BLIND CHANG SHEN

Chang Shen was a terrible man, known as Wu So Pu Wei Te, meaning "one without a particle of good in him." Gambler, womanizer, addict and thief, he had driven away his family, and when he was stricken blind, people said it was judgment for his evil ways.

In 1886, Chang heard of a missionary hospital where blind people were healed, so he traveled hundreds of miles to the hospital, only to be told every bed was full. But the hospital took pity and gave him a bed. When Chang’s eyesight was partially restored, he heard about Jesus for the first time. "Never had we a patient who received the gospel with such joy," reported the doctor. 

When Chang asked to be baptized, he was told, "Go home and tell your neighbors that you have changed. I will visit you, and if you are still following Jesus, then I will baptize you." Five months later, the man arrived at Chang’s home and found hundreds of people learning of Jesus, so he baptized Chang with great joy. 

Chang was now totally blind, yet he traveled from village to village, witnessing to hundreds about Jesus, praising God even when cursed and spat upon or attacked by dogs. He learned most of the Bible by memory and could quote entire chapters from the New and Old Testament. Missionaries followed him, baptizing converts and organizing churches.

When the Boxer Rebellion arose in the late 1890s, Chang was taken to a cave for protection. In a nearby village Boxers rounded up fifty Christians for execution. But a resident said, "You’re fools to kill all these. For every one you kill, ten will spring up while that man Chang Shen lives. Kill him, and you will crush this foreign religion."

The Boxers promised to spare the fifty if someone would take them to Chang. When it appeared the Boxers would begin killing them, a man found Chang and told him of their plan. "I’ll gladly die for them." Chang said. 

When he arrived, he was told he must worship Buddha. "I can only worship the One Living and True God," he declared. So the Boxers put the blind old man in an open cart and drove him to the cemetery for execution. As he went, he sang the first Christian song he had learned at the hospital.

"Jesus loves me, He who died Heaven’s gate to open wide; 

He will wash away my sin, Let His little child come in." 

At the cemetery, Chang cried, "Heavenly Father, receive my Spirit!" He was beheaded, and the fearful Boxers burned his body and fled the village. The remaining local Christians were spared, but before the year’s end, 135 missionaries and their 53 children were martyred, along with hundreds of Chinese Christians who would not deny their Lord. Blind Chang's witness, however, led to the conversion of thousands and still lives in the hearts of believers today who repeat this story to others. 

Would we be willing to do what blind Chang Shen did for His Lord?