 In his opening remarks, Dr. Ray congratulated the graduates on their
great day and said they should be proud of their mission
accomplished. He added that this was one of many milestones on their
journey through life.He noted that "there seems to be a mood of
pessimism in the country," but he said: "Americans should not be a
people of pessimism. We should avoid easy pessimism and reject
reactionary panic and chose Christian enterprise instead, such as a
commitment to human rights."
Ray announced that this year's commencement included the first
six graduates of the LCU China Institute. The language training
initiative, just a year old, aims to teach English to the enrollees
so that they can continue their studies. They may then return to
China with degrees that will help the Christian movement there.
The keynote speaker, Boli Zhang, with interpreter Jian Zhu,
addressed the audience about his days as a student in China. His
dream, he said, "was to go to college after high school." At the
time, only about 10 percent of high school grads went on to college.
Unfortunately, Mao's cultural revolution interfered with this dream.
All of the colleges were closed, and students were forced to live in
the country and work on farms. This was Zhang's first disappointment
with a college education.
Zhang finally went to Beijing in 1988 to attend the University of
Beijing. He described his two years of studying as bringing sunshine
into his life. While in Beijing, he became involved in the freedom
movement, protesting social and political corruption. In 1989, he
was involved in the student protest in Tiananmen Square. The Chinese
government violently cracked down on the movement, and Zhang was
forced to flee the country. His college dreams were once again
crushed, this time by tanks.
After spending time in a Soviet-era prison, he was forced to
return to China and went into hiding for two years, having no
contact with his family. He was finally able to get to Hong Kong,
where he applied for political asylum to the United States. He is
still on the "most wanted" list in China.
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 During his time in hiding, Zhang was introduced to Christianity
by a Chinese woman who had a Bible but could not read. Zhang read it
to her. "The spirit of Christianity was a revelation to me," he
said. He was baptized into the Christian faith in 1995.
When he immigrated to the United States and made his third
attempt at college, at Princeton University, he was again
interrupted, this time by a diagnosis of kidney cancer.
Zhang told the audience he used these setbacks to learn that
life's journey has positive and negative events, encouragement and
discouragement.
"The key is to know God and trust him," he said. "I have learned
that a person must keep hope alive, never fail," he said, "and learn
from these experiences. I learned leadership and the absolute
necessity for human rights. Nobody knows what will happen tomorrow,
but dreams must be kept alive."
His cancer has been cured and he is working on his Ph.D., having
accomplished his dream of a college degree.
Zhang is the author of the book "Escape from China" and writes a
Christian-oriented blog that is read worldwide. He currently lives
in Virginia. His mission is to bring the Gospel to China to overcome
what he describes as a corrupt system. When living in Beijing, he
co-founded the University of Democracy, and he hopes to return
someday to bring it back to life. There are currently over 80
million Christians in China.
As the new LCU graduates walked across the stage to receive their
diplomas from President Ray, their names and future plans were
announced. The journey of LCU grads will take them to all parts of
the United States and the world.
[By
CURT FOX]
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