Tony Lee Series: Prison Stories

OCTOBER 31, 2025    |    5 MINUTE READ
TONY LEE, WGM MISSIONARY with REV. EMILY HINES, STORYTELLING PARTNER

Due to the sensitive area this global worker is serving in, we are using the pseudonym of Tony Lee in order to protect his identity. 

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 2 Corinthians 4:7–11 (NIV)

As a missionary in East Asia for over 40 years, Tony Lee witnessed first-hand the realities of the persecution of believers, including the brutality of prison and the threat of opposing groups.

The following are three stories from prison and persecution experiences from our brothers and sisters in East Asia where being a Christian or a pastor is a crime worthy of prison, torture, and physical and psychological abuse. This is a constant threat for the persecuted Church. In these moments of extreme physical torment, God sustains our brothers and sisters in Christ through prayer and with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Some of these stories are heart-crushing and more graphic than what is shared below. Yet these stories are worth sharing, not for the sake of gore and violence, but to share how God sustains in the midst of suffering and for us as readers to know how to better steward our prayers for our persecuted siblings in Christ. May God strengthen the persecuted Church.

Story 1: Filled with the Fire of the Holy Spirit

On a bitterly cold day with the thermometer at a biting -7 degrees Celsius (around 20 degrees Fahrenheit), Brother W. was arrested and imprisoned because of his role as a leader and pastor in the local church network. After several hours of intense interrogation and beating, the prison guards put him in this bone-chilling and dark cell, handcuffed to the bottom of the bed.

The guard gruffly barked at him to sit on the filthy and freezing cement floor while the guard snatched Brother W.’s warm blanket to use for himself on the bed. All night long, Brother W. was forced to sit unprotected from the cold. As his sore and weary body ached from the brutality of the day, and while the guard slept warmly next to him, Brother W. prayed fervently to God, and a strange, warm sensation filled his body.

Throughout the night, in spite of the frigid floor, Brother W. sat there in warm comfort, undaunted by the dangerous temperatures. Because of his faith and the passion of his heart for God, this brother was filled on the inside with the fire of the Holy Spirit and was warm and cozy on the outside.

Story 2: Criminal for Christ

Brother Z. is a pastor and a leader who was arrested for breaking the law. What was his crime? He shepherds people who have not registered with the government’s official Religious Organization and who possesses literature that does not have the official government stamp of approval on the inside.

When the city officials arrested Brother Z. for possession of illegal materials, they chose to use a heavy-handed approach with him since they knew that he was the leader of unregistered local believers. They imprisoned him and demanded five years of wages as a fine. They physically tortured him and coerced other cellmates to beat him, all to pressure him to pay the fine. But still he refused. Instead, he prayed for God’s mercy and strength!

The local believers responded in compassion and faith by supplying his wife and child with food while praying for his release. After almost six months of refusing to pay the fine, Brother Z. was finally released.  

Story 3: The Cloud of Witnesses

As a gentle-spirited and soft-spoken man, Brother W. appeared to be anything but dangerous and intimidating. This quiet brother sat calmly and unassumingly, diligently listening during this new course I was teaching on the New Testament. His radiant smile and joyful heart disguised the horrific events of his recent past.

A while ago, after a Christian workers’ meeting was dismissed and most of the other workers had already gone, the police raided the meeting place and arrested Brother W. and four other workers who were older than him. They were taken to the police station for “gentle persuasion.” Since Brother W. was the youngest of the group at 40 years of age, he ended up taking the brunt of the harassment.

At first, the policeman gently tried to coax information and names from him, assuring him that the “freedom of religion that is now prevalent in his country” would grant him his rights as long as he cooperated with the interrogators. Yet the psychological tactics were varied and numerous.

When they asked Brother W. about the unmarked religious materials that were in his possession, the Holy Spirit prompted him to say, “They were mail ordered from (Creative Access location), and since (that location) was now once again a part of our country, then it must be acceptable.”

But his interrogators were undaunted in their questioning, wanting to know specifically where he had gotten these materials. After a prayer as quick as a breath, the Holy Spirit gave Brother W. a fictitious name and address in this Creative Access location, which he recited as if it was his own. And each time over the next several hours when they tried to catch him off guard and make him contradict his own words, the Holy Spirit would always remind him of this same specific information.

However, sensing that he was withholding information, the police switched interrogators and methods, this time resorting to brute force. A group of four to five people began to beat him in every way possible. They even used a rubber baton and brutally beat him, bruising him from head to toe. Brother W. prayed for strength to endure this persecution, and the Holy Spirit sustained him in the midst of this incredible pain.

But things got worse. For the next several hours, they would try to coerce more information out of him by viciously applying electric shock all over Brother W.’s body, racking him with relentless and excruciating pain.

At this point, the only thing Brother W. could do was to cry out to Jesus for strength and grace to sustain him. The Lord brought Hebrews 12 to mind about the “cloud of witnesses,” and he realized he was not alone in this trial, but that he, too, was part of this “cloud” who had fixed their eyes on Jesus. He could “run with perseverance,” and this fact brought him great comfort and the strength to protect his fellow brothers and sisters by not revealing any information.

The abuse on Brother W.’s body during that time left him weak and frail, with a reduced energy level. The trauma took an emotional toll, as well, leaving him with a phobia against electricity for fear of getting shocked.

However, Jesus continues to be faithful, and Brother W. is steadfast as well, awaiting his future reward. Brother W. continues to diligently serve Jesus whom he loves so dearly with every ounce of strength that remains in his body.

ACTION STEPS:

PRAY: Continue in prayer for the brothers and sisters of the persecuted church. Ask God to strengthen them in the midst of unfathomable risk and persecution. And thank God for the incredible “cloud of witnesses” who surround us and cheer us on in this race we are running. May we, too, be found faithful!

READ: Tony Lee wrote more stories about the Lord stepping in for believers. Read about the Lord performing a miracle in a police raid and God's intervention in a compromising situation. 

Author Bios:

Rev. Emily Hines is an adjunct professor of Bible and Theology with Indiana Wesleyan University and Wesley Seminary and staff writer for Resonant Services, with over a decade of local church ministry experience. Outside of writing and ministry, Emily enjoys baking, crafting, raising houseplants, and perennial gardening. Emily and her husband Dave have two clever, kind, and curious kids: Petra and Simon.