"The Word of God is not Bound!" (2 Timothy 2:9, KJV)

In 1986 we traveled to several cities in China. China's policies toward foreigners and foreign influences were less relaxed then than they are today, so we had to be very careful when we talked to others about Jesus.

One evening we saw five children performing acrobatics in the street. A family with five children is very rare in China, due to the severe penalties imposed on those who violate the country's strict one-child-per-family policy. We sent our little girl over with a donation, and when we saw them again the following evening, we did the same thing.

A few days later, the authorities arrested us for our Christian activities. They searched our belongings, confiscated our Christian literature (except for one Gospel of John in Chinese, which they didn't find), and told us we were under surveillance.

We wanted to witness to the young acrobats and their mother, but talking openly to them would put them at risk. We prayed and the Lord showed us to write them a short letter in Chinese, saying we'd be leaving soon but hoped to see them again in Heaven. Then we explained that they could go to Heaven by praying a simple prayer, which we wrote out. Then we bought a bag of fresh crisp apples and slipped our note into it. That evening, under the watchful eye of the policeman assigned to us, we gave them the bag, along with our usual donation.

The next day, as we passed the children's mother on the street, she reached for Daniel's hand and shook it. Concealed by that handshake was a carefully-folded note to us which went unnoticed by the policeman tailing us.

We were moved to tears when we later read that the whole family had prayed the salvation prayer.

Two days before we left China, we managed to give our tail the slip and met with the whole family in their one-room home to give them the Gospel of John which the authorities had missed the night we were arrested. "We have seen God's love in your care for us," they said.