Sun Lo and the Sewer by Patsy Ledbetter

     She eyed them suspiciously.  Her heart beat faster as they approached.  The tall strangers seemed anxious to speak to her.  Why had they requested her presence?  What had she done wrong?  She was not used to being observed.  What did they want?  Why were they here?

      Many questions surrounded Sun Lo as she made her way down the corridor to her small room.  She was a small, middle-aged woman with short, graying hair.  She was slightly bent over with a limp and a missing tooth.  She had lived a simple, solitary life…work, eat and sleep.  Yet there was something angelic about her….She carried a secret.  Her strength came from a higher power….love she felt from her Heavenly Father.

     “Hello Sun Lo.  My name is John and this is my wife Sara.”  We have heard of your unbelievable sacrifice and we are here to pray with you and bring you some gifts,” said the kind man.  His wife had an encouraging and sympathetic smile.

     Sun Lo told the story of how she had been questioned about her faith when she was a young girl and because she was open and honest about her faith in Jesus Christ, she was sentenced by the authorities to rake the sewer for forty years.  She was provided with a place to live and enough to eat and drink. A very dull and discouraging job she was entrusted with and because she loved her Lord, she took up her cross daily and followed her orders.  It was lonely and frightening at times, but Jesus was with her.

     “I would be honored to hear you pray, Mr. John.  I have not heard the prayer of another in forty years.  John spoke softly and sincerely.  He asked for the Lord’s blessing on Sun Lo and all of the Christians in China. 

     “I am so excited to tell you that we have collected money and we have brought you two year’s worth of wages!” John spoke quickly.

     He handed her the wad of money and she pushed it aside.

     “I am not interested in money,” she spoke quietly.

Editor’s Note: This story deals with an important, current issue of our time – persecution and discrimination against people of conscience due to religious, political, or other nonviolently held beliefs. We at Synchronized Chaos seek to educate readers that millions of people around the world still live without freedom of conscience, and we stand with those working for basic human liberties. Nonpartisan, nonsectarian organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have campaigns where artists and writers can write letters to world governments on behalf of prisoners of conscience and stand alongside those wrongly persecuted.

Patsy Ledbetter may be reached at patsyled@sbcglobal.net and welcomes feedback on her writing and conversations with other writers.

     He then gave her a bag of expensive clothes and she set it on her small table.

     “I do not want clothes either.”  She stated.

     “What then?” He questioned.

     “My wish and dearest dream is to have a copy of God’s Word—the Bible.”

     “Sun Lo, with all my heart I wish I could get you a bible, but they are not allowed in this country and it is impossible for me to get one.”

     “This is my only wish.” She stated again..

     “For you, I will try to find one,” He stated hopefully

John and Sara said their good-byes and promised to return in the morning.

That night was an eventful one.  The couple returned to their hotel and asked everyone if they knew of any pastors in the area.  They finally met a pastor from England and asked him if he had any Chinese Bibles with them.  He said he did but he was not able to part with them.  His passport said that he was to bring six bibles into the country and six bibles out of the country.  After much pleading, they convinced him to loan them  the bibles that night and that they would return them to him in the morning, slightly altered.

He agreed to this plan.

     All that night, the couple pieced together one complete bible from the parts of all six.  . They stitched and sewed a cover from pieces of their own clothing.  It wasn’t perfect, but it was a bible the woman could read.

     They returned the bibles to the pastor and proceeded to the woman’s small room.

She opened the door expectantly.  When John unveiled the bible and handed it to her, she clasped it to her heart and uttered one word,  “Precious…”

     “Sun Lo,” may we have the honor of hearing you pray?” asked John.

     The small woman who trusted the Lord through much heartache did not stop praising the Lord for ten minutes.  She was overwhelmed with the gift of the living words of Jesus.  Blessings were given as John and Sara were convinced they had spent time with one of God’s special angels..