Jeanette Li: A Girl Born Facing Outside

by Jeanette Li, Rose Huston (Translator)

As a girl, Jeanette Li was stubborn, sassy, and suspicious of her parent’s Buddhist superstitions. The only girl at her rural school, she learned to read by age six.

Before his death, her father gave her a nickname: Yu Xiong, meaning, “doctrine prospers.” Li was converted to Christianity as a child, and her nickname took on special significance over the next half century. Through tumults of family beatings, estrangement, and foreign occupation, the doctrines of Jesus prospered through the life of this dedicated woman.

In 1949, the People’s Republic of China declared the annihilation of all religion and instituted the doctrines of communism. They confiscated church properties and deported foreign missionaries. The Chinese church—and Jeanette Li—disappeared from Western eyes.

Still in China, Li herself was accused of treason, imprisoned, and brainwashed. In the late 1960s near the end of her life, someone asked her if she thought the gospel of Jesus Christ in China would be obliterated by Communist indoctrination. Li answered: “The church of Christ is his body. He purchased [her] with his own blood….You ask me if the church in China will be destroyed? How could it be, in the light of all these great promises?” God will build his church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it

Paperback, 322 pages, illustrated with chapter sketches and a pictorial section, Jeanette Li's timeline and a brief overview of China's history.

Genres: Christian, Biography

321 pages, Paperback

First published January 11, 2015

Reviews

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book aloud to my 8- and 11-year-olds as part of their homeschool missionary studies. I had never read the story of Jeanette Li before. It is very detailed—more than children’s missionary biographies—but was very good.

Jeanette Li did not have an easy day in her life, but lived her life fully in love for the Lord—working to spread the gospel in a hostile, Communist environment, even spending time in prison. She did not waiver in her faith or compromise her beliefs.

It was neat to read this story as a real life, Reformed Presbyterian history. My children know the daughter of one of the missionaries in this book (she goes to our church) and recognized the names of many others. These small things take this missionary story from being completely abstract to real and concrete for them (and me, too!).

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent autobiography of one of the chinese-born RP Missionaries. It was remarkable to read the way God worked in her life and her faith that he would preserve her through whatever trial (including imprisonment) she was asked to endure.

[erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

a beautiful testimony of the everlasting and unconditional faithfulness of God

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I visit China once every ten years. I went first when I was a child, again when I was a young adult, and recently when I was early in my marriage. There is a part of me that longs to be transported to another place and time and see the roots of my family.

Before my parents, my family did not practice the Christian faith. When I saw this book, I was hoping it would help me see more, and from a spiritual perspective. What would it have been like for them to know Christ during their time? In Jeanette Li: A Girl Born Facing Outside, Rose Huston translates this Chinese autography of an amazing girl and her awesome God.

Fast-paced Storytelling

This book is nearly 300 pages, but it is fast-paced with short chapters. They read as a collection of short stories. Due to the unique setting and unfamiliar circumstances, I would call the entire work a page-turner.

In many ways, Li’s stories stem from the early death of her father and the impact it had on her life and family. Tragedy is met with resilience, and Li’s storytelling keeps the narrative flowing. Nothing is lost in translation.

Faith in Persecution

Jeanette Li was converted to Christianity and baptized when she was not yet 10 years old. While she was both young in faith and young in age, she had a curiousness, boldness, and passion that is an inspiring example of the Christian life.

Ridicule, mockery, and physical beatings were common to Li because she did not comply with her forefather worship and other family traditions. Throughout it all, she remained steadfast and sought to convince her enemies of the love of Christ.

Fatherly Love

While this book transports you to another time and place, there is a sense of familiarity in the stories. They are stories of faith in real life. They are stories of perseverance and hope. Jeanette Li is my sister in Christ from another place and time, and she shares stories of our faithful Heavenly Father, who is good and gracious to his children.

I was provided a free copy of Jeanette Li: A Girl Born Facing Outside but was not required to write a positive review.

[Danielle Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Li’s life was not an easy one. Her testimony and work as an evangelist made her vulnerable to persecution, imprisonment, and countless other dangers. When the People's Republic of China declared the annihilation of all religion in 1949, Li was considered a traitor, was imprisoned and brainwashed for her unwavering faith. And yet through her entire life, through every trial, Li testifies to God's grace and sovereignty, and how he orchestrated every event from her earliest days as a child all the way until the end. She praises God for caring for and providing for her even in the midst of persecution and suffering...read more http://www.avaporinthewind.com/2016/0...

[Frances Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and very encouraging autobiography of a courageous servant of God.

[Tom Law · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story of courage and strength. It is a life well-lived in a most difficult time. It is a story of faith and perseverance. It is a story of victory through suffering. Yet it is much more than this.

The stories of how God is moving in China are awe inspiring. The proliferation church planting movements are compelling. The growth of the Christian church during these year under Communist control, since the missionaries left, are nothing short of miraculous. We revel in what God is doing in other parts of the world, but how did it start?

Jeannette Li, through the translation of Rose Huston, has opened the door and allowed us to see how God built a strong foundation upon which today’s “miracle growth” has flourished. This books helps us understand the trials and struggles necessary to keep the fires of the faith going so that future generations could hear, understand, and respond. They show us the grit and grind necessary to bring about a transformative movement.

The Christian church in general and the Chinese church, in particular, owe these men and women a tremendous debt of gratitude. They charted a bold course. They set a fantastic example for those who come after to follow, allowing God to multiply their victories despite the horrendous hardships suffered.

It is now our turn to build on their victorious suffering, following their example, and carrying the message of salvation to those who have not yet heard. The question that each page of the book breaths is, will we be faithful to God’s calling on our life? The answer will be written through our grit and grind. Oh, that the Lord will find us faithful.