China's First Underground Bible School
The students lived completely underground for two to three weeks at a time.
The First Underground Bible School in China
It started with a dream.
The Lord spoke to Anna, a humble Chinese wife and mother living in a small village deep in the interior of China. One night, as she slept, He said:
“I will use your house to train and bless as many people as possible, but I need you to build Me a school.”
The next day, church leaders arrived at Anna’s house with a request.
“Can we use your root cellar as a training center?” they asked.
But Anna was already prepared. “You are too late,” she replied. “The Lord has already told me to build an underground Bible school.”
Construction began immediately. For six months, Anna, her husband, and their two sons dug a labyrinth of tunnels with their bare hands. What they built became a hidden haven — a place to study the Word of God.
Students lived entirely underground for three to four weeks at a time. They ate, slept, and studied the Scriptures in those tunnels. Anna’s family worked tirelessly to conceal all traces of their presence, removing sewage and garbage under the cover of darkness.
Most days, students spent at least 16 hours studying the Word, memorizing Scripture, and praying before finally collapsing into sleep. Upon completion, the underground school could accommodate 30 students — though at times, as many as 200 squeezed in. There was never a shortage of believers eager to attend.
In total, more than 1,000 students were trained in this first underground Bible school.
A Life of Prayer and Preparation
For six years, prayer covered the school 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Not a second passed without someone interceding on their knees in a designated corner of the tunnels. Nearby, another student continuously read the Bible aloud.
The students used Bibles that had been smuggled in or handwritten by others. They trained in the Word, fasted, and prayed for direction in ministry. Only when they were certain of God’s calling did they go — and once they left, they never returned.
Each student became a strong, committed believer, willing to undergo any hardship for the sake of the Gospel. They followed Jesus in the way of the cross.
Persecution and Sacrifice
The school ran from 1982 to 1988, until it was discovered by the police.
Anna’s husband was arrested and thrown into prison. He was over 60 years old and in poor health. While in jail, he was brutalized and tortured. Fearing he would die in captivity, the authorities released him after one month. But when asked about his time in prison, he could not speak of it without breaking down into heart-wrenching sobs. Shortly after his release, he died from his injuries.
The underground Bible school gained national attention. It was the first of its kind discovered after the Cultural Revolution and became widely known across China. Investigators and journalists came from all over the country — even from Beijing. Officials emptied the tunnels, removing nearly everything — except for one small, homemade chalkboard, the only teaching tool the students had ever used.
Fearing the impact of what they had uncovered, the authorities fabricated a cover story, falsely claiming they had shut down a Christian house of prostitution. But no one believed them. In fact, they even began selling tickets to curious visitors who wanted to see the tunnels for themselves.
The authorities would later refer to the school as “The Bible School in the Wilderness.”
An Unstoppable Movement
What the officials feared most came to pass.
This first underground Bible school sparked the creation of seven more training centers for pastors and church planters. Many of the leaders trained in these tunnels became key figures in the house church movement of today.
They fed on the Scriptures, drawing strength from the power of God’s Word. Nothing could stop them from spreading the Gospel and making disciples.
Not long ago, I walked through those tunnels myself. I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit lingering in that place—holy ground. It was easy to understand why so many young believers were drawn there, willing to lay down their lives and follow the way of the cross.
“Then the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, ‘Samuel, Samuel!’ And Samuel said, ‘Speak, for Your servant is listening.’ ”
—1 Samuel 3:10
Like Samuel, Anna heard the Lord calling — and she listened.
Her obedience paved the way for God to establish a powerful training center, launching His Church in China into a new era of expansion.
I walked through those tunnels not too long ago and I felt as though I was on holy ground.
