The Heavenly Man (11 page)

We were told to wait in a room until he was brought to see us.

After some time a tiny figure was carried in. He was unconscious because he had been tortured just before we arrived. He looked like a little child. His ears had shrivelled to the size of raisins.

When we first saw him, none of us recognized him as Yun. We thought it was some kind of trick by the authorities. I declared, “This is not my husband!” Yun’s sister protested, “There must be some mistake. This is not my brother!”

Only after Yun’s mother saw his birthmark did she know it was truly her son. He was so little that he didn’t even look like a human being. His whole body was covered with bruises, torture marks, dried blood and dirt. Most of his hair had been torn out. His face was gaunt. His eyes appeared larger than normal, and his mouth hung open, displaying yellow teeth. He was wearing filthy torn rags.

It was just unbelievable. I was in a state of shock. Indeed, I think we all were. My head started to feel light and I almost fainted.

Yun came to and spoke for the first time in many months. His voice was just a faint whisper that only his mother was close enough to hear. When we found out that it really was Yun we all cried. It was such an emotional time. He exclaimed, “Brothers and sisters, don’t weep for me! Weep for the souls of men. Now, let us eat the body of our Lord and drink his blood.”

A sister ran to a shop outside the prison to buy some crackers and juice so we could have the Lord’s Supper. Yun told us he was going to be united with the Lord and so we should share the Lord’s Supper together for the last time before he died.

We all wept and wailed loudly. It was just so unbelievable.

When we all left the prison, we were so overcome with emotion we sat down in a circle on the street in front of the entrance. We cried out to the Lord, “Father, God of justice and mercy, please forgive our nation. Have pity on us and on those who persecute your children. May they receive your salvation!”

There were many people passing us by on the street. When they heard us wailing, a crowd gathered and demanded to know what the matter was. Many people wept as we told them what we’d seen that day.

After I was carried back to my cell, the guard kicked me and shouted, “How dare you speak and eat today after you have been quiet for so long? I will skin you alive! You wait and see!” He slammed the iron door shut as he left the cell.

The cell leader insulted me, “You are a fake! You pretended to be dying every day. I’m alive and well in prison even though I’ve killed and raped women. You came to the prison because you believe in Jesus and you’re dying like a sick dog.”

One of the other prisoners was a Muslim. He snarled at me, “How dare you preach Jesus against our nation’s laws? You deserve to die. The heavenly law will judge pigs like you!”

All the prisoners knew I was very weak and needed to be carried everywhere I went. They hadn’t heard me say one word for many weeks, but when I heard these insults the Holy Spirit came upon me. I stood to my feet, much to their
amazement, and proclaimed in a loud voice: “Fellow prisoners, I have a message from my Lord. Please listen carefully!”

Everyone was astonished that I could stand and speak with such power and authority. I was just a bag of bones. They had been placing bets on when I would die, but now I was standing before them speaking with a loud voice!

I told them, “Friends, God sent me here especially for your sake. The day I entered this cell I told you I’m a pastor who believes in Jesus. The first night I sang to you and shared Jesus’ salvation with you all. You have all closely watched me and you know I haven’t taken a single grain of rice or one drop of water for 74 days. I ask you, over several thousand years of history, who has ever seen anyone do this for 74 days and live? Don’t you realize this miracle is a demonstration of God’s mighty power and his protection over me?

“Now my Lord has allowed me to stand before you to let you know that Jesus is the true and living God. How dare you continue in your sin, doing evil things! Friends, when the judgment day comes how do you plan to escape hell? Only Jesus can forgive you!

“This day the Lord has mercy on you and offers you an opportunity to repent and receive forgiveness of your sins. All of you should kneel down before Jesus Christ, confess your sins, and ask God to forgive you. How else will you escape the punishment of hell?”

After I spoke it was as though a bomb dropped on the men! They couldn’t help themselves. The cell leader was the first to come and fall on his knees. He cried out, “Yun, what must I do to be saved?”

The other prisoners also knelt down, including the Muslim. They cried out in a loud voice, “What must we do to be saved? How can we be forgiven by God?” Every one of
those sin-hardened men received the Lord Jesus Christ, repenting of their sins with many tears.

