In his early teens, Li Deren (Li Te-Jen) went to a missionary school in Beijing. Extremely small in stature, he was a skilled artist and the classroom was soon adorned with his hand-drawn maps and illustrations of Bible stories.
In the summer break in 1900, Li—now a married man—attended an annual church conference in the capital with his fellow students. When it was over, he decided to visit friends in the town of Changping, some 30 miles (48 kilometres) to the north, with his beloved wife and their young child. When the Boxers reached Changping soon after and immediately set about killing as many foreigners and Chinese Christians as they could find, the locals were eager informers.
Exactly what happened to the Li family is unclear. One report stated that Li
fled to the mountains and with his wife and child was butchered in a cave where they were in hiding; while another says that he was returning to Beijing in a cart and outside the An Ding Gate the carter reported that he was a Christian, when he was taken by the Boxers and, with his whole family, put to death.
You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. - Revelation 2:3
Attribution
China’s Book of Martyrs. Carlisle: Piquant Editions, 2007. Used by permission.
About the Author
Paul Hattaway is the international director of Asia Harvest, an organization committed to serving the church throughout Asia. He is an expert on the Chinese church and author of the The Heavenly Man and Back to Jerusalem.
