What We Experienced That Day—June 14 Through the Eyes of a Christian Wife and a Christian Mother

June 14, Sunday.

Even now, when I look back on yesterday, the first things I remember are not those police officers or those conversations, but the children crying in terror, the exhausted wives, and the elderly who were frail and ill.

They were vulnerable people, yet in Jiangyou they were confined inside an assembly hall for seven hours.

At 11 a.m., the hall was entered

At around 11 a.m., we were gathered for a meeting. Suddenly, many special police officers wearing riot gear and plainclothes police entered the hall, took control of the equipment, seized the microphones, and took away elders and some brothers and sisters.

There were many elderly Christians, women, pregnant women and children at the scene, as well as brothers and sisters suffering from high blood pressure, heart disease, depression and other illnesses.

In front of the entire congregation, we saw with our own eyes several special police officers in riot gear pin two unarmed Christian fathers to the ground.

The children saw their own fathers and familiar uncles pinned to the ground. Many children were frightened into tears on the spot, the mothers’ emotions were immediately stirred up, and the elderly were unable to remain calm.

The hall, which had originally been quiet and orderly, instantly descended into chaos.

The brothers and sisters who usually helped maintain order and comfort everyone were also taken away one after another.

Most of those left in the hall were elderly people, women and children.

At that moment, I was extremely worried—worried that the situation would continue to spiral out of control, worried that more people would be harmed, and worried that these children would be frightened.

I picked up the frightened child beside me, stood up from my seat, and instinctively began looking for a police officer to speak to.

I repeatedly shouted:

“You can carry out your law enforcement, but you cannot frighten our children.”

“You have frightened the children.”

“The scene is already chaotic.”

“You have frightened our children.”

I cannot remember how many times I said it. I only remember that I kept saying:

“You have frightened our children.”

Later, I took the child away from the original location and went to the conference room nearby, repeating this sentence continually along the way.

Looking back now, it was not anger, but the instinctive reaction of a mother in panic.

The children’s cries

Later, they took the brothers and sisters away to police vehicles one after another.

One little girl, having witnessed her father being pinned to the ground, completely broke down emotionally and let out heart-rending cries.

I raised my hands and told the police that I had studied psychological counseling and wanted to go see the child.

They allowed me to go over. Several fellow believers and I held the child.

I said to her:

“Your fear is real.”

“The sound you are making is also the sound each of us wants to make in our hearts.”

“The Lord knows that you are afraid.”

Gradually, she calmed down. Later, I saw another little girl crying in terror while clinging to her mother. She had witnessed her father and familiar uncles being pinned to the ground and forcibly taken away.

The youngest of these children was still nursing. Some children saw their mothers being reprimanded and taken away; some saw their fathers being pushed away; and some saw their uncles and aunts being put into police vehicles.

The children did not know what was happening. They only knew that the people who loved them had disappeared.

That day, I felt especially heartbroken for these children.

I knew that no one could replace the fathers and mothers who had been taken away from them, and that such scenes could very likely become traumatic memories as they grew up.

While feeling distressed, I also told myself: There is still much that requires us to endure, wait and persevere today. May the Lord help us.

At noon, the children became hungry

By noon, the children began to get hungry.

I went to find the police officer in charge and said to them:

“The children are hungry.”

“There are elderly people and children here, as well as people with heart disease and depression.”

Later, they required everyone to fill the seats and said that they would arrange food. An ambulance also arrived at the scene later.

The letter of guarantee

Afterward, staff members from the Religious Affairs Bureau spoke. The microphone kept cutting out and then cutting out again.

Later, everyone was required to sign a letter of guarantee.

I stepped forward and said:

“We will not sign anything before a lawyer arrives.”

Afterward, a Police Officer Wang called me over to the conference room nearby and said to me:

“You are well educated. Go persuade everyone. Once you sign the letter of guarantee, you can leave.”

I knew what he meant.

So I replied:

“I will not sign.”

“And I will not persuade others to sign.”

Later, we remained deadlocked there.

Regarding the recording

At the time, I was making a recording.

He took my phone and made me enter the password.

At that time I was holding my child and had let down my guard, so I unlocked the phone.

