Nora Lam
Encyclopedia
Nora Lam (September 4, 1932 – February 2, 2004), was a Chinese
Protestant
Christian
minister to China
, and founder of Nora Lam Ministries International (NLMI). Lam was born in China and lived there until her escape to Hong Kong at age 26.
, China
. Abandoned at birth, she was adopted six months later by Dr. and Mrs. H.T. Sung, a prominent couple in Shanghai
. Her adoptive mother was a member of one of Shanghai's wealthiest families. Her adpotive father was born September 11, 1900 and was educated in France
, where he received some Catholic
instruction. He, however, was not religious. Lam was given the name Neng Yee Sung, and she described her childhood as being spoiled and pampered.
In 1937, the conflict on the Marco Polo Bridge in Beijing led to the start of war with Japan
. When Japanese forces reached Shanghai in 1939, Sung, then age 7, and her family fled their home to go live at her step-grandmother's home in Shanghai's French Concession
. In 1941, she attended the McTyeire Home and School for Girls, where she first heard of Christianity. During her time there, Sung had a vision of a guardian angel, appearing in the form of an old man. She felt this guardian angel advised her throughout her life.
In 1942, at age ten, her family fled the Japanese again, this time to her grandfather's home in Chongqing
, Zhang Jieshi
's war time capital in southwest China. The family traveled most of the 1500 miles on foot.
Following the end of the Chinese Civil War
in 1949, she enrolled at Huatung Political Science & Law College in Suzhou
with aspirations of becoming a lawyer. She graduated third in her class in 1953 and became an assistant professor teaching law and history. She met and fell in love with Cheng Shen Lam, another law student at the university. In 1955, realizing that she was pregnant, she and Lam were married. Their son was born later that year.
officials, who wanted to break her of any bourgeois tendencies. As she was questioned, she began to question herself, realizing that she still believed in Christianity. In her autobiography, China Cry
, Neng Yee claimed she was sentenced to death by firing squad but miraculously survived.
In 1957, her husband, whose parents lived in Hong Kong
, was also interrogated by officials as part of the first Anti-Rightist Movement
. During this time, Neng Yee gave birth to her second child, Ruth Lam Kendrick. One month later, Neng Yee's father, who had previously lost his job and had been forced into reeducation through labor
, died from experimental drugs officials tested on him.
In 1958, just as Mao Zedong's
Great Leap Forward
was beginning, Cheng Shen was able to obtain an exit visa to Hong Kong to visit his ailing father. He took daughter Ruth with him. Neng Yee, acting as a guarantor for his return, was forced to undergo hard labor despite being pregnant with their third child. After petitioning Beijing, she was granted an exit visa to visit Hong Kong during her maternity leave. Her mother's escape to Hong Kong followed two years later.
Nora's mother escaped to Hong Kong two years after she did.
. With a sponsorship from Kathryn Kuhlman, Nora was able to immigrate to the US with her children, mother, and second husband in 1966. She became a naturalized US citizen.
In 1974, she founded Nora Lam Ministries International in San Jose
, California
and began making annual missionary crusades to Asia. Crowds as large as 100,000 were in attendance at her evening crusades in Taiwan
. She also had a daily radio program broadcast in Taiwan and accessible in Mainland China
. Other ministries include orphanages and Chinese language Bible distribution.
Lam received the Korean Association of Social Work Award, a medal from the Pacific Cultural Foundation, an award from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, and a special award from Sung Ro Won Children's Home in Korea, along with the respect of national leaders.
Lam and her second husband adopted two children from Taiwan.
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
minister to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and founder of Nora Lam Ministries International (NLMI). Lam was born in China and lived there until her escape to Hong Kong at age 26.
Youth and Japanese Invasion
Nora Lam was born September 4, 1932 in a missionary hospital in BeijingBeijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. Abandoned at birth, she was adopted six months later by Dr. and Mrs. H.T. Sung, a prominent couple in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. Her adoptive mother was a member of one of Shanghai's wealthiest families. Her adpotive father was born September 11, 1900 and was educated in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where he received some Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
instruction. He, however, was not religious. Lam was given the name Neng Yee Sung, and she described her childhood as being spoiled and pampered.
In 1937, the conflict on the Marco Polo Bridge in Beijing led to the start of war with Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. When Japanese forces reached Shanghai in 1939, Sung, then age 7, and her family fled their home to go live at her step-grandmother's home in Shanghai's French Concession
Shanghai French Concession
The Shanghai French Concession was a foreign concession in Shanghai, China from 1849 until 1946, and it was progressively expanded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The concession came to an end in practice in 1943 when the Vichy French government signed it over to the pro-Japanese puppet...
