Wang Mingdao

1900-1991 20th century

Denial passed through and not hidden, and a faithfulness that gets up again after giving way.

Who was Wang Mingdao?

A Beijing preacher and founder of an independent assembly, he refused to enrol his church in the official structures and was arrested in 1955. Broken by detention, he signed a confession, then withdrew it and returned to prison for twenty-two years. Released old and nearly blind, he received to the end those who came to listen.

In their own words

What I am even more anxious to know is whether I myself am qualified to be one of those smooth stones in the hand of God.

Sermon on the five smooth stones, reported in A Stone Made Smooth

I am Peter. I am Peter.

Words heard by passers-by in the streets of Beijing after his first release, documented by David Aikman