They also felt guilty for the way they had treated me. I forgave them in the same way that Joseph forgave his brothers. I encouraged them by saying,
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Genesis 50:20.

Because we didn’t have much water available, I used a few drops to baptize each one of them.

A prison guard in the hallway outside our cell heard the commotion and rushed to the door. He stood rooted to the floor for several minutes without saying a word, totally amazed at what he witnessed.

The entire atmosphere in the cell was drastically transformed. These sin-hardened men now had new tender hearts. Their language and behaviour totally changed. Previously hatred and selfishness reigned in cell number two. Now, joy and peace reigned.

For days the men walked around with tears in their eyes, amazed at how the Lord had poured out his mercy on them. When they were allowed into the yard they took every opportunity to share the gospel with prisoners from the other cells. In this way the gospel was preached throughout the prison and many repented and believed in the Lord!

By God’s grace he now gave me a new job: to disciple the new believers in the prison!

* * *

At that time Brother Fu was about to be released from the prison. I wrote a message on a piece of toilet paper and asked him to deliver it to Deling. I challenged her, “What is happening to you is the way of the cross. Were you serious when
you committed your life to him? Will you remain faithful to the Lord?” I wrote her a poem:

After our marriage Deling and I thought about having a baby, but at the time my name and photo was plastered everywhere by the police so we didn’t get the chance to spend much time together. On one occasion before I was arrested I secretly sneaked home and during that visit my wife conceived.

Soon afterwards I was imprisoned.

One night in my cell I received a clear dream from the Lord. I saw my wife happily holding a baby boy. She came to me and gently asked, “What should we name our child?”

In my dream I took the baby from her arms and immediately a Scripture came to my mind, when Abraham named Isaac. In the dream I told my wife, “His name shall be Isaac.” She smiled, and happily took the baby away.

When I woke up I couldn’t fall asleep again. I kept thinking about what I had just seen.

The next morning, 19 April 1984, my family came to the prison to deliver the good news. A guard spoke to me frankly, “Yun, your wife has given birth to a baby boy. In a few days your family will hold a celebratory feast. Here is a pen and paper. Your wife wants you to name your son.”

I immediately recalled the dream of the previous night. I thanked the guard and wrote, “His name shall be called Isaac.” Then I penned the following words to my baby boy:

The prison guard examined the note and said, “There is nothing written here relating to his case,” so he took the pen and paper away and gave the message to my family.

* * *

DELING
: A short time after our dramatic visit to Yun in prison, I gave birth to our son.

This was truly a miracle in itself. The midwife who helped me deliver Isaac said it was the first time she’d ever seen a woman give birth without pain. I’m not lying to say that I felt no pain whatsoever. It was a gracious gift of the Lord.

A few days before I gave birth I was told to go to the hospital and have an abortion. The government family planning office told me, “Your husband will never get out of prison. Do yourself a favour and don’t let this child come into the world.” They ordered me to return a few days later and they would give me an abortion.

I was terrified. Of course there was no way I would allow an abortion, but if I didn’t go back to the clinic they would search for me and forcibly abort my baby.

I shared my burden with my mother and with the Christian brothers and sisters. They prayed earnestly, asking God to help me in my predicament. The Lord answered their prayers! Suddenly I gave birth, two months’ early, before the government had the
chance to conduct an abortion on me! When the family planning office came to see why I hadn’t come to the clinic on the appointed day, there I was, sitting in a chair holding my precious baby! There was nothing they could do about it!

A note was sent to the prison notifying Yun of the birth. He wrote back, “His name shall be called Isaac.” The Lord had shown him in a dream what to name our baby boy.

This time was very difficult. We faced severe poverty. The police came to our home and confiscated everything of value: pots, pans, furniture, even our clothing. Yun’s mother and I had no choice but to work in the fields, otherwise we would have starved. She was already over 60 years old but was fit and strong.

Just one week after I’d given birth to Isaac, some loving brothers and sisters travelled more than 100 kilometres to help my mother-in-law and me to work in the fields. In our area only a few old ladies worked outside. It was a job for the young and the strong. But when these helpers visited my home they saw Yun’s mother working in the fields every day, struggling under the load.

