I know that I skip around a lot on my blog. Somedays you might find my deepest thoughts and fears, and on other days you’ll find my light musings on cake or cow milking. I like this blog because it’s my forum for sharing what goes on in my life–the mundane, the deep, the silly, the odd, the fun, the bad, the hard, the good, the everything.
Having said this, perhaps you’ll forgive me from jumping from my last post (on cake) to this post on human rights violations. But as many of my friends and family know, China is a country near and dear to my heart. If you haven’t yet taken my suggestion to visit ChinaAid.org, please do. They have a brand new website, just unveiled yesterday, the charts Christian persecution using an interactive map.
On their homepage of their site you’ll find information about Gao Zhisheng, a Christian human rights attorney and Nobel Peace Prize candidate who has been kidnapped by Chinese police and severely beaten. This is not Gao’s first time being tortured. In fact, the reason he was most recently kidnapped is because he spoke out publicly about his last time in prison. Read about his very brutal experience here.
Apparently, after his torture account was release this past February, Gao again mysteriously disappeared. ChinaAid has stepped in, partnering with Voice of the Martyrs to circulate a petition to free Gao. I signed the petition last month, and was comforted to see that it was presented today to Congress by Senator Bryon Dorgan, Chairman of the Congressional -Executive Commission on China. The petition had 50,000 signatures. Praise God for democracy! I am thankful that I live in a country which allows me to publicly state my opinion without fear of punishment. Read the press release about today’s presentation by clicking here.
I have a sick feeling in my stomach right now because it’s very likely that Gao is again being treated in inhumane ways just as he was in 2007– likely raped, tazered, beaten and starved.
I encourage you to pray for him, and his family. I encourage you to sign the petition. I encourage you to send letters to our government. These things make a difference and they only take a small ounce of our time. Thanks for listening.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Lesley,
Great post!
I cried when I read Gao’s account of torture. I have signed the petition and am in the process of emailing the Chinese government. I will also send along your suggestion to my friends so they might also join in helping stop the human rights violations in China.
I will pray for Gao Zhisheng and his family. What a great man!!!
Love,
Mom
I will most definitly be praying. I’m glad you posted about this because it’s something we all need to hear!