Sung Neng Yee’s (Nora Lam) story is wrapped up within one of the most incredible marvels in all world history: how the Christian church survived under repressive atheistic communism in China. But it did more than survive. It thrived and multiplied. We can better understand these heroic Chinese Christians through Nora’s story. Adopted by a prominent family in Shanghai in 1941, little Sung Neng Yee (Nora Lam) is treated like a princess. . . until the bombs drop, and the Japanese seize her house. After the defeat of the Japanese, she joins the Communists, believing they are the liberators of China. All goes well until she falls in love with Iam Cheng Shen from Hong Kong. Communist officials decide to break her of any bourgeois tendencies. During the next few years, in which she marries and has three children, she is subjected to excruciating persecution. She calls out to God for salvation. Miracles follow. She bargains for her husband and daughter’s release to Hong Kong and is sent to hard labor, where she starts agitating for her own release. An intimate love story, saga of courage, and acclaimed inspirational gem.
Runtime: 101 min
Release: 1990
Cast: Julia Nickson, France Nuyen, James Shigeta
Director: James F. Collier
Writer: Nora Lam, Irene Burk
8 thoughts to “China Cry: The Nora Lam Story (1990)”
Very inspiring. My parents are in China right now teaching English. The young people don’t even know this even happened and my parents aren’t allowed to teach them about it. They did, however, encourage the students to ask their grandparents about their childhood. A few students were told the stories.
Very good film. Educational for the family to know what happened during the cultural revolution in China, so that we will recognize ideology which preserves freedom and which doesn’t.
This is an excellent movie of a true story to taste and understand the suffering of the Church in China of the last century and what true Christian faith could endure in this world. I loved this movie. This is one of our family favorites! The acting was well done, the locations and cinematography were also very good. It is an older movie, 20 years ago, but holds up well. I couldn’t help but wonder why a rich family would not leave China when they were able to before the Japanese destroyed their life. I also wondered about what happened to the family after they escaped China. The “miracle” that occurs during the firing squad scene was amazing but also her ability to live through the torture and the hard labor she is put through, while being pregnant. Although this movie has a happy ending, we must remember many Chinese Christians actually died as martyrs. Their faith is a faith of legacy for us!
A very good movie to give representation on how Christians are persecuted in China. The movie was so well done and the story flowed nicely considering it was condensed, I was not lost at all through the movie.
I liked the film because it shows what happens in a communist society. It shows the horrid things that happen that not many people know about it.Even people who think they know a lot about it and think that it is good. I definitely would recommend it to others to show everything that happens and to help open their eyes about Communism. It is important to know that history so we know what we may get ourselves into.
Nora Lam was young when the Japanese attacked her house and seized her possessions. She had a life of trials and struggles thinking that the Communism government was a good one but, that was soon changes. She learned that communism is horrible and through the Lord she was shown this. She was changed though the Lord and her light of seeing things as they really are.
My favorite part was when the Colonel was explaining that her exit permit had been granted. He said ” but it is known you will not return.” I find that funny. It seems God softened the Colonel’s heart to not keep her granted permit from her. Heavenly father saved her from the Communists before. They could have easily put her back out there and shot her after the “electrical problem” was fixed. I learned that God will continually bless us if we stay faithful even unto redemption. I would recommend this to other people because it shed a new light on particularity the christian side of Communist terror in China. We need to understand how terrible Communism is so that we do not fall under the influence of its evil power.
This was very inspiring. I absolutely loved the example of trusting in the Lord one day at a time. This simple principle is true, and I know that what this woman went through was true, and that God blessed her for her dilligence in trusting in Him. The history of Communism is a depressing subject; but it is a subject that is filled with many great lessons, as well as a subject that teaches one the importance of America, and how we are free. This story testifies of God’s miracles, God’s work, and how His righteous children, in the end, or at least eventually – are saved.
This was amazing! Imagine putting yourself in that situation where you have to trust God completely. She is really inspiring and taught me a lot of humility, and to stand up no matter if death is literally a few feet away. I would highly recommend this because its an amazingly written story and it’s true. Knowing what the past was like gives me a better appreciation that I have the freedom I do and don’t have to worry when the next people are coming over to murder me for believing in God.