Hope found in Preacher Li Jie’s prison ministry

(Linfen, Shanxi Province – August 20, 2024) On August 14, 2024, the defense lawyer met again with Preacher Li Jie of the Linfen Covenant House Church. The three young Christians from this church – Li Jie, Han Xiaodong, and Wang Qiang – have been detained for nearly two years. Despite the families’ constant pleas of innocence, the court remains unmoved, neither holding a trial nor releasing them. Both the families and lawyers firmly believe that the three are innocent.

During the meeting, the lawyer learned that Li Jie had a cellmate named Chen. Chen described himself as having suffered from mental illness in his youth, unable to leave home at one point, and having sought medical treatment without success. His cousin brought him to the city, hoping a change of environment would help his condition. Tragically, one day, Chen opened a drawer, saw a knife, and used it to kill his sister-in-law and her 5-year-old child before fleeing. He later remarried and had children under an assumed identity.

Eventually, the police found him and asked if he knew why they were looking for him. He said he did, because he had killed someone. At that time, his wife had just become pregnant with a daughter.

Perhaps due to financial difficulties, or feeling ashamed and discouraged, the family did not hire a lawyer, effectively giving up their last hope. Whether he was in a state of mental illness during the crime or whether he constituted voluntary surrender could no longer be debated. The court has announced that he was executed on August 15.

The defense lawyer believes that while judicial organs represent God in law enforcement and should be respected if they punish evil and uphold justice, they can punish a person but cannot save one. They can execute but cannot resurrect; they can make people admit guilt and accept punishment but cannot make them truly repent. No earthly power can ultimately replace God or go against His will.

During detention, Li Jie consistently preached the gospel to Chen. Initially skeptical, Chen later repented, became gentle, didn’t bully newcomers, and often spoke of himself as a sinner. He particularly liked reading the last chapter of “A Tale of Two Cities,” especially the Bible verse quoted when Carton and the seamstress go to their execution: ” I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”

Li Jie asked if he was ready. Chen said he had committed many sins – murder, adultery, lying – and accepted them all, feeling the death penalty was deserved. Living under a false identity had been exhausting, and he felt especially guilty for deceiving his wife. After seeing another death row inmate executed, he remarked that his day would come too.

Out of humanitarianism, the court wanted to arrange for Chen’s family to see him one last time. The lawyer felt particularly sad for the little girl, as it would be her only chance to see her father. Li Jie’s wife, Li Shanshan, contacted Chen’s wife, who replied that she wouldn’t come. She expressed that she truly didn’t have the strength to see him and didn’t want to leave a shadow in the child’s heart.

The consequences of sin are so terrible, causing both families to suffer the pain of separation and death. Chen killed someone else’s wife and child, and now he would lose his own wife and child, never seeing his child in this life.

Li Shanshan said that while she couldn’t do anything for Chen, she felt moved to visit Chen’s family with Li Jie in the future and share the gospel. They may not meet on earth, but they could meet in heaven. Only with one’s repentance does meeting have meaning. One person believing in the Lord is more precious than all things. Recently, when she was insulted without reason, she was angry at first, but compared to saving souls, what did that matter?

Chen told Li Jie that he had gradually come to love Linfen city because there were people who loved him there – the brothers and sisters of the church. Li Jie couldn’t help crying at this point.

Chen asked Li Jie if they would meet in heaven. Li Jie said yes. He then asked if there would be houses and conversations in heaven. Li Jie said there would be. Chen said, “Good, then we’ll meet in heaven.”

The defense lawyer said he had always been a supporter of the death penalty but didn’t feel that Chen’s death brought about a cathartic revenge. Just punishment can comfort the deceased and console the living, but it cannot save a sinner. Without God’s own redemption, all of this would be pure tragedy. He quoted the last line from “A Tale of Two Cities”: “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”