Brother Yun is an exiled Chinese Christian. Currently, he lives in Germany and visits the United States twice a year to share his story of imprisonment and torture because of his faith. He also leads an exile ministry to bring more and more people to Christianity. His message is so powerful that people who doubt their Christian faith in the Western countries should hear his story.
Brother Yun is 58 years old, but he began sharing his beliefs with others at age 16 in different parts of China. Openly spreading the Gospel is forbidden by the Chinese government. He was arrested and sent to prison several times for preaching the Word of God. After one arrest, Chinese authorities broke his legs and tortured him on a daily basis. But Brother Yun eventually regained the use of his legs and escaped from the prison to build a new life in the West.
In his autobiography, “The Heavenly Man: The Remarkable True Story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun,” he describes how he and his family became Christians after his father suffered from cancer, and how he miraculously survived in the dark prison. His autobiography details his imprisonment and eventual escape from China.
Yun’s commitment to his faith is inspirational to people like me, not only because of his suffering in China, but because of his bravery when facing enemies and his honesty before God. He didn’t submit to the Communist regime. Under the pressure, actually torture, of the police, he didn’t disavow his faith or confess his “crime” of believing in Jesus. Instead, he preached God’s words in jail to other prisoners. Now living in the free world, he denounces the despicable crimes of the Chinese government and its abuses of human rights.
Brother Yun deserves the respect and admiration of the international community and of Christians all over the world. As a Christian myself, the best way to show my respect and admiration is to follow his brave example and denounce the crimes that the Chinese Communist Party continuously commits against its citizens, in particular Christians.
Recently, the Chinese government openly removed crosses from churches and burned them. The cross is the symbol of Jesus in our hearts and in our souls; removing the cross from churches is tantamount to assaulting beliefs we hold dear and sacred.
How could I call myself a Christian and not participate in this amazing and challenging work? How could I call the Church ‘my family’ and not weep when they weep and rejoice when they rejoice? (Romans 12:15)