1929 - Teacher Yang

1929

Huangyuan, Qinghai

A man with severe sword cuts to his head was brought to the mission for medical treatment.

The American Pentecostal missionary Victor Plymire pioneered a strong Christian work among Tibetans living throughout remote Qinghai Province in northwest China. For years Plymire was stationed at Tangar (now Huangyuan), a small town about halfway between the provincial capital Xining and the famous Kokonor (or Qinghai) Lake. During the early months of 1929 the fledgling church at Huangyuan was endangered by banditry, which was rampant throughout the province. One group of bandits raided a local prison, releasing the criminals. Joining forces, the group roamed around the countryside, “killing and looting, its ranks ever increasing until it became an army of almost twenty thousand.”[1]

On February 14th news arrived that the bandit army was a short distance from Huangyuan. The gate was locked, and the residents prepared to defend themselves. The murderers gained access by burning down the west gate. They rushed through the town, butchering innocent people right and left. The Christians rushed to the mission station. Plymire later reported on the satanically-inspired attack, “Children were hung up by the feet and cut in half or pulled apart. Some were carried about on spears.”[2] Expecting to die, Plymire and the gathered Chinese and Tibetan Christians readied themselves to meet the Lord. Suddenly two bandits appeared at the door of the mission and shouted that they had been instructed to raise a flag about the mission building so that no one would harm the inhabitants or the property. No reason was given. The surprised Christians rejoiced in the providence of God.

When all the homes in Huangyuan had been looted, hundreds of people lay dead, their bodies strewn about the streets in pools of blood. Government troops arrived and chased the bandits into the mountains, leaving hundreds of severely wounded people within the town. Many were brought to the church in the hope the missionary might be able to help them.

One man carried on top of a door panel to the church was a young schoolteacher named Yang, who had only recently been saved. Plymire looked at Yang’s injuries to see what could be done to help, but the Christian teacher protested:

“‘I do not have long to live, pastor…. I want to die here because this is where I found Christ. So I asked my friends to bring me.’ Then in a feeble voice he began to sing, ‘Take the Name of Jesus with You.” His faith grew stronger than ever as death drew near. Addressing his sorrowing family, the young teacher exhorted them to put their trust in Christ so that they might meet him in heaven.

Then, in the presence of his relatives and his aged father, he committed his spirit to the Lord and passed on to glory—away from bandits, free from care.”[3]

1. Plymire, High Adventure in Tibet, 140.
2. Plymire, High Adventure in Tibet, 142.
3. Plymire, High Adventure in Tibet, 147.