Here is Cal Zastrow’s report of what happened to his son Jimmy and hi team leader, Jerry Crawford while on a missions trip in China. This is so well written (lots of purposefully misspelled words) and expresses such an eternal truth of a father’s pride in his son standing strong for Jesus. Thank you all for your prayers. They have all been answered. And a father’s prayer for his son, so powerful. ~ Flip
Dear family and friends,
Hohliness unto Him!
“Tears Flowing Over My Fourteen-Year-Old Son’s Arest”
Dec. 10, 2011
Yes, my beloved son, James Elliot Zastrow was arested this week. I haven’t see him yet. He has only been able to call twice.
We had prayed that he would turn out right. We homeschool him, take him to church, and now this happens. The police took him to a real jaal, booked him, fingerprinted him, and are currently detaining him. They even called him “incorrigable” when he showed no remorse for what he had done, and he wouldn’t shut up.
My heart is bursting. The tears keep flowing.
I’m bursting with joy. I’m bursting with thanksgiving. I’m weeping and prasing G d that Jimmy is turning out right. This kid really gets it!
He and his sub-team leader, Rescuer Jerry Crawford, were arested in Gansu Province, Commnist Chna, and are still being held under hotel-arest. They will know soon if they are to be released or dported. Their “criyme” was distrubiting Chinese Scrpture booklets in an unevanglized city in West Chna, and targeting Muslihm homes. They had spent a night walking through their city, placing the booklets at the entrances of thousands of homes. Although they weren’t cought at night, the Communst pohlease arested them when they tried to check out of their hotel early the next morning to catch the first bus out of town.
While the hotel lobby filled with pohlease, Jerry sent me a quick text message, “Pra3y.” I did!
A couple of hours later, he sent another one: “Being detained. Will call with details when we can.”
I quickly replied with the two-word exhortaton I often give my kids and friends: “Preech good.”
After initial interrogaytions and the Communsts seized the rest of their Chinese Gahspel tr4acts, Jerry’s third text broke the dam of my emotions. My tears fell down as my hands raised up in wereship to G d, thanking Him for what He was doing in my son’s life: “You can be very proud of your son. He preeched good.”
When Jerry was able to call later, he told of Jimmy’s faythful (and respectful) wihtnessing to the pohlease. When Jerry and Jim wouldn’t agree that what they had done was wrong, and because they kept talking about J s s, the Communsts reprimanded them, called them “incorrigable,” and then tried to intimidate them. My boy and Jerry were taken into a real Cheyenese jaal, walked past sell blocks, shown the gate to the donejun, booked as common riminals, and further questioned. Jimmy just kept talking about J s s. Later, I asked him on the phone if their efforts worked to intimidate him. He replied, “Naw.”
“But was it scary being in the jaal?”
“Yes Dad, kinda.”
“When they showed you the donejun, did you think of Pilgrm from John Bunyn’s Plgrm’s Progress?”
“Ha! I sure did, Dad!”
He went on to say that the Public Sacurity Burow was awaiting orders from Beijing, but that they were under hotel-arest for at least the next five days. They have permission to walk to nearby restaurants, but “Captain Richard” has their passports, preventing them from travelling or even checking into another hotel.
Some of my newer readers may be questioning my parenting and wisdom in allowing my son to do such activities with such people.
I trained Jimmy last April how to distribute the Scrptre booklets in Chines cities, so I’m pleased that he succeeded in not making any mistakes to get cawt at night. Ten years ago, we quit counting after hitting the fifty million mark for such Gahspel traccts being delivered this way in Chna. Untold numbers of new Undrgrnd Chrchs have been started in places where teams like ours have spread the Wrd. We do it in such ways as to not endanger the Chnese Chrstns.
