Johnny Li -
Minister-at-Large, Open Doors International

Johnny Li was born on November 5, 1956 in Hong Kong. When he was young, his mother was trapped inside China for 11 years. This stirred in Johnny a fear and hatred of Communists. Bitter at this seeming abandonment, Johnny became involved with organized crime in Hong Kong, running with the Triad Society. He robbed, fought and engaged in magic and other mystical arts.

In 1972 Johnny’s sister took him to church where he heard clearly the Lord tell him three times to repent. Weeping, he knew that Jesus, not the occult, held the real power. Johnny gave his life to Christ. His gang members were suspicious. They couldn't believe Johnny was attending church because he was a Christian, but rather that he had some scheme in mind. Soon the local leader put out an order for Johnny to be killed, afraid that he was planning to reveal their secrets to anther gang. But God protected Johnny and even though the church was in the heart of gang territory, he survived. After a couple of months threats subsided and Johnny was able to meet with former gang members one by one and tell them of the miraculous change in his life.

A few years later, a Christian who had escaped from China spoke at Johnny’s church in Hong Kong. "The people have no Bibles," he explained. "In fact, many of them don't even know what a Bible is!" Although Johnny feared and hated every thing about China because of what happened to his mother, he was drawn to the people.

In 1978 his first visit made a lasting impression. People would reach out their hands and say, "We need Bibles, but we have none." Johnny did not see how he, one lone believer, could be of any help. They lived in darkness—a place of which Johnny wanted no part. Fear and betrayal were so rampant those days in China that some church services were held in total darkness. This protected them from the informer, and made it impossible for them to reveal attendees’ names when they were dragged in for interrogation. A pastor might speak to hundreds of people at a time unable to see their faces. But Johnny remembered their request.

A year later, he worked as a volunteer to be a link between foreigners and Chinese believers. Johnny joined Open Doors in 1986 and established a network for distributing literature inside China. Two years later he developed the Juniper Tree office in which Open Doors has a program for short-term volunteers to take courier trips into China delivering Bibles and other spiritual books. Soon after, the Lord moved him to concentrate on training house church leaders. He had become a link with overseas churches and pastors to minister to the needs of the house church inside China.

In 1991, at a bus in Shanghai, Johnny saw a four-year old boy slap his mother's face. He said to his mother, "I already told you, but you don't listen to me."  The mother did not react but accepted her son’s public humiliation. Under the One Family One Child Law, many parents spoil their children. The Lord asked Johnny that day, "Are you willing to pay a spiritual deposit for the next generation?" Three years later Johnny organized and compiled the first Old and New Testament Bible storybook for children.

Johnny’s ministry was becoming almost too successful. With hundreds of thousands of Bibles distributed, Johnny’s activities came under surveillance of the central Chinese government. He would be in danger if he traveled to China again.

In 1996 Open Doors relocated his family to the United States, in order that he might share with the Free Church what God is doing in the Persecuted Church of China. Since then, The Lord has sent Johnny to over 30 countries to share the truth about the suffering church in China.
      
      
      

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