Du Shuyren (杜樹人)

Editors’s note: This article is taken from Chinese Seventh-day Adventist History, originally written in Chinese and published by the China Union Mission of Seventh-day Adventists (CHUM) and now published in the ESDA with permission from CHUM. The English version has been reviewed and edited by Christie Chui-Shan Chow (Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary). Most of these materials were not previously available in English and are presented here to broaden access to this important historical record.

Pastor Du Shuyren (杜樹人)was a native of Changsha City, Hunan Province. He was born on the 27th day of the first lunar month in 1892 and passed away peacefully during a noon nap on November 10, 1982, at the home of his eldest daughter, Yumei, in Shanghai, at the age of ninety-one.

Pastor Du accepted the gospel during an evangelistic meeting at Jingshi Church, Changsha in 1916 and was immediately baptized. For sixty years, he remained steadfast in his faith, devout in his conduct, and sincere in his service to God. He was a good shepherd, dedicating fifty years to ministry. By nature, Pastor Du was quiet and not quick with words, but he held firmly to his principles and treated others with genuine sincerity. As a result, all who worked with him trusted and respected him deeply.

In his early years, Pastor Du worked in Hunan and Jiangxi provinces promoting the Shizhao yuebao (Signs of the Times), achieving excellent results. Because of this, he was recommended by Shi Yuehan (John Oss), then head of the publishing department of the China Division, to go alone to the Manchurian Union Mission to pioneer literature evangelism.

In May 1922, my late father had already been a licensed minister and was serving in Haicheng County, Liaoning Province. In 1926, he began new work in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province, under harsh winter conditions, and in 1928 he opened new work in Harbin. That summer, he visited seekers during the day,studying the Bible and praying with them, while also preparing sermons for evening evangelistic meetings, which he personally led and preached. Due to overwork, he suffered severe lung damage and began coughing up large amounts of blood. At that time, my mother was left helpless, caring for us three children (the youngest, Mali, had just been born two months earlier). Providentially, Pastor Kuai Sile (Clarence C. Crisler) from the General Conference came to Harbin, saw our situation, and personally gave my father three hundred U.S. dollars for medical care and nourishment.

In 1930, my father was ordained as a pastor in Shenyang (Mukden) and appointed director of the Liaoning Mission. Pastor Wang Fuyuan served as treasurer. Just as the work in northeast China was progressing, on September 18, 1931, Japan invaded and occupied the four northeastern provinces of China. At that time, our family was living in the church at Xiaobeimen in Shenyang. I remember that on the morning of the 20th, my father went out to buy vegetables and returned to tell us that he had witnessed Japanese soldiers killing and burying Chinese civilians alive. He decided then to move the whole family back to hometown Changsha.

In October 1931, we left Shenyang for Beijing, and in the summer of 1932 we returned to our home in Changsha. At that time, Pastor Liu Zhongguang, who had been baptized together with my father, was serving as director of the Kiangsi (Jiangxi) Mission; Pastor Wang Dezhi was working in Changsha; and Pastor Huang Chongsheng was teaching Bible at Hongdao Middle School (Hunan Junior Middle School). In the summer of 1933, the American missionary Pastor Ji Xin (H. L. Graham) returned to the United States, and Pastor Wang Heren (M. C. Warren), superintendent of the Central China Union Mission, came to Changsha and invited Pastor Du to serve as director of the Honan (Hunan) Mission.

In 1937 the War of Resistance Against Japan broke out. In 1938, after the great fire of Changsha, the Honan Mission was relocated westward to Tingli County. In 1941, Pastor Du was transferred to serve as director of the Kiangsi Mission, headquartered in Ji’an County, with Evangelist Peng Xianwu as treasurer. In the summer of 1942, Pastor Du was transferred to serve as director of the East Kweichow (Guizhou) Mission. In the spring of 1944, when Japanese forces advanced into Guizhou, Pastor Du went to Chongqing. Shortly afterward, Japan surrendered. In the summer of 1946, he traveled east to Shanghai. In 1947 he became secretary of East China Union Mission’s Publishing Department, and in 1948, he served as secretary of the Home Missionary Department. In 1950, when Pastor Xu Hua became president of the China Division, Pastor Du was appointed president of the Kiangsu Mission, serving until 1952, when the church’s Three-Self Reform brought his formal pastoral role to an end. In the following twenty years, Pastor Du continued both working and preaching, never abandoning his responsibility to proclaim the messages of the Three Angels.

We went through a period of great hardship. Even after he was over eighty years old, Pastor Du often told me that he had not only prepared himself to endure persecution for righteousness’ sake but was also ready at any time to sacrifice his life for the truth. One small story illustrates how his actions matched his words. After Pastor Xu Hua was released from prison, Pastor Du learned of it within days and went to visit him at home. Pastor Xu was greatly surprised to see Pastor Du, thinking that his political label had not been removed upon his release. Yet, Pastor Du dared to visit him. Xu told Du, “You should not have come. This could bring you trouble. You should distance yourself from me.” Pastor Du replied, “We are brothers in the Lord, fellow children of God, looking forward together the return of Jesus and the moment we shall see Him. What boundary is there between us? What is there to separate? Those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. I am not afraid.”

From the time he accepted the gospel truth, Pastor Du loved the Lord and others, holding fast to the hope of Christ’s return and eternal life with unwavering faith. My parents have now rested in the Lord. We who follow them seek to walk in their footsteps, imitating their integrity as we await the Lord’s coming.