Brother Yun
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Brother Yun is a Chinese preacher and evangelist whose life has been marked by both hardships and apparent miracles through his intense desire to reach China with the gospel throughout the late 20th century. From a life of poverty he has reached many thousands, possibly millions with the Christian gospel message. His preaching and example led many to peacefully endure government persecution. Seen as a rebel for not joining the 'official' government-controlled Christian organisations (see: Three-Self Patriotic Movement), the Chinese authorities hunted him relentlessly. He became a highly wanted man across several provinces.
His prison ministry was non-violent and he claims to have offered hope and to have administered supernatural healing upon both prison inmates and staff. For this he gained a mixture of increasing favour and increasing anger from those in power.
While in prison, Yun claims to have endured a total fast (no food and no water) for 75 days. Prison officers even attempted violence to stop his "hunger strike". During another term, he claimed to miraculously escape from the prison when heavily guarded doors were left open and prison officers unknowingly allowed him to walk across the yard and out of the main gate. He claims that it was as if he was invisible, that the guards stared straight through him. Some lost their jobs subsequently for the embarrassing 'mishap'. His ministry henceforth struggled when Chinese Christians became increasingly fearful of housing him because of the potential repercussions from government authorities. He decided to move overseas and has since been working to reach and share with many other countries around the world.
He is also a leader of the "Back to Jerusalem Movement" which seeks to send thousands of missionaries out from China into the least-gospel-reached countries of the world, most existing between China and Israel.
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"The Heavenly Man"
Brother Yun is gaining notoriety worldwide from the release of his autobiography "The Heavenly Man". The book was awarded the Christian Book of the Year in 2003. The title comes from a name for Brother Yun known amongst the house church networks from one night of interrogation where instead of revealing his true name, would only answer "I am a heavenly man!".
Released in February 2003, the book is co-written/translated by Paul Hattaway and published by Monarch Publications.
Links and Reviews
- AllReaders.com (http://www.allreaders.com/Topics/Info_23610.asp) - review and literary breakdown
- John Mark Ministries (http://www.pastornet.net.au/jmm/articles/12326.htm)
- CBN.com (http://cbn.org/CBNNews/News/040610b.asp) interviews Brother Yun