. In 1941, she attended the McTyeire Home and School for Girls, where she first heard of Christianity. During her time there, Sung had a vision of a guardian angel, appearing in the form of an old man. She felt this guardian angel advised her throughout her life.
In 1942, at age ten, her family fled the Japanese again, this time to her grandfather's home in Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
, Zhang Jieshi
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
's war time capital in southwest China. The family traveled most of the 1500 miles on foot.
Return to Shanghai
After the war ended in 1945, the Sung Family returned to Shanghai. Her father began practicing medicine again at the Huantou Textile Hospital, and Sung was enrolled in the academically prestigious Mary Farnham School, a boarding school for girls run by Presbyterian missionaries. Influenced by many of her classmates, Sung professed to be a Christian on the eve of her middle school entrance exam. By age 16, however, she had stopped professing to be a Christian.Following the end of the Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
in 1949, she enrolled at Huatung Political Science & Law College in Suzhou
Suzhou
Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...
with aspirations of becoming a lawyer. She graduated third in her class in 1953 and became an assistant professor teaching law and history. She met and fell in love with Cheng Shen Lam, another law student at the university. In 1955, realizing that she was pregnant, she and Lam were married. Their son was born later that year.
Interrogation, Firing Squad, and Escape
Due to her parents wealth and western training and to her own experiences with foreign missionaries, Neng Yee was interrogated by Communist partyCommunist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
officials, who wanted to break her of any bourgeois tendencies. As she was questioned, she began to question herself, realizing that she still believed in Christianity. In her autobiography, China Cry
China Cry
China Cry is a biographical film set during rise of the communist state in China, based on the book by Nora Lam. It is set in the 1950s based on the true story of Sung Neng Yee. Born into a wealthy Chinese family, she is first eager to become part of Mao Tse Tung's "new society". But the Maoist...
, Neng Yee claimed she was sentenced to death by firing squad but miraculously survived.
In 1957, her husband, whose parents lived in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, was also interrogated by officials as part of the first Anti-Rightist Movement
Anti-Rightist Movement
The Anti-Rightist Movement of the People's Republic of China in the 1950s and early 1960s consisted of a series of campaigns to purge alleged "rightists" within the Communist Party of China and abroad...
. During this time, Neng Yee gave birth to her second child, Ruth Lam Kendrick. One month later, Neng Yee's father, who had previously lost his job and had been forced into reeducation through labor
Reeducation through labor
Re-education through labor , abbreviated is a system of administrative detentions in the People's Republic of China which is generally used to detain persons for minor crimes such as petty theft, prostitution, and trafficking illegal drugs, as well as religious or political dissidents such as...
, died from experimental drugs officials tested on him.
In 1958, just as Mao Zedong's
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
Great Leap Forward
Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward of the People's Republic of China was an economic and social campaign of the Communist Party of China , reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern...
was beginning, Cheng Shen was able to obtain an exit visa to Hong Kong to visit his ailing father. He took daughter Ruth with him. Neng Yee, acting as a guarantor for his return, was forced to undergo hard labor despite being pregnant with their third child. After petitioning Beijing, she was granted an exit visa to visit Hong Kong during her maternity leave. Her mother's escape to Hong Kong followed two years later.
Life in Hong Kong
After reaching Hong Kong in 1958, the couple's third child was born. The Rev. Paul Kauffman served as their pastor in Hong Kong, but the couple soon had marital difficulties. Neng Yee, now known as Nora Lam, claimed spousal abuse, divorced her husband, and was re-married to S. K. Sung, an elder at the church.Nora's mother escaped to Hong Kong two years after she did.
Life in the United States
The US Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 significantly reduced immigration quotas and gave Nora the chance to immigrate to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. With a sponsorship from Kathryn Kuhlman, Nora was able to immigrate to the US with her children, mother, and second husband in 1966. She became a naturalized US citizen.
In 1974, she founded Nora Lam Ministries International in San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and began making annual missionary crusades to Asia. Crowds as large as 100,000 were in attendance at her evening crusades in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. She also had a daily radio program broadcast in Taiwan and accessible in Mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
. Other ministries include orphanages and Chinese language Bible distribution.
Lam received the Korean Association of Social Work Award, a medal from the Pacific Cultural Foundation, an award from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, and a special award from Sung Ro Won Children's Home in Korea, along with the respect of national leaders.
Lam and her second husband adopted two children from Taiwan.
Death
She died in California on February 2, 2004. She was survived by two sons, three daughters and seven grandchildren. Her oldest daughter Ruth Lam Kendrick is president of Nora Lam Ministries International, now renamed World Children's Fund, which continues to support Chinese house churches, Christian orphanages and children's programs around the world.Book authored
- China Cry: The True Story of Nora Lam (1990)
- For Those Tears (1972)