Christened Liu Zhenying, Brother Yun was born in 1958 in China. At the age of 16 he met Jesus and soon afterwards received a powerful call to become a witness of Christ. But in Communist China, spreading the Gospel goes hand-in-hand with persecution, and because of this Brother Yun experienced prison, torture and many incredible miracles in these situations. His ministry has spanned several decades and has affected thousands of lives. Brother Yun will be attending the Awakening Europe event in Prague this summer and agreed to answer questions in an interview originally published (in French) on Info Chrétienne. We are grateful to him for sharing his inspirational life stories with us, and look forward to hearing from him in Prague!
- Can you tell us about when you first met Jesus?
In 1974, Brother Yun’s father became ill with lung cancer. His mother, who had been a Christian for many years but had become spiritually cold after the expulsion of Western missionaries during the Cultural Revolution, felt a deep sense of desperation. If her husband died, it would leave the family in dire straits. She thought of committing suicide. One evening, as she was lying in bed, she heard a voice saying to her that Jesus loved her. In tears and in repentance, she rededicated her life to God and gathered her family to pray for her husband. The next morning, her husband got better and as a result, everyone in the family, including Brother Yun, put their faith in God.
- What triggered and marked the beginning of your ministry?
Obedience to the call of God.
One morning at 4am, Brother Yun had a dream. In the dream, God asked him to be His witness in the west and south. In the same dream, he saw a young man from the south coming to his house. And so at daybreak, he told his mother to expect the young man’s visit and to ask him to wait for him. Then he set off to a village he had never heard of in the west. The people in this village had been praying for him to visit as they had heard about how he had prayed for a Bible and received one.
When the meeting at the village was over Brother Yun got ready to leave, but the villagers refused to let him go. So he stayed on and recited the first twelve chapters from the Book of Acts to them before they finally let him go. It was a 2 hour walk back to his house and, not wanting to keep the young man from the south waiting, he decided to run home. He suddenly found himself entering his village, without any apparent time lapse. What should have taken him a couple of hours took him just a few moments. It was as if God had supernaturally transported him back to his village.
- We all know that life is full of ups and downs. Would you mind sharing one of your trials with us, and how you overcame it by God’s grace?
Persecution and miracles in Brother Yun’s life:
Brother Yun was arrested by security police numerous times and was thrown into prison three times for sharing the Gospel in communist China.
The first time Brother Yun was arrested, he was just 17 years old. At the time, he was ministering at a meeting far from home. After he was caught, he was thrown into a freezing cold prison cell with no heating and his winter coat had been thrown into the snow by the police. He began singing Psalm 150 aloud, and the more he sang, the more he was filled with joy. Gradually, his frozen hands and feet regained feeling and he no longer felt cold.
During his first imprisonment in Nanyang, Brother Yun felt that God wanted him to fast without food and water until he saw his family again. The fast lasted 74 days, which was humanly impossible, yet was made possible because he chose to obey God.
- What project or achievement are you most proud of?
When Brother Yun was in the hands of government officials, he was repeatedly tortured and beaten with electric batons. He was also kicked, trampled on and had needles jabbed underneath his fingernails.
On one occasion he was paraded through the streets for half a day with a red cross tied behind him. When night fell, he was locked and left alone inside a large interrogation room. The wooden cross had been removed from his back but his hands were still tied when suddenly, the rope that was used to tie his hands snapped. He immediately walked out of the interrogation room and through the courtyard in the midst of onlookers but nobody stopped him or said anything. It was as if God had blinded their eyes and they did not even recognise who he was.
Because the front gate was locked, the only way Brother Yun could get out was to climb over an eight-foot high cement wall. He climbed up as far as he could manage and then looked over the wall to see a ten-foot wide open tank directly below him. He suddenly felt as if someone had lifted him up and thrown him so far, that he did not land in the tank.
Brother Yun’s 3rd imprisonment was in a maximum security prison and was a very dark period in his life because the prison guards were determined to prevent his escape. They beat his legs to cripple him permanently. They had him beaten everyday, even in his crippled state. One day, God instructed him to escape from the prison which was confirmed by a brother-in-Christ. So on the 5th of May 5 1997, he miraculously walked past dozens of prison guards and out of the maximum security prison. It was as if he had become invisible to the guards. He only realised later that his legs had been miraculously healed.
Throughout all the horrendous and painful things that Brother Yun experienced, the Word of the Lord kept coming to him, encouraging him and strengthening his faith.
- What is the greatest lesson you have learnt through your ministry?
Obedience to the Word of God. Obedience to the call of God. Having a desire and hunger to preach the Gospel of salvation and to bring people to have an encounter with Jesus.
- And if you had to do it again, what would you do differently?
I would do the same, but I would spend more time with my wife and family.
- Who is the person / people who have played a major role in your ministry?
A lot of unknown Godly heroes in China and worldwide.
- Do you have people who are examples, or mentors, who push you to grow and improve?
Hudson Taylor, Reinhard Bonnke, Mother Teresa, Waldemar Sardaczuk, and a lot of men and women of God in China and throughout the world.
- Which Biblical characters inspire you most and why?
David, Paul and Peter.
- What advice would you give to those who want to follow the same path as you?
Be obedient to the call of God and hunger for the voice of the Lord.
- How do you see your ministry in the coming years? What projects are important to you?
Brother Yun is founder of the “Back to Jerusalem” movement and has been sending missionaries out from China to share the gospel in the least-reached nations. There are currently have hundreds of unknown Chinese missionaries in the nations between China and Jerusalem.
- The news is often sad and disturbing: Christians are being persecuted, society is falling apart, there are natural disasters, and major ethical changes… What stand have you taken in the face of all these events? Are you too busy to get involved? Are you an attentive watchman? Or are you sounding the trumpet?
Brother Yun has served more than 200 nations and his life and ministry have impacted many lives. He supports hundreds of persecuted Christians and their families in China and other nations. Thousands of people have become Christians through his ministry. It is thus inevitable that fellow Christians have allowed themselves to be used as instruments of wickedness to attack his reputation.
You can read more about his life and experiences in his autobiography, “The Heavenly Man”.
