of the founding members of the Kuomintang, he needed to leave Mainland China because Kuomintang had lost its power. However, he missed the last ship to Dinghai. According to my cousin, who had helped him to go to the harbor to take the ship, my father was so scared that he was trembling all over himself. He pretended to be calm before us and asked my mother, my younger sister and me to go to our house Buddhist convent in the suburbs. He stayed in the city to wait for a chance to flee. Before we parted, I told him: "Father, ask Jesus to save you. You must pray." He nodded to me. At the most dangerous moment, he truly prayed to the Lord with his heart, and the Lord did wonders for him. Unexpectedly a battleship of Kuomintang passed by and anchored in Cheghai for one night. Providentially, the commander in chief on the battleship was a good friend of my father, and he took my father safely to Dinghai, from there he went to Taiwan. Soon after my father arrived at Dinghai, a servant visited us secretly to learn of our situation. He brought a long letter from my father in his own handwriting. In the letter my father described in detail how the Lord listened to his prayer to save him and amazingly did so. How abundant is the grace of the Lord! He saved my whole family.