How did Sister Du, a beautiful, dignified, and virtuous woman, end up like this? White-haired, vacant eyes, slurred speech, and walking with a limp... Here is the story.
My name is Xie Lingcui, a neighbor of Sister Du living in Phoenix Town, Linzi District, Zibo City, Shandong Province. Sister Du, whose full name is Du Qiuxia, was born in September 1965 in Yilan County, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province. In 1990, she moved to our town to work as a teacher at the central primary school, and in the same year, she married my husband's cousin, Guo Tianhai, who was a veteran. On first glance, I found that Sister Du had a medium height, an oval face, big and bright eyes – a typical beauty. She not only had the charm of a Northeastern girl, being both beautiful and cheerful, but also the politeness of a well-educated girl. The neighbors all said that Guo's family was blessed with such good fortune to have such a good daughter-in-law. As we lived in the same alley, and door to door with each other, so we quickly became familiar. Although I got married a year earlier than Sister Du, we were of the same age, only that she was born in September, and I in November. In 1993, Sister Du gave birth to a daughter, named Jiajia. Later on, she was transferred to a commercial company under the District Material Bureau, where her husband worked. However, three years later, both of them were laid off due to the corporate restructuring.
Brother Guo was soon hired by a transportation company as a long-distance truck driver, while Sister Du, couldn't find a suitable job for the time being and had to stay at home. At the beginning, almost every evening after dinner, she would come over to my home to chat for a while. During our conversations, she couldn’t hide her confusion and helplessness. At just over thirty years old, she suddenly lost her job, it wasn't easy for anyone. But Sister Du came to my house less and less often, and eventually didn’t appear for several months. I went to her home more than once, but each time, I was received by the cold iron lock on her door. From words of her mother-in-law, I learned that Sister Du had been learning something called “a certain Lightening” and believed in “Lord and Gods in the Heaven”, which made me utterly bewildered.
I didn't see Sister Du until a year later. In 1998, as the Spring Festival was approaching, we the whole family were having dinner when Brother Guo rushed in anxiously. “Your Sister is back; please go talk to her quickly,” he urged. I put down the steamed bun in my hand and followed him to their home. As soon as I entered, and before I could speak, Sister Du opened her voice, “‘Almighty God’ is the King of the Universe, the true God of the world. Everyone is created by the ‘Almighty God’, we are all God's children. One person believes in the ‘Almighty God’ will bring peace to the whole family.” I grabbed her hand and said, “Sister, what's happened to you? There's no such thing as ghosts or gods!” Sister Du answered with a cold expression, “If you don't believe in God, don't speak ill of Him, otherwise, you will face retribution.” The change in Sister Du over the past year really surprised me, and I said with a quivering voice, “Don't you care about your family and us all?” What she said next was completely out of my expectation: “To fulfill God's will, I'd rather not have this family.” That night, no matter how I pleaded and begged, Sister Du always sat motionless on the sofa, unmoving, posing a gesture that she would fight anyone to the end who spoke ill of the “Almighty God”. Finally, I had to leave her with tears in my eyes amidst Brother Guo's sighs of frustration.
To prevent Sister Du from leaving home, Brother Guo had no choice but to quit his job, accompanying her all the time, and call her three brothers and two sisters to come from far away in Heilongjiang, trying to persuade her. But several days later, like me, they all returned home, shaking their heads and sighing in vain.
About two months later, on a late night while her husband and child were asleep, Sister Du walked out of home once again, leaving a note that read “I'm leaving to fulfill the task given by the ‘Almighty God’, don't try to find me”, and leaving her husband and her 5-year-old daughter. From then on, there was no news of her for nineteen years. During this period, her father-in-law and mother-in-law passed away in desperate wait, her husband endured each day like a year, and their daughter cried pitifully all day long: “Where is mom?”, “I miss my mom!”
At last, the day came when their daughter grew up and got married. Just as Brother Guo's life was gradually returning to normal, and Sister Du's image became distant and vague in the minds of neighbors, a phone call to Brother Guo after the 2017 Chinese Lunar New Year once again made Sister Du the topic of the village. The call came from Hebei Province, informing that Sister Du was seriously ill and temporarily staying at the police station in Handan Railway Station, and asking Guo to come and pick his wife up as soon as possible. Hanging up the phone, Brother Guo quickly notified his daughter and son-in-law, rushing to Hebei Province together with him.
Upon hearing the news that Sister Du had been brought back home, I went to Brother Guo's home at once. If it weren't for the presence of several relatives and friends, I would never have believed that the hunched “elder woman” before me was the Sister Du I had been missing day and night. We hugged each other tightly and cried uncontrollably. Gradually, from Sister Du's slow and mumbled speech, I got a rough picture of her experiences during the years she was away from home.
On the second day after leaving home, Sister Du arrived in Tai'an city. Later on, she secretly engaged in cultic activities in more than ten cities, including Liaocheng, Weifang, and Qingdao. Because she had been a teacher, she had good speaking skills, and had a relatively better education, plus the deep influence of the “Almighty God” cult, she devoted herself whole-heartedly into everything she did. Sister Du's abilities and loyalty were quickly recognized. Starting from “evangelizing”, she was gradually promoted until becoming the head of the “Anti-Fraud Group” in Shandong pastoral area. Indulged in “Almighty God” affairs all day long, she never returned home for nineteen years, even when she lived in a neighboring village just a few miles away, she never made a single phone call to her family.
Shortly after the 2017 Chinese Lunar New Year, Sister Du suddenly felt an inexplicable numbness in her right leg. Similar feelings had occurred before, but usually would disappear after a while, so she didn't pay too much attention to it. However, as time passed, her condition worsened. She not only couldn’t lift her leg, but also lost control of her mouth. It took three days before people managed to take her to a hospital, where she was diagnosed as suffering from brain thrombosis. After lying in the hospital for five days, on one night, members of the “Almighty God” told her that she needed to be transferred to another hospital. They hastily took her away from the hospital and put her in a taxi. The next morning, they threw her away at the Handan Railway Station, several hundreds of miles away. It was then that Sister Du realized she had been abandoned.
Sister Du tried to seek help from passersby through gestures, shouts, and even writing with her hand on the ground. After several attempts, a kind-hearted passenger finally understood what was happening and helped her report to the police. Local police conducted a broad investigation and eventually managed to get in touch with Mr. Guo. Once they learned the truth, Sister Du's daughter and son-in-law quickly brought her to the best local hospital. The test results showed her cerebrovascular blockage was serious, and the optimal treatment time had been missed, resulting in lifelong disability.
Sister Du, who had devoted herself whole-heartedly to the “Almighty God” for 19 years, was ultimately abandoned by the cult when she was seriously ill.
