Who is Nora Lam?
September 4, 1932 ~ February 2, 2004
A Legacy of Missions and Soul Winning
The heroine and subject of the major motion picture CHINA CRY, Nora Lam has often been called the most famous Chinese evangelist/missionary in the world. Her remarkable life story continues to inspire millions of people.
Her book, CHINA CRY, is a best-seller with over 200,000 copies published by Thomas Nelson Publishers. The film of her life story won the 1990 Golden Angel Award for the best movie in moral media. CHINA CRY also was voted the "Best Feature Film of 1990" by the Association of Asian/Pacific American Artists.
Nora Lam was born September 4, 1932 and was adopted by Dr. H.T. and Evelyn Tak-Bun (Yip) Sung, a prominent family in Shanghai. Dr. Sung's father was the Chairman of the Board of the Bank of China. When the Japanese invaded mainland China during World War II, Nora and her family were forced out of their home. They fled from the Japanese and sought refuge with a relative until they were able to achieve an escape route to Chungking. When the Japanese army surrendered and left China, Nora's family moved back to Shanghai. She then enrolled in Soochow University's law school and received her degree with honors in 1953. She later taught law and history at the university.
But before long, the rumble of communism was thundering throughout China. The reign of Communist Dictator Mao Tze Tung was in full force, and Nora Lam was singled out and interrogated because of her affluent background as the daughter of a wealthy doctor and the fact that she attended the Mary Farnham Presbyterian missionary school. When she refused to repudiate her beliefs and faith, she was imprisoned and eventually put before a firing squad. A truly astonishing miracle occurred when she survived the ordeal which remains a mystery until this day.
After imprisonment by the communists, in 1958, she managed to escape to Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, she worked with the Department of Social Welfare. In 1966, Nora Lam was brought to the United States for the first time by a famed evangelist, the late Kathryn Kuhlman. Nora made her first network television appearance on Kuhlman's "I Believe In Miracles" CBS show. Kathryn Kuhlman was a mentor and sponsor of Nora Lam. Later that year, 1966, Nora and her three children emigrated to the U.S.
Throughout the 70s, Nora Lam began to present her testimony to groups across America; to supply Chinese Bibles and Christian literature, to hold large evangelistic crusades; and to give aid to orphanages in Asia. During this time, she established an office in Taiwan as her headquarters in the Far East; and she began her regular radio and TV programs there. These programs penetrated the Communist "Bamboo Curtain." She held large evangelistic crusades in Taiwan.
She was the host of the Chinese "God's Power Today" TV program for TBN and CBN. In 1972, she wrote her first book, "For Those Tears," an autobiography. In 1974, she incorporated her own organization in San Jose, California and began her annual missions tours to China and the Far East. Over 5,000 North Americans have been with Nora Lam on these short-term missionary trips in the last 18 consecutive years.
In 1974, Nora Lam became a naturalized United States citizen. She received special recognition during this period of her life, including 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.
In 1979, Nora Lam returned to Communist China (People's Republic of China) itself. This trip marked the beginning of her deep involvement with the communications between Red China and the U.S. In 1987, she visited the Shanghai State Church along with a group of American tourists; and the following year she, along with several outstanding Americans from various states, ministered at the Beijing Christian Center where President George and Barbara Bush attended when he was an U.S. Envoy to China.
By the 80's, Nora Lam's work had captured the notice of heads of state, including President Ronald Reagan. She was issued a private invitation to the White House in 1980. In l980 - 81, she opened up offices in Canada and Hong Kong. In 1982, she was first listed in WHO'S WHO IN THE WORLD and WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA.
In 1988, Nora Lam began hosting a television broadcast on China's CCTV, with a potential audience of 600 million people, as part of a cultural exchange program in conjunction with the Trinity Broadcasting Network of Santa Ana, California. Additionally, Nora Lam became a featured guest of Paul Crouch on his U.S. television broadcasts. In 1989, Nora Lam was honored with the International Broadcaster Award at the National Religious Broadcasters annual convention in Washington, D.C. She has been broadcasting on Taiwan radio and television for 17 years.
Nora Lam has distributed over 1.1 million Chinese Bibles in China/Asia. Her "Bibles For China Program" is one of the most important outreaches of her ministry in conjunction with assisting and sponsoring the underground house church movement in China. Nora Lam passed away on February 2, 2004. The extraordinary life of Nora Lam is a story of overcoming seemingly hopeless obstacles, the story of her public and private belief: of revolutions, war and political tumult and the individual who, irrespective of the tides of history or circumstances, stands victorious and triumphant.