For it is to your credit if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. 1 Peter 2:19 (NRSV)
Mitrophan (Chi-Sung) (1900)
“It does not hurt to suffer for Christ”
In June 1900, proclamations were posted on walls across Beijing calling for the slaughter of all Christians. The following day, groups of Boxer rebels went around the city forcing Christians to bow to idols, torturing and killing any who refused.
Among those hunted down was Mitrophan, a Chinese minister whose Chinese name was Chi-Sung.
One evening he, his wife, three sons and dozens of other Christians gathered together for protection. But the group was found and surrounded by Boxers. They grabbed Chi-Sung’s son Isaiah and began to cut him with swords in an attempt to persuade the father to renounce his faith. They taunted him, but Chi-Sung replied, “It does not hurt to suffer for Christ.” Faced with his staunch declaration of faith, the rebels executed him quickly.
In total 222 Christians were killed in the Beijing parish during the Boxer rebellion.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus!
The strife will not be long;
This day the noise of battle,
The next the victor’s song.
To him that overcometh
A crown of life shall be;
He with the king of glory
Shall reign eternally
George Duffield (1818-88)