Hero of Faith Goes Home

On January 15, 2007 Rev. Gu Huai Gong, a Han missionary to the tribal people of China and Founder of Yunnan Theological Seminary went to be with the Lord. He was 92 years old. Even before the 1949 Liberation, Rev. Gu was already a missionary in the mountains of Yunnan, but at that time he received a vision from God to train and equip minority workers for the exploding Church. However, his 23 years of labor camps and prison life during the Cultural Revolution seemed to point to the impossibility of this vision. But, after years of persecution and hardship, he was released. Soon after that, he started the “Yunnan Bible Seminary” in Kunming in 1988. When interviewed in his later years, Rev. Gu always insisted that the time in prison was his best Bible seminary training. Today, the Yunnan Theological Seminary continues to pursue the vision of training and launching tribal workers for the tribal churches of China. Rev. Gu’s successor, Rev. Li Congmin said, “The seminary focuses on building the pastoral qualities of the students, rather than theoretical knowledge. This will prepare them to meet the pastoral needs of their congregations when they return to the mountains." Rev. Gu is survived by his wife, children and grandchildren. (Asian Outreach has been partnering with Pastor Gu by providing scholarships to students at YTS. We will continue to do this as training of minority workers for the fast growing church in China is an urgent need.)