Liu Zhenying
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Liu Zhenying (; born 1 January 1958), known as Brother Yun (, literally "Brother Cloud"), is an exiled Chinese Christian
house church A house church or home church is a label used to describe a group of Christians who regularly gather for worship in private homes. The group may be part of a larger Christian body, such as a parish, but some have been independent groups that se ...
leader,
evangelist Evangelist(s) may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a ...
, and proponent of the Back To Jerusalem movement. Brother Yun was involved in the Christian house church networks in China during the 1980s and 90s. Accounts about his life and ministry are to be found in his autobiography, ''The Heavenly Man''.


Life in China

Brother Yun's book tells both of great persecution, and a surprising series of miracles of deliverance very similar (though often even more 'extreme') to those found in the
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
. Despite a life of poverty in China, he since has spoken to thousands internationally with the Gospel message. Seen as a rebel among some Chinese for not joining the government-controlled Christian organization, he was imprisoned and tortured by the government authorities. His book reports that he became a highly wanted man across several
provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...
. He was finally arrested and sentenced to many years in prison. However, Brother Yun continued his ministry while in prison, with more claims of miraculous results. As a result, many prisoners and even prison officials are reported to have become
born-again To be born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelical Christianity, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is d ...
Christians. While he gained increasing favor from some officials, he also became a target of increased persecution by others. He was repeatedly beaten and became severely malnourished. While in prison, Brother Yun writes about undertaking a total
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without food or water for 74 days. After many years in prison, he escaped from
Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...
from which it is reported that nobody had previously escaped. He described how he heard the voice of the
Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...
, telling him to simply walk out the heavily guarded prison gate. Despite the risk of being shot, he wrote later that he obeyed the voice, and walked straight through several closed prison doors in front of many prison guards, across the prison yard and finally out of the main gate. Brother Yun stated that it was as if he had become invisible to the guards who stared straight through him. Although human invisibility is a
pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...
, some prison guards have lost their jobs for this 'embarrassing mishap.' It is claimed that the official investigation by the
Chinese Government The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a Unitary state, unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's ...
concluded that Brother Yun received no human help in his escape and therefore should remain free. He claims to be the only person to have escaped from this notorious maximum security prison.


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, Brother Yun took
asylum in Germany The right of asylum for victims of Political repression, political persecution is a basic right stipulated in the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, Constitution of Germany. In a wider sense, the right of asylum recognises the defini ...
. In 2001 he was imprisoned in
Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
for seven months. As a leader of the " Back to Jerusalem Movement", Brother Yun seeks to evangelise the countries between China and
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, which are among the least-Christianised of the world. He is married to Deling, with whom he has two children.


''The Heavenly Man''

''The Heavenly Man'' is an autobiography of Brother Yun detailing his life from the age of sixteen, through his three accounts of incarceration, and ending in his exile to Germany. It was awarded the "Christian Book of the Year" by the UK Christian Booksellers Convention in 2003. 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 early 2002, the book is co-written and translated by Paul Hattaway and published by Monarch Publications.


''Living Water''

The book ''Living Water'' was released in 2008 and, as with his previous book, ''The Heavenly Man'', it is also co-written and translated by Paul Hattaway. It is published by Zondervan Publications. It consists of his teachings while in North America and Europe.


Controversy

Samuel Lamb Samuel Lamb or Lin Xiangao (; October 4, 1924 – August 3, 2013) was a Protestant pastor in Guangzhou, China. He was a leader in the Chinese house church movement and known for his resistance against the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic M ...
(Lin Xiangao) has stated that Brother Yun falsely claimed to have fasted without food and water for nearly twice as long as Jesus, and falsely claiming to represent 58 million house-church Christians, and raising large sums of money in many countries. He also insists that Brother Yun in no way represents the house-churches in China, although Lamb admits he has never met Brother Yun or read his autobiography. This controversy has not been without defense. Paul Hattaway, the co-author of the book has published an open response that claims the attacks on the credibility of Brother Yun are rumours originating with Titus Pan in Hamburg. Various Chinese House Church leaders have again expressed their love and respect for Brother Yun. Among them is
Peter Xu Peter Xu (徐永泽 Xu Yongze; 9 October 1940) is the founder of an Evangelical Christian movement in China known as the "New Birth", "All Range" (全范围教会 Quanfanwei jiaohui), or " Born Again Movement." It is a Chinese house church moveme ...
, founder of the Back to Jerusalem Gospel Mission, who was a fellow prison inmate of Brother Yun. Included in ''The Heavenly Man'' (p. 299) is a letter from the elders of the Sinim Fellowship of house church leaders in China, commending Brother Yun as "blameless before God" and his testimony as "genuine."


See also

*
Religion in China Religion in China is diverse and most Chinese people are either non-religious or practice a combination of Buddhism and Taoism with a Confucian worldview, which is collectively termed as Chinese folk religion. The People's Republic of C ...
*
Christianity in China Christianity has been present in China since the early medieval period, and became a significant presence in the country during the early modern era. The Church of the East appeared in China in the 7th century, during the Tang dynasty. Catholic C ...
*
Protestantism in China Protestant Christianity ( zh, t=基督敎新敎, p=Jīdūjiào xīnjiào, l=New teachings of Christianity, in comparison to earlier Roman Catholicism) entered China in the early 19th century, taking root in a significant way during the Qing dyn ...
*
Persecution of Christians The persecution of Christians can be historically traced from the first century of the Christian era to the present day. Christian missionaries and converts to Christianity have both been targeted for persecution, sometimes to the point ...
* List of Protestant theological seminaries in China


References


External links

* . * . * . * . * , and overview of the claims of the 'Heavenly Man'. * .


Bibliography

* . {{DEFAULTSORT:Yun, Brother 1958 births Living people Chinese Christians Chinese evangelicals Chinese Pentecostals Chinese Pentecostal pastors Chinese dissidents Christian revivalists