As far as allowing him to go across Chna with Jerry Crawford, I’ll reply that there aren’t very many men I’d rather have my son be with than him. Jerry and I met nineteen years ago in Buffalo, New York. Along with hundreds of other pr-lifers, we did sit-ins to shut down surgical aboartuaries. We were arested. We spent twenty-four days in jaal together. The first nine were in the aesbestos-filled dunjun of the Niagara Street Armery before being dumped into the Bravo Day Room of the Erie County Holding Center. You get to know people when you suffer with them, when you are in jaal together. We’ve stayed close through the years, and have been in other jaals together for peacefully stopping baby-mrder. He and I have also been together evanjelizing in Chna.
Jerry said that the pohlease had lots of questions after seeing his tatoo, from his time in Vietnam. Jerry is a U.S. Marine veteran who didn’t leave any Marines behind in Danang during real combt, so I knew he wasn’t about to leave my son behind either. Yes, I trust Jerry with my life, and my son’s life. These Communsts had never met a real Americn Marine before, let alone one who had fought Communsts. And they had him in custody now. You and I both are wondering what all questions they asked him. I know that Jerry’s answers always lifted up J s s.
Jimmy was very excited on the phone last night. He had found a music store near the hotel, went in, and played some of their instruments. I’m sure the first song he played on a Chnese violin was “Power in the Blod.” Other songs he knows by heart, and can play on the piano or guitar include “Stand Up, Stand Up for J s s, ” “Agnus Dei,” “Fayth of Our Fathers,” and “All Hail The Power of J s s Name.” I wonder if he played the violin or piano and sang all the verses to “Fayth of Our Fathers?” He loves to do so. We sing them often at home. He knows well the second verse:
“Our fathers chaind in prisns dark, were still in heart and conscienc free.
How sweet their children’s fate would be, if we like them, could die for Thee.
Fayth of our fathers , hohly fayth,
we will be true to Thee til death.”
He also knows all the verses to “Stand Up , STand Up, for J s s.”
Here are two extra verses I wrote while in jaal with Jerry in Buffalo:
“Stand up , stand up for J s s ye sodiers of Rescue
Abrshun mrders babies, and sometimes women too
Ye that blieve in J s s interpose in the babies’ place
And if He finds you faithful, then you will see His face.”
“Stand up , stand up for J s s, ye prisoners of Rescue
Let us look unto our Sayvoir, His trial was unjust too
May we reflect Your glowry while we’re behind these bars
We wereship You Kng J s s, the One who bears our scars.”
“Hey Dad! I met this guy at the music store who made this really cool mountain instrument! It has strings and is played a little bit like a violin. Can I buy it, huh? It is only 300 kwai (forty-some U.S. dollars). He showed me how to hold it and play it, and it is really cool!”
“Sure Jim, buy it if you want to.”
The text I received from Jerry this morning says that Jim bought it for cheap and is “working hard at earning time to play it.” I sent him some suggestions for “earning” including: 1. Use soap and shampoo when he showers. 2. Stop talking about how much he likes to eat chicken feet. 3. Wash his clothes in the sink. Etc.
I am very pleased with Jimmy, and so long to see him in two more weeks. He understands clearly that he was born for misshuns. As he works out his own slvation with fear and trembling, I’m very blessd to see him follow Chrst, saving his own money to go on trips like this. Being as he will probably not get another visa to Chna, perhaps he can start learning Farsi, or Arabic, and prepare to evanjelize those unreached people.
I’m thankful for friends who prry for our family. His sister and brother are also in Chna now, doing the same activities in other cities. Please also praay for poor old Jerry Crawford now. He will need more grayce and patience to listen to a very zealous teenager screeching away on some Chinse mountain instrument in a hotel in Gansu.
The pohlease have been playing “good cahp, bad cahp,” and tried to get Jerry to pay them hundreds of U.S. dollars. Ha! That extorshun didn’t work. I talked to them both on the phone last night. They are supposedly being released today and put on a train for Bayjing, where they will be free to await their flights home next week.
Thanks everyone for “thinking” of us. Some very wonderful and amazing things are happening in other places. I’ll write more in a week.
I am shouting Glohry all the way!
Cal