(ChinaAid, Midland, TX) Shi Minglei (Hope), wife of human rights lawyer Cheng Yuan, shared with ChinaAid how she and her daughter have celebrated Cheng’s birthday for the past three years during his imprisonment. They celebrate with Chinese noodles, a prayer, and a birthday cake with a message: “Cheng… come back home.”
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Hope under house arrest. (Photo: Hope) |
Cheng’s Birthday 2019
That year, I prayed for Cheng’s release from prison. I prayed that CCP security officers would not arrest me nor any other of our family members. I prayed that Aliyah and I would remain safe and free.
Cheng’s Birthday 2020
That Saturday, 10 Brothers and Sisters from our church, including our pastor and his wife, helped me buy a cake to celebrate Cheng’s birthday. Our Pastor’s wife and several Sisters in the Church cooked Chinese noodles, spicy fish, and other dishes. We sang songs together, including “Happy Birthday, Cheng.” We prayed together. The words in the icing on the cake read, “Cheng, come back home.”
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Birthday cake with message for Cheng. (Photo: Hope)
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At this time, Cheng’s six-week trial had ended, but we still did not have any information, nor did CCP authorities allow us access to his lawyers. In September, still in China, but not under house arrest, I felt fretful. After plain-clothes security officers had harassed one friend, they took him away and interrogated him for four hours.
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Hope with Aliyah (her daughter) in China after Cheng’s arrest. (Photo: Hope) |
Cheng’s Birthday 2021
On Cheng’s birthday in 2021, we had no new information other than that on October 2, CCP authorities had transferred him to a jail half a month earlier. Although we did not know any specifics about Cheng, and CCP authorities forbade us to visit him, that tiny tidbit of news made us feel kind of connected.
Because our families could no longer be together, Aliyah and I did not have a big party. We celebrated Cheng’s birthday with a pumpkin cake, chocolate cookies, and ice cream sandwiches. We ate Chinese noodles I had cooked and sang “Happy Birthday….”
I prayed that our family would get to visit Cheng soon.
Now in America, Aliyah and I are free. I thank God for His preparations for us in everything…. I thank Him for freedom. Recently, I obtained my driver’s license and have a car. Aliyah and I are settling down in our own apartment. Aliyah attends kindergarten and learns English, I am also taking English classes, and preparing to begin work. In China, the government would not allow her to attend a Christian school. Now, if Aliyah and I were in China, and if I home-schooled her there, I would likely be arrested.
Although Chinese National Security officials threatened me, “We 1000% surely promise you that we will arrest if you continue to speak,” I continually spoke up for Cheng and for his two colleagues (also imprisoned). As I also home-schooled Aliyah there, if I had remained in China, I know I would have already been arrested.
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Hope and Aliyah in the United States. (Photo: Hope) |
I ask other Brothers and Sisters to pray for Cheng’s release, and for our reunion as a family. I ask them to also pray for Christians, and activists still detained, as well as for their family members and friends.
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Hope speaks out for Cheng and two detained co-workers. (Photo: Hope) |
I also ask Christians to pray for six Brothers and Sisters in a church in Suzhou city, Jiangsu Province. CCP officials arrested Wang Jian and five other Christians for their work with Abeka Homeschooling Education.
Each day, I hope and pray that Aliyah, our family members, and I can learn more about Cheng and visit him soon. I pray we can learn more information; that we can communicate with him. I pray for his release and for our reunion as a family.
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Cheng with Hope holding Aliyah in China prior to Cheng’s arrest. (Photo: Hope) |
During the past three years, celebrating Cheng’s birthdays without him, my relationship in/with Jesus has helped me the most. My Brothers and Sisters…, our pastor…, and sharing prayer together make me feel alive. I remember Jesus said that we need to love each other.
~ Psalm 118:1 (NKJV)