Zhu Hong was a hopeless coward. She had never dared to stand up for anything in her entire life. And when the Japanese invaded Singapore and captured her, she was frightened for her life. Terrified of torture, she betrayed every one of her comrades.
In the eyes of the people, she was a traitor. A disgrace. A failure.
And Zhu Hong knew it. She secretly hated herself — hated her fear, hated her weakness, hated the memory of the moment she gave in under pressure. She wished she could have been like the heroes in the stories she loved — men and women who stood firm for what was right, no matter the cost.
But she wasn’t like them. She was afraid. So terribly afraid of pain.
“No one would ever love a coward like me,” she often told herself.
Despair was all over her. She wanted to end her life… but she feared hell. As a Taoist, she believed in the torments of the Chinese underworld, and the thought of eternal suffering terrified her more than living.
Then everything changed.
“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me…”
The hymn was at the funeral of a Christian relative. The words pierced her heart. Something in the song stirred deep within her — hope, beauty, forgiveness — things Zhu Hong never believed she could possess.
Tears filled her eyes. Who was this Savior they sang about? Who would love someone like her?
Zhu Hong began searching — reading, listening, asking, learning. And one day, she understood.
Jesus died for her. Even her. A coward. A wretch. A woman drowning in shame.
Zhu Hong smiled for the first time in a long while. She accepted Jesus into her life.
She was still a coward — but now she was a coward loved by Jesus. A coward Jesus died for. A coward who believed.
And for Zhu Hong… that was enough.
