At a revival led by English missionary Paget Wilkes in Shanghai in 1925, he decided to devote his life to evangelism and changed his proper name to Shiguang (Chinese: 世光), literally meaning "World Light.
He conducted revival tours in several East Asian countries, but this activity was stopped by World War II.
[1] Following what he claimed to be a vision from the Holy Spirit, he founded a small independent missionary body in 1941, which in 1943 evolved into the Bread of Life Church (Chinese: 靈糧堂; pinyin: Ling Liang tang), headquartered in Shanghai.
[3] It quickly expanded throughout China and beyond, and in 1946 the Christian World Ling Liang Evangelistic Association was founded.
[1] Dzao eventually became an evangelist of international reputation, conducting revivals throughout Asia, with a special success in South Korea, and even in Germany together with Billy Graham.