These friends gathered the wheat and tied it together for us, then left it on the side of the fields rather than bringing it to our storehouse. After they left a storm developed, so Yun’s mother rushed outside to bring in the wheat before the rain arrived.

As it thundered, the large wooden cart Yun’s mother was putting the wheat into toppled over and pinned her to the ground. One of her arms and one of her legs were stuck under the weight of the heavy load. She was trapped in a muddy ditch for a long time, soaked by the driving rain. I was inside with my newborn baby and had no idea what had happened.

Yun’s mother suffered a broken arm and a badly injured thigh.

It was a complete disaster. I could hardly take any more. My husband was in prison, most of my friends and relatives had forsaken me, I was struggling with a newborn baby, and now Yun’s mother was badly injured.

One day I became dizzy and fainted in the field out of sheer exhaustion. After a long time I came to and started to weep as I realized my own family had disowned me, and my sister-in-law and neighbours had insulted me. I looked up into the sky and began to sing Psalm 123, “I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven…our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he shows us his mercy. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us, for we have endured much contempt. We have endured much ridicule from the proud, much contempt from the arrogant.”

* * *

YUN
: During this season of persecution nine co-workers from our church and I had been thrown into prison. Many Christian families had their homes searched and were fined large amounts of money for having Bibles or other Christian material.

Many believers were frightened, but the Holy Spirit soothed their fears and gave new direction to the church. A fresh breeze of revival swept through. Prayer meetings lasted all night and many sleeping souls were awakened. Signs and wonders were commonplace. Many brought sick people to the house churches and they were healed. Those with mental illnesses and the demon-possessed received complete deliverance and healing in Jesus’ name.

The Christians still in prison found their witness was empowered because of the many fervent prayers for us. Consequently, countless prisoners came to know the Lord.

Many government officials and Communist Party members received Jesus at that time. Some even started to witness boldly for the Lord.

There is one village called “Iron Buddhist Temple” – about 10 kilometres from my home. Sister Zhi lived in that village.
Her husband, a wealthy man, was not a believer. In fact, he worshipped idols and wouldn’t listen to the advice of his wife to forsake false gods and worship Jesus. Their son suffered from a terminal illness that no doctor could treat.

This wealthy man, who had relatives in high government positions, asked the believers to come to his house and hold a prayer meeting for his son. Dozens of Christians attended. The same night, Brother Fong rode a bicycle to that village to tell the believers news from his visit to me in prison.

The Christians were deeply touched by what they heard about my fast and suffering. They all cried out in prayer for me and forgot to pray for the sick boy!

Sister Zhi’s husband complained, “Tonight I invited you to come and pray for my son. Who is this Yun? He didn’t eat anything for 74 days and he’s still alive? How is that possible? Is he a god?” He commanded everyone, “Stop crying for this Yun! Please now pray for my son in the name of this Jesus whom Yun trusts. If this Jesus helps my son, then I’ll use my contacts with the government to help him get out of prison.”

For his glory, God listened to everyone’s prayer. The boy was immediately healed that night. The whole family received Jesus. Sister Zhi’s husband mobilized the whole village to hear the gospel and the majority of villagers committed their lives to God. Later, after I was released from prison, I would visit that village and hear this story from the people’s own mouths.

One day Sister Zhi told her husband, “I’ve heard Yun’s wife has given birth today. Why don’t you visit his family, but make sure you take a gift. This is the child of Yun, whose God healed our son and saved your soul.”

That day he brought many gifts to my family. When he first saw my mother he said, “Old lady, you don’t know me,
but I bring you gifts of thankfulness. None of you know me, but let me tell you a story…” Deling had been resting in her room. When she heard this man speak she got up and came to listen.

He carefully explained what had happened, how the Lord had graciously healed his son and saved most of the families in their village.

They all thanked God together. My family pleaded with him to visit his relatives in the government and arrange to deliver news of my son’s birth to me.

Zhi’s husband had a cousin who worked as an armed guard in the prison. He was one of the guards who had used electric batons to torture me and throw me into the human waste.

This newly converted brother went to his cousin and said, “Yun is my relative (he meant, relative in the Lord). The Jesus Yun believes in is the true and living God. Take good care of him and treat him well.”