Anne belonged to an intellectual Chinese family, but surprisingly, she never learned to read. Throughout her whole life, she cared for her parents and for her brother who suffered from tuberculosis. When her brother passed away, he left her a great deal of money. However, by then she was already eighty years old.
As a faith-filled Christian woman, Anne considered how she might use her time and money for Christ. The thought came to her: “I’ve always wanted to travel, but I have spent my whole life caring for my sick loved ones. I’ve never even left Shanghai. Now I could actually travel and when I meet people, tell them about Christ.”
And so, Anne became a traveling messenger of the gospel. She used her inheritance to travel all throughout China by train. Sometimes she traveled first class, for there she could meet official dignitaries. She freely spoke to them about Jesus. Some were annoyed at her, but others smiled and engaged in a conversation with her.
During the last five years of her life, Anne traveled hundreds of thousands of kilometers by train. She traveled from China’s northwest Xingjian deserts, to the highlands of Tibet, and also to the southern parts of the country. Wherever she went, she spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to all who would listen to her.
A few years after Anne’s death, a Christian man was visiting a Chinese politician and his wife. The host’s wife happened to be reading her Bible. Astonished, he asked her if she was a Christian. Here is the answer she gave him:
“Once when my husband came home from his trip, he told me how he had had an interesting encounter. As he traveled by train, an older lady started a conversation with him. She gave him a detailed account of Jesus and explained that her reason for traveling was to spread the good news of Him. My husband was very impressed, although he never became a Christian himself. I was deeply touched by this story. I asked myself, ‘What can be so interesting about this Jesus that this elderly woman feels so compelled to devote her time traveling all throughout China?’ That is why I obtained a Bible and soon afterwards found salvation in Jesus!”
Her husband was sympathetic towards Christians, despite being involved in a governmental position that was hostile toward Christians. He tried his best to fend off the nation’s harshest persecutions, as much as was within his control.
God often works in wonderful and mysterious ways! He was able to use the attempts of a frail, elderly lady to speak to the most powerful dignitaries of the land in a way that no other could have accomplished.
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