The hero of the story today is a man called Li Xing, born in February 1946 from the Shuangfeng Village, Zhuhai Town, Changning County, Sichuan Province. Li Qing, Li Xing's son, was born in May 1968. The father and son had been obsessed with a cult called the Disciple Society, believing that praying devoutly could cure their diseases. Unfortunately, both of them died from the torture of diseases due to their refusal of medical treatment.
Photo of Li Xingsheng
Li Xing’s family members are ordinary farmers, with the honesty and competency unique to farmers in mountainous areas. In the early 1980s, his family initially raised more than 10 pigs, and gradually the number of pigs increased. His family income ranked first in the whole village. In 1990, his family built a large building, the first of its kind, in the village, which aroused the envy of his neighbors.
In August 1993, a Mr. Liu from Neijiang, who ran a small business in Zhuhai town, began to spread a cult called the Disciple Society in Shuangfeng Village. He told the villagers, “As long as you believe in the Disciple Society and pray every day, you can keep your families and livestock safe."
It happened at that time that five of the ten-plus piglets Li Xing's family had bought a short time ago died for refusing to be fed, which has caused great worry to his whole family. So, Mr. Liu came to Li Xing’s home and told him some miraculous things, for example, since so-and-so believed in the Disciple Society, his pigs were well raised, his back pain cured, and the grains inside his rice barrels in his house increased; a paralyzed patient was able to get out of bed and walk three days after he believed in Disciple Society; and a blind man could clearly see the way before him three days after he prayed to the Disciple Society."
After listening to those vivid stories told by Mr. Liu, Li Xing accepted them as true and was immediately attracted by the “miraculous effects” of the Disciple Society. So he asked Mr. Liu to help him pray for his family, wishing that God could bless his family with safety as well as success in pig-raising.
As his son Li Qing had been suffering from liver disease all year round, Li Xing invited Mr. Liu to stay at his home with free room and board so that Mr. Liu could help cure his son’s illness by praying every day. Now that Li Xing had become a very devout follower of the Disciple Society, Mr. Liu made use of Li Xing’s home as a church gathering point and promoted Li Xing as the deacon of the church gathering point. Li Xing was very happy and introduced the heretic cult to everyone he met, saying that as long as you believed in the Disciple Society and kept praying every day, your rice jars would be filled with grains automatically without hard work in the field, and your illness would be cured without medical treatment by a doctor. Li Xing often invited his neighbors to his home, entertaining them with cigarettes and wine, preaching the so-called Gospel to them, and distributing materials such as the Bible and A Hundred Spiritual Songs.
Since August 1994, Li Qing‘s liver disease became increasingly severe, as shown in his reduced appetite, emaciated body, sallow complexion, and difficulty in walking. Li Xing insisted that his son Li Qing mustn’t be sent to a hospital for medical treatment, including getting injections and taking medicines, otherwise, his whole family would be punished by God and suffer greater disasters for disrespect of the Disciple Society. Also, Li Xing asked his son Li Qing to kneel under a cross flag to pray three times a day for "miracles of God" to cure his disease. One of Li Xing's neighbors advised him to send his son to a hospital immediately, saying “Don’t believe in the Disciple Society, it's a heretic cult. If you believe in it, you will meet with serious trouble." But instead of following his neighbor's kind advice, Li Xing blamed his neighbor for harboring malicious intentions and hindering him from believing in the "miracles of God".
In March 1998, Li Qing died of deteriorating liver disease due to his long-term resorting to faith healing to the exclusion of using medicines. What a pity that he lost his young life prematurely at less than 30 years of age!
However, Li Qing's death did not make Li Xing wake up from and repent for his errors. As his neighbors didn't believe in him, he tramped over hill and dale to his relatives’ and friends' homes further away to preach the “Gospel” and share the “testimonies”; he also attended gatherings and preached the “Gospel” at the homes of his Church brothers.
In order to deceive people into joining the cult, Li Xing often secretly put the grains he brought from elsewhere into others' rice barrels so that they could believe in the “miracles” that the “grains of life” would become inexhaustible as long as they remained under such spiritual discipline. Li Xing and Mr. Liu often went to some patients’ homes to help treat their illnesses through "praying". When a patient got a little better, they would boast that the real God had made its presence felt.
As Li Xing had been away from home spreading the "Gospel”, his family lived a very hard life without enough family income. His daughter-in-law urged him to stop preaching the “Gospel” and instead focus on growing vegetables and raising pigs to make more money to subsidize his family. But Li Xing but drove her away instead of taking her advice.
In 2005, after spending all his money on attending the gatherings and spreading the “Gospel”, Li Xing sold his family’s building and moved into a dilapidated earthen wall house, giving all the money from selling the building to the cult organization as his "donation money". As a result, his poor 16-year-old grandson, being unable to afford the high school tuition, had to give up his schooling and go to Shanghai to work with his relatives there.
In October 2008, when Li Xing was afflicted with bronchitis and asthma, his relatives and friends persuaded him to go to a hospital for treatment. But instead of listening to their advice, he blamed them for interfering with his faith-healing and drove them out of his house. To show his piety, Li Xing called in his church brothers to cure his disease by praying for him every day, which only resulted in his condition getting worse and worse.
In January 2009, Li Xing's condition deteriorated further. Due to his bronchial asthma, he had been coughing throughout the winter, but he didn’t receive timely medical treatment. Finally, he was tortured to death by his disease.
As a result of their addiction to the Disciple Society and belief in faith healing, Li Xing and his son Li Qing paid a heavy price with their lives.
Here are some reminders from China Anti-Cult Association (http://www.chinafxj.cn): The Disciple Society(Mentuhui), also known as the Sanshu Jidu (Christ of the Third Redemption)，“Kuangye Zhaimen” (The Narrow Gate in the Wilderness), Erliang Liang Jiao (Two Liang of Grains Sect) or “Mengtou Jiao”(Head Covering Sect), was founded in 1989 by Ji Sanbao, who, formerly known as Ji Zhongjie, was born in 1940 in Tongchuan, Shaanxi Province and died of a car accident in 1997. The most harmful acts by the Disciple Society cult include: distorting the Bible, fabricating all kinds of "miracles" to lure the masses, promoting faith-healing, curing the sick by casting out devils, and formulating "wedding regulations”.
