Brother Yun
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Brother Yun a.k.a. Liu Zhenying (born 1958) is an exiled Chinese Christian house church leader, evangelist, and proponent of the Back To Jerusalem movement.
Since his ministry in China was with the underground house churches of the Born Again Movement, accounts about his life and ministry are to be found in his autobiography, The Heavenly Man.
Life in China
Yun's book claims both extreme persecutions and miracles of deliverance similar to ones found in the Bible. Despite a life of poverty in China, he since has spoken to thousands internationally, possibly millions, with the gospel message. Seen as a rebel among some Chinese for not joining the 'official' government-controlled Christian organization (see: Three-Self Patriotic Movement), he was imprisoned and tortured by the government authorities. His book claims that he became a highly wanted man across several provinces[1]. He was finally arrested and sentenced to many years in prison. However, Yun continued his ministry while in prison, with more claims of miraculous results. As a result, many prisoners and even some prison officials reportedly became born-again Christians[2]. Apparently, while he gained increasing favor from some officials, he also became a target of increased persecutions by others. He was repeatedly beaten and became severely malnourished. It is claimed that while in prison, Yun undertook a total fast without food or water for 74 days[3].
After many years in prison, he escaped from Zhengzhou Maximum Security prison from which it is reported that nobody had previously escaped[4]. He described how he heard the voice of the Holy Spirit, telling him to simply walk out the heavily guarded prison gate. Risking being shot to death on the spot, he wrote later that he obeyed the voice, and walked straight through several prison doors that were somehow left open in front of many prison guards, across the prison yard and finally out of the main gate. Yun stated that it was as if he had become invisible to the guards who stared straight through him. Although many expressed doubts that such a thing could happen, some prison guards had apparently lost their jobs for this 'embarrassing mishap.' It is reported that the official investigation by the Chinese Government concluded that "Yun received no human help in his escape." It is claimed that these reports have been also confirmed by numerous prisoners who occupied the same prison cell as Yun. Apparently, he remains the only person to have escaped from this notorious maximum security prison[5].
Life in exile
His ministry struggled briefly when Chinese Christians became increasingly fearful of housing him because of the potential repercussions from government authorities. After escaping from China, Yun took asylum in Germany in 2001 and has since been continuing his ministry from there. His ministry since has expanded around the globe. As a leader of the "Back to Jerusalem Movement", Yun seeks to send thousands of missionaries out from China into the least-gospel-reached countries of the world, most existing between China and Israel.
He is married to Deling with whom he has two children.
The Heavenly Man
The book The Heavenly Man was awarded the Christian Book of the Year in 2003[6]. The title comes from the name by which Brother Yun was known amongst the house church networks. He gained that name from one night of interrogation when he would only answer "I am a heavenly man!", instead of revealing his true name, in order to protect other Christians from the police.
Released in February 2003, the book is co-written and translated by Paul Hattaway and published by Monarch Publications.
See also
External links
- Charisma Magazine Cover Story April 2007 (Brother Yun no longer lives in China, but he continues to face opposition)
- AllReaders.com - review and literary breakdown
- John Mark Ministries
- Evangelicals Now printed a translation of an interview with Brother Yun and his colleague Peter Xu
- An Open Letter Regarding 'The Heavenly Man' by Paul Hattaway
- [1] Alexander Seibel website gives a German overview of the claims of the 'Heavenly Man'.
- "The Heavenly Man"(Simplified Chinese) Translated from English version "The Heavenly Man" by overseas Chinese believers.
Notes
- ^ http://user.qzone.qq.com/771501370/blog/1241784256%7Ctitle="The Heavenly Man" (Simplified Chinese)from qzone.
- ^ http://user.qzone.qq.com/771501370/blog/1217390539%7Ctitle="God give me one son and many brothers" - chapter 12 of "The Heavenly man"(Simplifed Chinese)from Qzone.
- ^ http://www.asiaharvest.org/pages/news050705OpenLetterBrotherYun.html the 74 days fast is being mentioned in Hattaway's open letter.
- ^ "Zwartz, Barney. Apr 2004. Going global with God. TheAge.com". The Age. Melbourne. 2004-04-10. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nuFuFba8io%7CBrother Yun's claim of Zhengzhou jailbreak 1997 on Youtube
- ^ "Foyles: The Heavenly Man". Retrieved 2008-04-03.