UPDATE: From sorrow to salvation: Family of murdered student finds Christ amid tragedy
“Chance” encounter leads family grieving a son’s brutal death to Christ
MONTREAL, QC—A little more than two years after the brutal slaying and dismemberment of university student Lin Jun, his accused killer has come to trial. The proceedings against Luka Magnotta began September 29 in Montreal.
The case is one of horror and revulsion, hard to understand at any level. Yet while the court hashes out the details of what happened in May 2012, ChristianWeek highlights a different story, that of Lin Jun’s parents, and how, in the midst of incomprehensible tragedy, they found hope in Christ.
The following article first appeared in January 2014.
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MONTREAL, QC—Images of Chinese Concordia University student, Lin Jun, circled around the world after he was brutally murdered and dismembered on May 24, 2012. Media outlets followed the story intently as political offices across Canada received body parts in the mail and an international man-hunt for the murderer ensued.
Amidst it all, however, the story of how God reached Lin’s grieving family has gone almost completely unnoticed.
Montreal reeled as the events unfolded and many wondered if other victims would follow. Montreal’s Grace Chinese Alliance Church held a large prayer service for the security of the city and the victim’s parents, who had flown in from China. Wanting to do more for the family, the pastor, Philip Cherng, spoke to a friend who was well connected in the local Chinese community.
“We told him if there is anything we can do, we would like to,” says Cherng’s wife Dorothy. “He responded, ‘[Lin’s parents] are very difficult to reach and do not wish to see anybody. Furthermore, a Buddhist temple and the Chinese embassy have already tried their best to help them.’ My husband decided to put it aside, but how we met them is really a miracle.”
Another Chinese believer, brother Hong-Zi Zhang, overhead the conversation. Several days later he was walking his dog when it suddenly refused to go home.
“The dog pulled its master down another road. It pulled so hard it even had its chin on the ground,” says Cherng. “On that road he met another Chinese man who seemed very depressed. Zhang struck up a conversation and they found out they had worked in the same area in China.”
It was Lin’s father and Zhang offered to introduce him to Cherng. He agreed and shortly after Cherng and her husband visited the Lin’s parents at their hotel. Zhigui Du, Lin’s mother, shared with them that she was struggling with depression. Cherng could relate; before she became a Christian she had attempted suicide.
“Du’s eyes started to brighten up. She has been to church with a friend back home and had a good impression of Christians. She sighed, ‘What would have happened if I had been baptized, maybe then I could have influenced my son. Maybe my son would have another story.’ We prayed that Du would accept Christ into her heart and become God’s child.”
Two days later Du called asking to be baptized and wondering if the church would hold a Christian memorial service for her son. Despite the Buddhist ceremony, she didn’t feel comforted, but now she told Cherng she sensed “an inner peace far beyond what words can describe.”
The service was arranged and Du was baptized that Sunday, testifying, “I was always restless. I couldn’t sleep, but now I have peace.”
Cherng says Du has grown in her faith and through much dialogue has recovered from her grief. Remarkably, she has even begun expressing a motherly love towards her son’s killer.
She explains, “He is not only a murderer, he is also a victim of a broken family. What a sad boy.”
Cherng says this past spring Lin’s father and sister travelled back to Montreal. While there, they both decided to become Christians, as well.
“We don’t know what happened to the dog,” says Cherng of the day it led Zhang down the road to meet Lin. “If the dog had gone home, Zhang would not have met Lin. We think intellectually God is a good God, but God is far beyond our reasoning. He is a God who answers prayer.”
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