Jona | English Translation: Maggie Tsui
In 1952, in an aboriginal tribal village called Quri in Hsinchu,
Taiwan, an Atayal woman gave birth to a baby without ears. Heartbroken,
she wrapped the baby with linen and tossed him down into a valley. She
wanted to end his young, unfortunate life early, for she did not want
her son to endure the pain of being ridiculed as he grew up. Moreover,
she worried that his disability would hinder his livelihood in the
already poverty-stricken village. Two days later, she went to retrieve
his body, but was shocked to discover that the baby was still alive.
After learning about the story, the woman ’ s father, a Christian,
encouraged her to do her best to raise the baby.
The baby was named Cheng-Lu Hsu ( “ Cheng-Lu ” means the way of
righteousness). He grew up bearing the mockery from his tribal people.
Although he could not hear them, he could see their scoffing faces.
Since he could not express his anger, he became quite irritable and
sensitive. Whenever he saw somebody staring at him, he would beat him
up because he thought they were laughing at him. He was also an
alcoholic, squandering his life and becoming the headache of his
village.
His family hoped that Christian principles could help him, but he
often snuck away from church meetings. Sometimes, when the offering bag
was passed before him, he would steal the money and treat his friends
to a big feast.
One day when he was 17 years old, he once again tried to sneak
away from a special meeting at church. This time, his mother had gotten
six big guys to block his way out. Then suddenly, he turned back and
walked straight toward the pulpit. He said, “ I felt that there was a
power pushing me forward to the pulpit. I wanted to resist but was
powerless to do so. ” He thought the power was from the six men, but
later discovered that there was nobody behind him.
As he approached the pulpit he heard a voice, “ Ta-Lu, Ta-Lu, I
am Jesus! You are my beloved child! Repent! ” (Ta-Lu was his infant
name.) Before this, he could not hear, but when he heard this voice, he
involuntarily knelt down and proclaimed, “ Thank God! ” The congregation
did not hear God ’ s voice, but saw him full of sweat, crying out
loudly, and spit out loads of filth on the ground. After this, he could
hear and speak. Later, he discovered that God put the ears in his
forehead! So when he talked on the phone, he placed the phone on his
forehead.
Without being taught, he learned to play all sorts of musical
instruments, and even wrote his own compositions. He had only finished
the grade school, but he was able to draw the new church ’ s blueprints
overnight. Doctors from Japan tested his severely-underdeveloped ears
and found no auditory response; they concluded that it was a miracle
that he could hear.
Cheng-Lu Hsu is now an elder at a local church, and makes his
living by growing organic produce. When he has time, he tells others the
miraculous work God has done in him, so that people can come to know
this Great God.
