Author of 'Canaan Hymns' Xiao Min Gave Touching Testimony of Faith

Dec 15, 2008 08:17 AM EST

Chinese Christian Author Xiao Min who composed over 1,270 hymns that touched the lives of millions of believers in China gave a testimony of her faith and her experience as a Christian living in China at the “Testimony of a Generation” mission conference held in San Francisco from December 6-7, which drew thousands of believers from across North America and China.

Born in a village in Henan, China, Xiao Min only has a junior high level education, but she was able to compose over 1,270 hymns that are sang by the Chinese Churches in China and throughout the world.

On the second night of the mission conference, Xiao Min shared her experience of faith. She said that 16 years ago many believers were arrested by the Chinese government. At that time, she prayed to the Lord that she can also be arrested and suffer together with the fellow believers. Soon after, she was arrested and placed in prison. After being arrested, she wasn’t scared at all.

Furthermore, she said that on one summer day when it was extremely hot she requested the guard to let everyone wash their head, but she received a rude response telling her to ask the Lord Jesus to wash for them.

Despite the rude response, the Canaan Hymn author was not discouraged, but she used this as an inspiration to write the number 56 hymn “Lord, We Know Deeply” in the Canaan Hymns series.

In this hymn, Xiao Min wrote, “Lord we know deeply that in every moment your love never, never diminishes, Lord we know deeply that in every moment, our only friend is you, our hearts long for you, our hearts long for you, because you’re the first in millions, no one can be compared with you, no one can be compared with you.”

Not only was she arrested because of her faith, she was also persecuted by her family members, but she still testified to them God’s healing of her sinusitis and that God is her savior.

“In my life, God has saved me. Although all of you think that he is a bad person, but he will be my savior forever,” she said.

The author testified to the crowd, “Even though we experience suffering, but the Lord Jesus gives us strength.”

In this mission conference, participants included influential Chinese pastors, such as Liu Tong Su, Fan Hsieh De, Yuan Zhiming, Zhang Boli, and well-known Chinese actors, such as Sun Haiying, Lu Liping, and Yuan Zheng. They all each gave their testimonies of faith throughout the two day conference.

[Editor's note: reporter Sharon Chan from San Francisco contributed to this report.]