This English version may have been machine-generated from the Chinese original and may not convey the original meaning accurately.
Lord, Have Mercy on China
——Interceding for Qin Yongmin, Niu Tengyu, and Li Yixue
In China, how great a price must a person pay to have the right to speak, express themselves, question, and hold on to their own convictions?
Today, I especially intercede for three people:
Qin Yongmin, Niu Tengyu, and Li Yixue.
Their experiences are different, but placed side by side, they compel us to consider a common question:
When a society cannot properly accommodate different voices, and when ordinary people come into conflict with power, who will protect their dignity, freedom, and rights?
I. Qin Yongmin—Seeking a Way Forward for China Through Peace, Nonviolence, and Dialogue
Qin Yongmin began participating in the democracy movement in the late 1970s. He took part in the Democracy Wall movement, founded publications, and participated in the founding of the China Democracy Party.
In 1981, he was arrested and in 1982 was sentenced to eight years in prison under what was then called the crime of “counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement”; in 1998, he was sentenced to twelve years for participating in activities including those of the China Democracy Party.
In 2018, he was once again sentenced to thirteen years for “subversion of state power.”
Records from human rights organizations show that he has long been subjected to restrictions including detention and imprisonment, cumulatively losing decades of his freedom.
What I especially want to say is this:
What Qin Yongmin has advocated is not using violence to solve China’s problems.
For many years, he has advocated peaceful, nonviolent political change and dialogue.
When a person calls for political differences to be resolved through peaceful means, they are telling society:
We do not need war; we need dialogue;
We do not need hatred; we need change;
We do not need violence; we need a system that allows different opinions to coexist peacefully.
So I pray for Qin Yongmin.
Lord, please watch over him.
May he not lose hope through the long years.
May the Lord’s gracious hand sustain him, and may he one day regain his freedom.
II. Niu Tengyu—A Young Man Whose Seven Years of Youth Have Already Passed
Niu Tengyu was arrested by police in 2019.
In 2021, the Maoming Intermediate People’s Court in Guangdong convicted him of multiple offenses, including picking quarrels and provoking trouble, infringing on citizens’ personal information, and illegal business operations, sentencing him to fourteen years in prison and fining him 130,000 yuan; the original verdict was upheld on appeal.
By August 2026, it had been seven years since his arrest.
Controversy surrounding this case has never disappeared.
Niu Tengyu’s family and supporters have long questioned the evidence in the case, the interrogation process, and the restrictions placed on his lawyers’ access to the case files.
Public reports in 2026 also stated that even after lawyers were granted the opportunity to review the files, the authorities continued to restrict access to some documents on the grounds that they involved “state secrets.”
Claims that he was subjected to torture while in custody have come primarily from his family, his lawyers’ petition materials, and relevant human rights organizations; these allegations should be further verified through an independent investigation.
I do not want to treat someone as merely a number simply because they have been convicted.
He is also a young man.
His youth is slowly slipping away behind high walls.
So I pray:
Lord, please watch over Niu Tengyu.
If there has been injustice in this case, please allow the truth to be seen;
if anyone has suffered unlawful harm, please let justice prevail;
if there are problems with the procedures, please allow those procedures to be reexamined.
May the truth withstand the light of day, and may justice withstand judgment.
III. Li Yixue—The Experience of an Ordinary Person
The case of Li Yixue has likewise drawn attention.
In 2022, she was forcibly sent to a psychiatric hospital after a dispute with a police station auxiliary officer in Nanchang. She subsequently sued the hospital involved in a medical liability dispute and publicly recounted her experience.
Regarding the sexual harassment by the auxiliary officer that she had previously alleged, the local police denied the accusation; the two sides’ accounts differ markedly.
In December 2024, she once again attracted public attention.
An official notice stated that she had been sent to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation and said that she had been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, specific phobia, personality disorder, and other conditions; in January 2025, she was discharged after her father completed the relevant procedures.
At the same time, some Chinese lawyers, doctors, and internet users questioned the legal and medical basis for forcibly sending her to the hospital.
Therefore, regarding Li Yixue’s case, I do not want to reach a premature conclusion on behalf of either side.
I only hope for the truth.
Because when an ordinary person faces powerful state authority, they are already in a vulnerable position.
What she needs is a process that can establish the facts, an opportunity for both sides to express themselves fully, and a system in which the law truly protects ordinary people.
IV. Why Do I Pray for Them?
Because I believe:
A country’s real problems are not whether it has skyscrapers, whether it has a powerful military, or how high its GDP is.
What truly matters is:
- Does an ordinary person have dignity?
- Can someone with a different opinion speak?
- Does someone who has been harmed have a place to appeal?
- Does someone who has been accused receive a fair trial?
- Is someone who holds power subject to restraint?
Power can be very strong, but power cannot itself become justice.
Political parties are not God, governments are not God, and no one in power is God.
Before God, those in power and ordinary people are all human beings.
So what I pray for is not for one tyranny to replace another, nor for China to descend into war and chaos.
I pray for peaceful change.
Let dialogue replace repression,
let the law restrain power,
let freedom replace fear,
let truth replace lies,
let justice replace the supremacy of power.
The peaceful, nonviolent path that Qin Yongmin has upheld only strengthens my belief:
What China truly needs is not a violent revolution, but a peaceful transition toward a society that respects life, respects freedom, respects human rights, and places power under restraint.
V. My Intercession
Lord!
Today I pray for Qin Yongmin.
Please watch over him, strengthen him, and grant him strength.
I also ask you to watch over Niu Tengyu.
May his case withstand the scrutiny of law and fact; may everything that ought to be investigated be investigated; and may the truth ultimately be seen.
I also pray for Li Yixue.
Please protect her life and dignity, allow her to live in safety, and let all the disputes concerning what happened to her receive a fair examination before the facts and the law.
Lord, I do not pray only for these three people.
I pray for all the people in China who are suffering.
I pray for those who have lost their freedom,
for voices that have been suppressed,
for ordinary people who have been treated unjustly,
and also for those who hold power.
Please change their hearts.
Let them know:
Power is not eternal; life is precious;
Political regimes are not God; justice is what should be revered.
Lord,
please cleanse this filthy world.
Wash away hatred, lies, greed, and violence.
May China one day move peacefully toward freedom, the rule of law, and democracy.
May the people no longer fear speaking a single word of truth,
no longer lose their freedom for holding on to their conscience,
and no longer pay the price of their lives for disagreeing with those in power.
May the darkness pass, and may the light come.
May justice flow like a river,
may truth no longer be obscured by fear,
and may there be a little less hatred and a little more love in this world.
Lord, have mercy on China.
Have mercy on Qin Yongmin, have mercy on Niu Tengyu, have mercy on Li Yixue, and have mercy on all who are suffering.
May your gracious hand lead China toward peace, freedom, justice, and dignity.
Hallelujah!
Amen!
All glory be to the Lord.