I asked him:

“After deleting the recording, will you return the phone to me?”

He said:

“Yes.”

So I believed him.

He deleted the recording.

But afterward he still wanted to continue going through the phone.

At that moment I realized something was wrong, immediately took the phone back, and locked the screen.

They demanded that I unlock the phone again. I refused.

I said:

“Either take me away. I will not unlock the phone.”

“Our conversation ends here.”

After that, I stopped talking.

Holding my three-year-old child

Later, several special police officers sat beside me.

My child gradually fell asleep in my arms, at around two or three in the afternoon.

I held my sleeping child, while several special police officers wearing riot gear sat beside me.

I originally wanted to go over to the sofa, but they did not agree.

I could only continue holding the child while sitting on a hard bench.

At that moment, I examined my heart.

Thank the Lord.

It was not that I had not been angry. When I saw the police pin two fathers to the ground, saw the children crying, and saw the elderly and wives in panic, I had felt anger and incomprehension.

But as I held the sleeping child and looked at the young special police officers in their early twenties beside me, I discovered that there was unexpectedly no hatred within me.

I began to wonder: Were they also suffering? Did they have families? Did they have wives and children?

I even hoped that I would have the opportunity to tell them the gospel.

This is not my natural disposition; it is God’s protection.

A group of young police officers

Later, a young police officer asked me:

“Why do you believe in the Lord?”

I began telling my story—how I came to the church, how I met my husband, and how we dated, married and had a child.

I told him that I had once been afraid of marriage, until I saw different kinds of testimonies in the church.

I spoke about Pastor Wang Yi’s respect for marriage, and also about my husband’s restraint and reverence within our relationship.

Several young police officers listened quietly without interrupting.

At that moment, we were not people standing opposed to one another, but simply ordinary people sitting together.

At 5 p.m., the child became hungry again

My child kept saying:

“Mommy, I want something to eat.”

A three-year-old child normally has milk, fruit and snacks, but that day there was nothing.

Again and again I went to find the police and said to them:

“If these were your own children, would you let them remain hungry?”

Later, someone handed out some candy, but it was far from enough.

The weather was very hot, and some police officers were handing out popsicles.

My child saw them and wanted one too.

I went over and asked a riot police officer for a popsicle for the child, and he gave us one.

But on the other side, when a mother took her child to ask for one, she was refused.

That police officer said:

“Go ask your God for one.”

“Don’t use the child as a shield.”

The mother replied:

“Thank God. At least we know who gave us this popsicle.”

At that moment, I felt very conflicted. The same uniform, different responses.

At night

Later, they stopped requiring people to sign letters of guarantee and instead recorded their ID card numbers and telephone numbers.

The child kept crying for something to eat, and I was also close to breaking down.

I said to the police:

“The child really cannot take it anymore. If this continues, I will also break down.”

Later, people began to be released one after another.

Jiangyou in the dead of night

After leaving, we did not go home. Instead, we rushed overnight to Jiangyou to look for the brothers and sisters who had been taken away.

It was a remote place, and we drove dozens of kilometers.

A group of exhausted wives and children were kept outside the gate. They had nowhere to rest and could only wait outside.

It was not until 11 p.m. that the brothers and sisters gradually came out.

Thirty-two brothers and sisters were taken away that day. Most were later released, but two pastors still had not come out.

When we returned to Chengdu, it was already two or three in the morning.

Written at the end

Writing this is not to prove how much suffering we endured, nor is it to accuse anyone.

I simply want to tell those who were not there:

That day, the people in the hall were not dangerous people, but a group of weak Christians.

There were elderly people, wives, mothers and children there; there were cries, fear, tears and also love.

Some were carrying out their duties, while others were silently enduring.

Children were crying, while young police officers quietly listened to a wife tell the story of her family and faith.

After experiencing all this, we are still willing to comfort the children, still willing to speak with people, and still willing to tell people the gospel.

Because just as the Lord loves us, we also hope to love others in this way.

Including those whom we encountered that day.

This was June 14.

An ordinary Sunday.

A day personally experienced by a Christian wife and a Christian mother.

May the Lord have mercy on us, and also have mercy on every person on this land.