But her grave was left untended for many years, so today it is just an empty lot with no headstone. After flicking through the pages he told us some news I found hard to believe, Marie Monsen was indeed buried here in 1962. The administrator was not familiar with her name, so he looked in a book that lists the names of the dead who are buried there. Not being able to locate Monsen’s grave immediately, we strolled to the office for help. We walked around for a few minutes, hoping to see her name on one of the several hundred tombstones. Our car pulled up at the graveyard, situated on the side of a hill in a narrow valley, with a river flowing through it. On their behalf I planned to offer thanks to God for her life. When she came to our part of China there were few Christians and the church was weak. I wondered if any other Chinese Christian had ever enjoyed the privilege I was about to enjoy. Now I had the great privilege of visiting her grave in her homeland. She never returned to China, but her legacy of uncompromising faith, unquenchable zeal and the necessity of changed hearts fully committed to the cause of Christ lives on in the Chinese church today. She returned to Norway in 1932 to take care of her elderly parents, and by then her work in China was complete.

God used Marie Monsen in a powerful manner, so that many miracles, signs and wonders followed her ministry. She was a fully committed, uncompromising follower of Jesus Christ, who showed us an example of how to suffer and endure for the Lord. The Chinese church was not only impacted by her words, but also deeply challenged by her sacrificial lifestyle. Miss Monsen was small in stature, yet a giant in God’s kingdom. Her ministry was especially effective in the southern part of Henan Province, where I come from. My hosts had asked me if I would like to visit the grave of Marie Monsen, a great Lutheran missionary to China who had been mightily used by God to revive the church in different parts of my nation from 1901 to 1932. I had been speaking in churches throughout Scandinavia, testifying about the Chinese house churches and inviting Christians to join us as we evangelize all of China and the nations beyond. My heart was stirred and excitement bubbled up inside me. One morning in autumn 1999, I awoke in the city of Bergen in western Norway. My Christian friends call me Brother Yun.

The Heavenly Man by Paul Hattaway