Christian Martyrs John and Betty Stam

John and Betty Stam met at Moody Bible Institute not long after Jack Vinson’s death. Challenged by God through the poem Afraid? Of What?, John responded to a call by China Inland Mission (CIM) for single men to serve in a dangerous, communist-infested area of China. Chosen to give the Class Address for the Moody Class of 1932, he told the student body, “Shall we beat a retreat, and turn back from our high calling in Christ Jesus; or dare we advance at God’s command in face of the impossible?... Let us remind ourselves that the Great Commission was never qualified by clauses calling for advance only if funds were plentiful and no hardship or self-denial involved. On the contrary, we are told to expect tribulation and even persecution, but with it victory in Christ.” Since Betty had graduated from college a year prior to John, she had already gone over to begin her duty. Upon arriving in China, she was delayed from going to her assigned place as the missionary there, H. S. Ferguson, had been captured by bandits and was never seen alive again. John showed up a year later, they were married, and in September 1934, they were blessed with a baby girl. Assigned to Anhwei Province, they went to the town of Ching-te where the district magistrate assured them that he would protect them. A few weeks later communists attacked the town, and the magistrate was the first to flee! The communists went directly to where the Stams were living. Betty served them tea and cake while John tried to assure them that they had only peaceful intentions. When they finished their tea, the leader simply said, “You will go with us.” John was forced to write CIM a letter asking for a $20,000 ransom. He added in the letter, “The Lord bless and guide you, and as for us, may God be glorified whether by life or death.” He later told his captors that he did not expect the ransom to be paid. The “reds” withdrew from the town taking the Stams with them. Along the way they discussed killing the baby girl to save trouble. An old farmer who happened to be standing there protested and was told, “Then you will die for her.” The farmer replied, “I am willing,” and was killed instantly. John was taken to the postmaster and ordered to write another ransom note. The man asked him where they were going. John replied, “We don’t know where they’re going, but we are going to heaven.” A little later they were painfully bound with rope. After a sleepless night they were marched through the town as the communists ridiculed them. All the
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townspeople were led out to watch the execution. Suddenly the town physician, a Christian by the name of Dr. Wang, ran up and pleaded with their captors to release them. He was led away to be killed. As John himself sought mercy for the doctor’s life, he was ordered to kneel. The bandit flashed his sword and took off his head. Betty quivered and dropped, and the same befell her. Somehow during the excitement of it all, the baby girl was found alive in a house by a Chinese evangelist who had just arrived. At great risk to himself and his family, he took the baby home and buried the bodies. The town people were moved by it all and gathered to hear the funeral sermon. The evangelist fearlessly preached Christ, and told the people that they too must repent. After the funeral, the evangelist and his wife carried the baby hundreds of miles in a rice basket to the home of another missionary. This missionary took the baby to Betty Stam’s parents, Dr. and Mrs. Charles Scott, who were also missionaries to China. Upon hearing of his daughter and son-in-law’s death, Dr. Scott said, “They have not died in vain. The book of the martyrs is still the seed of the Church. If we could hear our beloved children speak, we know from their convictions that they would praise God because He counted them worthy to suffer for the sake of Christ.” The report of their martyrdom and survival of the “miracle baby” was widely publicized in the United States. Hundred of letters came in to the Scotts. Many volunteered to take their places on the mission field. Students back at Moody began holding student prayer meetings for missionaries. A CIM missionary wrote Betty’s parents, “A life which had the longest span of years might not have been able to do one-hundredth of the work for Christ which they have done in a day.” [Quoted from James and Marti Hefley, By Their Blood, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1979, pp. 56, 58-59.]