In the 1940s, following a missiological vision of the “Return to Jerusalem”, a group of visionary Chinese Christians set out with the evangelization of Muslims at heart, aspiring to travel through the northwest provinces of China and neighboring countries.
He Enzheng and her future husband Zhao Maijia (Mecca Zhao) were part of this group of pioneers. Their goal was to bring the gospel to Xinjiang, the autonomous region of China where Uyghurs are the dominant ethnic group. Their efforts sowed seeds that continue to shape the spiritual heritage of the Chinese Church, motivating Christians to continue their mission.
He Enzheng, born in rural Hebei Province in October 1917, grew up in the church in Tianjin and experienced a spiritual rebirth at a revival meeting at age 15. At age 17, she felt called to distant mission fields and pursued that vision at a Bible college. After graduating in 1937, no mission opportunities in unreached areas materialized, leading her to serve locally while seeking God’s direction.
He Enzheng joined the Northwest Bible College mission in Fengxiang, Shaanxi, teaching the Bible while caring for female students. The school was founded in 1940 by Dai Yongmian (Chinese name of James Hudson Taylor II, grandson of Hudson Taylor), with an emphasis on evangelization of the Muslim regions of northwest China. The college played a key role in training the preachers and evangelists who served in this region.
On Easter 1943, Ma Ke, vice president of the college, along with He and 13 others, received a vision to evangelize Xinjiang, a large region in the northwest. They formed the “Chinese Evangelical Return to Jerusalem Group,” a revolutionary interfaith Chinese organization, free from foreign missionary leadership and financial dependence. Its formation was a pivotal moment in Chinese church history, and five out of seven of its members were women.
In 1947, He, Zhao and other members of the evangelical group embarked on a mission to Shule, the westernmost region of Xinjiang, from Xining, the capital of Qinghai province. While other northwestern provinces, including Shaanxi, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Gansu, had established churches, Xinjiang remained unreached. The journey from Xining to Shule was about 3,000 kilometers (about 1,800 miles). Despite the arduous journey and their awareness of potential dangers, the group moved forward in faith, supporting churches along the way and occasionally stopping to help local ministries. They persevered despite difficulties, including bandit attacks, sustained by their faith and God’s provision.
However, their journey ended abruptly when troops sent by the Muslim warlord governor of Qinghai Province Ma Bufang, who opposed Christian missions in the northwest, stopped them. All except Zhao, who remained to look after the camels and goods, were sent back to Xining. Despite this failure, he was not discouraged. She returned to Lanzhou, Gansu, continuing her service and learning Arabic to prepare for future missions.
In the spring of 1948, Zhao ventured from Gansu to the city of Hami, becoming the first Han Chinese missionary to the southern part of Xinjiang. The same year, He Enzheng also traveled to Xinjiang, eventually reaching Urumqi and serving in its only church.
In 1953, after the Communist Party took power over China, He and Zhao decided to get married in southern Xinjiang. As he prepared to travel to Shule to join Zhao, some tried to dissuade him, saying, “The situation is tense now and many have been imprisoned.” Zhao could face forced labor or even death. It is enough for him to suffer; why should you also shoulder the burden?
She replied: “The gate to southern Xinjiang has just opened and a church has been established. If Zhao dies, what will happen to the Church? He committed to it; if he is not afraid of dying, how can I be afraid? If he is sent to forced labor, I can bring him food; if he dies, I can continue his work.
After marrying in Shule, the couple served in Shache and Kashgar, where they encountered resistance to their evangelistic work from Muslim leaders. Additionally, the local communist government suspected them of being counter-revolutionaries or spies for Western countries and continually pressured them to confess. Amid these difficult conditions, he explained, “Everywhere we went, people were kind to us, but we could not evangelize openly, which was difficult for us. »
The situation has become more precarious. The churches they had founded were forced to close, and there was no room for them to serve, so they had to take other jobs. Zhao took a job as an accountant, while his wife found work in a garment factory and a kindergarten. Although they could not preach openly, they served people with a heart for God wherever they were, earning the respect of the local people.
In 1966, on the eve of Cultural revolution, He, guided by divine revelation, left Xinjiang with his two sons. They returned to Shanxi and Beijing for two years, avoiding the serious persecution in Xinjiang. However, Zhao remained in Shache. He was labeled a spy, a traitor and a counter-revolutionary, enduring severe criticism and struggles. After the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976, Zhao remained in the region and continued his work as an accountant until his retirement in 1987.
After the end of the Cultural Revolution, He Enzheng returned to the Xinjiang region with her children and finally reunited with her husband. Both served faithfully in their workplace. In 1989, Zhao suffered a stroke, which severely limited his ability to walk and talk. However, until his death in 2007, he was still moved to tears every time he heard the words Return to the Jerusalem Evangelical Orchestra. He Enzheng continued to diligently share the gospel in southern Xinjiang until his passing in 2014 at the age of 97.
Concerning the ambitions of the Evangelical Band, He declared:
Sixty years ago, we happily embarked on this path. We are still here now, not seeing much fruit…but I firmly believe that He who began a good work in us will continue it to completion. …Zhao Maijia and I will die here. We never planned to come back alive, but we see that others will follow. …I pray that the Lord will continue to call more like-minded brothers and sisters who have called us to complete this work together.
Although Zhao and He did not witness the complete realization of their original vision, their faith and sacrifices inspired many Chinese Christians to dedicate their lives to mission. Today, the mission to “bring the Gospel back to Jerusalem” across Xinjiang and the Muslim regions of Central Asia continues in various forms within the Chinese and Western churches.
Editor’s note: The Chinese version of this article is republished with permission from Notable Women in Church Historypublished by Overseas Campus Ministries. The author met and interviewed several former colleagues from the evangelical group Back to Jerusalem as well as pastors Dai Shaozeng (James Hudson Taylor III) and Thomas Wang, who personally heard the testimonies told by He Enzheng herself.
Edwin Su is founder and board chair of Overseas Campus Ministries (CMO) and expert in Chinese Church history. Ding Yijia is a student at Logos Theological Seminary in California and is engaged in full-time student ministry in Pennsylvania with her husband.
Translated into English by Ariel Bi
