You may never have heard of G.E.M. (Gloria Tang Sze-wing), 31, but in Communist China she is known as “China’s Taylor Swift.”

Deng, who was born in Hong Kong, skyrocketed to fame after entering a singing competition on mainland China in 2014 called “I am a singer 2” where she placed second.

She became the first Chinese singer to surpass 200 million views on YouTube, and the first female artist in that country to have four exceeding 100 million views, making her one of the country’s top pop singers.

And in a country run by the atheistic Chinese Communist Party desperate to stamp out Christianity, she is a believer in Jesus.

Throughout her music and videos, we see references to her Christian faith, such as Israel’s Red Sea crossing in her latest video, Gloria, based on the English name given by her father.

As she prays in the video below, the sea parts and Deng encounters a bright light.

Deng told Christianity Today, that Gloria was inspired by an incident in her own life when she found herself sad, crying and praying in her bathroom. She began humming a dune that brought her a deep sense of peace in the midst of her circumstances, and this became Gloria.

While she publicly shares her faith on social media, it is dangerous to share her faith in other avenues such as TV.

Instead, she has chosen to share her faith via Biblical references in her songs and videos.

In an interview with Christianity Today, Kris Wang, an elder of Lansing Chinese Church, said: “It is very rare to see in the Chinese pop music industry that a singer would disclose her faith in songs and to generate ideas from the Bible for the entire album. There are examples in the United States that songwriters integrate their faith into pop music, like Kanye West, Justin Bieber, and DMX have done. But in atheism-dominated China, doing so is innovative and creative.”

Deng’s Christian themes, and support of Hong Kong democracy, have put her in the sites of communist authorities. Christianity Today reports, that in 2014 the CCP put her on a list of strictly controlled people due to her prayers for Hong Kong.

In the midst of CCP’s efforts to stamp out Christianity and liberty, God is raising up ‘courageous’ Christian voices in that country.

As Jesus took His last journey into Jerusalem on a donkey, people were proclaiming, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Luke 19:38).

The Pharisees in the crowd shouted out for Jesus to quieten His disciples, and the Lord replied if they keep quiet, then the rocks would cry out.

In other words, when those in authority try to stamp out the Christian message, God would raise up voices from unexpected and surprising places to proclaim Jesus as Lord.

READ: ‘Courageous’: Pop Star Known as ‘China’s Taylor Swift’ Praised For Boldly Living Out Christianity Amid China’s Anti-Faith Persecution AND Chinese Christian Pop star boldly displays her faith on social media and new album ‘Revelation’ AND Chinese Christian Pop Star G.E.M.’s New Song Is Courageous