I saw this important post over on the China Aid blog a few days ago, but due to the holidays didn’t have a chance to share it with you until today. As you know, if you’ve read this blog for any length of time, we’ve asked for your prayers for Gao Zhisheng and invited you to sign our petition at http://www.freegao.com. Thank you to all of you who have supported Gao through your prayers and support this past year. As you read the letter that Gao’s wife has written, please pray for her strength as well as for all of Gao’s family.
Going Home
Today should have been Gao Zhisheng’s first day back home
By Geng He
I remember one evening in September 2006, two domestic security protection officers suddenly showed up at my house, asking me, “Where have you hidden Gege?” It was only then that I suddenly realized that it was already past the time when my daughter should have returned home from school. Shocked, I started to cry and said to them, “You are the ones who follow my daughter to school. If anything’s happened to her, I’ll end my life.” Having confirmed that I had no idea where my daughter was, they then said to me, “We know where Gege is. Do you want her home?” I replied, “Of course. Where is she?” They said, “She is at Fan Yafeng’s. We’ll go there now.”
My son Tianyu and I got into their car, and saw them restlessly playing with the cover of their cellphones, opening and closing the cover, opening and closing … . When we got to Anzhen Bridge, where we should have turned right, they said fretfully that they needed to make a phone call first, and then abruptly made a U-turn, going back to the small supermarket near my home (where there is a pay phone). They kept saying to me, “You are your daughter’s guardian. Are you comfortable about a girl being at someone else’s home so late? If Fan Yafeng does not send her back right away, you’ll have to report it to the police and say ‘Fan Yafeng has kidnapped my daughter,’ etc., etc.”
After dialing Fan Yafeng’s cell phone number, they handed the phone to me. When I put the phone to my ear, I heard the ringtone playing the saxophone recording “Going Home”, which instantly made me cry. What a familiar and sweet tune! This “Going Home” saxophone rendition was what used to play as I completed the day’s grocery shopping. In step with this “Going Home” song, the whole family would walk back together to our guesthouse to rest. Accompanied by this “Going Home” song, we would go out to eat together…. Oh, the difference with what I am facing now is like the difference between earth and sky!
Where is my husband Gao Zhisheng? When can he start on the road to come home? The situation then is still fresh in my mind. Now, it’s been more than five years … yet the road home for us is still so far.
Geng He
December 22, 2011
Please read the full post at China Aid and pray for all Christians in China today.