The Heavenly Man

My beloved husband finished reading this book several weeks ago and told me that it was a must-read for me and picked it out as my next biography-type book. This is the story of Brother Yun, a Chinese Christian and leader of the house church movement in his home country who faced a great amount of persecution for his faith.

The Heavenly Man is an amazing account of faith and persecution. To an individual living in the West, where we worship in freedom and without fear of persecution, the accounts in this book are shocking, convicting, and encouraging all at once. Called as a teenager to preach the Gospel, Brother Yun did not have a Bible of his own for months. When he finally received one, he committed hours each day to reading and memorizing Scripture. It was his love and knowledge of God's Word that allowed him to endure the suffering he did. Brother Yun was questioned and arrested several times because of his "illegal" activities, which included preaching the truth of the Gospel and refusing to join the state-sponsored church. He was thrown in jail and sentenced to hard labor camps, beaten, starved, and tortured- all for the sake of the Gospel. Even in these circumstances, however, Yun still preached the love of Christ and led others to their Savior.

Though several statements in the book stood out to me, I want to share this one. Brother Yun mentioned that people have often said to him, "We pray that the government of China would change so that Christians may live there more freely." His response: "No! No! That is not what we pray! We do not pray that our load would be lighter, but that our backs would be stronger!" It reminded me of the knowledge that historically, the Church seems to falter in plenty and peace and thrive in persecution and need. So let us pray for China and for all the nations where the Church faces persecution-not necessarily that those living there would have an easier life- but that they would have the strength to endure for the sake of the Gospel and that His praise would be spread unashamedly from shore to shore.