Pastor John Cao, who served a seven-year prison sentence from 2017 to 2024, has been hospitalised with severe pain in his back and legs. A fellow Christian in Changsha, Hunan province, who posted a prayer on X (see below) described Pastor John’s pain as “excruciating” and added, “He has been tormented by illness for over a month, unable to sleep at night and unable to sit during the day.”
The pastor’s home is in the US, where he has permanent residency, and his wife Jamie and their sons Ben and Amos are US citizens, yet he has not been permitted to leave China and return home since his release from prison. Instead he has been staying with his mother Sun Jinhuan in Changsha, capital of Hunan province, and in June 2024 police set up surveillance cameras facing the front door and outside the apartment complex to monitor his movements.
Background
Pastor John was born in Changsha but has been a resident of North Carolina for many years. He made many trips to China to establish schools and work among the poor before expanding his humanitarian work into Myanmar. He was detained in March 2017 while returning to China from Myanmar and was sentenced to seven years in prison for “organising illegal border crossings” between China and Myanmar.
Pastor John was released in March 2024 after finishing his sentence but the authorities have not given him an ID card or passport, making it impossible to leave China and reunite with his family in the US. After his release local police told him that they intended to supervise and “educate” him for five years.
A prayer for John Cao
The following prayer for Pastor John, written by a Christian in Changsha, has been posted on X:
Holy and glorious Jehovah, Lord of Hosts, our Heavenly Father:
We pray that God would heal Pastor Cao’s excruciating pain in his lower back and legs, and bear his bodily weakness. He has been tormented by illness for over a month, unable to sleep at night and unable to sit during the day. We pray that the Lord would heal Pastor Cao.
Pastor Cao is also enduring restrictions that prevent him from returning home to reunite with his family; we pray that the Lord would comfort his sorrowful heart. But he knows that the Lord has already provided for him, and he is willing to submit to the Lord’s leading. He shepherds the church, hurrying to visit, pausing to teach, baptising others, and praying fervently for saints in various ways. We pray that God would remember his service as a faithful servant. In the Lord, nothing is impossible; as long as we ask in faith according to the Lord’s faithfulness, whatever we ask for, believing, we shall receive. You are the Lord who makes the blind see, the lame walk, and raises the dead to life. We pray that the Lord would lay hands on Pastor Cao so that he receives the Lord’s comfort and healing, letting the pain leave his body. If it is the Lord’s will for him to rest during this time, grant him good sleep at night undisturbed by pain to restore his strength.
Now that Pastor Cao is hospitalised, we pray that the Lord would give wisdom to the doctors to treat him and provide for all the expenses of his hospitalisation. By the stripes of the Lord, Pastor Cao is healed. We also pray that the Lord would open a way forward for Pastor Cao. Pastor Cao, chosen by God, will glorify the Lord’s name and bear beautiful witness to the world and the angels. This prayer is offered in the holy name of Jesus Christ,
Amen!
Read John Cao’s Prisoner Profile.
(China Aid)
Photo: China Aid