China is today's "riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma". More so, Chinese churches. Bob Fu's autobiography aptly titled 'God's double agent' takes the reader through a roller-coaster ride through the enigmatic Chinese churches - both the state-sponsored and the underground house churches. Not just that, it offers an intimate glimpse into a man's faith life in the most adverse circumstances.
Let me take you through his story briefly, and then give you a few snippets and wisdom which I found in this book.
Bob Fu was born as Xiqiu (meaning 'Hopeful Autumn') in the Shandong province in 1968. Born into a poor family, his entire childhood is a story of struggle and poverty. His parents, as per Chinese tradition, gave him a nickname - Pianyi, which when translated means 'cheap'. Apparently, Chinese parents give their children nick names based on what they hope their child would not grow upto. They also believe that naming a child 'ugly' would mean the evil spirits would not harm him. His mother was kicked out of her house by her first husband, as a consequence of the cultural revolution and was forced to beg door-to-door for her daily subsistence. She was accepted as a wife by a poor accountant with scoliosis, who later became Xiqiu's father.
Out of his will power to 'be someone', Xiqiu studied hard and entered university in a neighboring town. While there, his strong sense of idealism pushed him to fight for teacher's rights at the Tiananmen square in 1989. He barely missed the actual massacre that happened under the watch of global media. His would-be wife, Heidi, became ill and he had to take her to the hospital when the Chinese army brutally attacked peaceful protesters. After this event, he was hounded by the Chinese propaganda agents and was forced to sit through several hours of grinding questioning and punishment. He was considered a pariah by his friends and teachers.
In college, he had an American teacher who had been very friendly to his students. In fact, Xiqiu got his English name, Bob, through this particular teacher. They were picking random chits to identify name. He got the name Joseph, which he did not like, and exchanged it with his friend who did not like the sound of Bob. During his time of isolation, the American teacher handed him a Chinese autobiography to read, and he was struck by how much that book mirrored his own existence. Here was the story of a man who was pushed to the verge of depression who suddenly had a transformation and experienced immense peace and joy. The difference was that the author had become a member of the Jesus religion. He noted down certain phrases from that book that gave him peace as he read it.
Soon enough Bob connected with the Christians on campus. He tried the official Chinese church for a few months only to realize that it is strictly controlled by the government. It was used as a propaganda tool and the pastors were under strict instructions from the communist party. There was strict limits on the number of bibles that can be printed, the portions within the bible that can be included in sermons and other such draconian anti-Christian laws. Bob soon found the underground house church. The rest of the book describes the church activities and methods in vivid detail. After his marriage with Heidi, he takes up a job as a teacher in a Chinese Communist party school in Beijing where he continues his activities. Bob is soon discovered as the leader of the movement and was arrested by the government for his role in printing illegal bibles. He and his wife Heidi suffered incredible torture, which is described in such detail that I sometimes felt I was in the prison with him.
Several months later, they are both released under house arrest. Their first act of rebellion or civil disobedience was to return to home and make love without using a condom. Such is the level of control that the Chinese government has on a person's individual liberties. The first act of civil disobedience was quite fruitful and Heidi was soon pregnant. The only way they can keep the child was if they escaped from the house arrest and somehow deliver the baby in an underground facility. They make a brave attempt to escape the house arrest, on an individual basis, and successfully managed to cross the country to Thailand and from there to the US over a span of several months.
Since coming to the US, Bob has been extremely influential in portraying the struggles of Chinese religious freedom. He has contributed immensely to saving several persecuted christian leaders on death row, and non-christian human rights leaders as well. In this effort, he is ably assisted by the highest powers of the US government - Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and their secretaries, and numerous churches and individuals in the US. The book catalogs the efforts of all these parties in much detail and allows us to understand how each and every single small act of kindness fills the space in the big picture of God's plans for a nation.
Bob's autobiography is a fascinating account of a man's journey from a nondescript village in rural China to becoming a policy maker in the International level. The conclusion of his story is the incredible ways and means God will lift a man if he is faithful and available to Him.
Bob was faithful in his zeal as a missionary, and an available body for God to work through.
His story does not end with the usual all-is-well-now conclusion. Instead, he takes this opportunity to further highlight the ongoing struggles of Chinese Christian church (underground) and also offers few instructions on what we can do to help them. I thought one particular point was very relevant for the Indian church too. Let me quote from his book.
"Let's resist the urge to promote a certain brand of theology. I once met with a famous American evangelist in a five-star hotel in Beijing. "How many Chinese Christians," he asked, "have the spiritual gifts of speaking in other tongues?" While I am not personally against that doctrine and practice )and have even had this experience), I could tell that this secondary issue was his main concern. A few years later this minister wrote a book about how to speak in tongues that was distributed by the tens of thousands through underground Chinese printing networks. Now this issue has become one of the most divisive issues in Chinese churches."
I think this is an issue that we too face in our ministry. I have noted that numerous Christians focus on the peripheral doctrinal differences rather than the message of Christ's love.
We end up showing such disunity and disharmony to the outside world and end up being counterproductive evangelists in today's world.
Bob Fu's book taught me that the basic message of Christs's love is able and enough to transform a man to becoming an effective witness. I wish you and I had at least one-tenth of Bob's zeal for God's word and His love for others. There are even more interesting snippets in this book, which I will leave for your personal reading. I hope I have wet your thirst to know more about the Chinese Church. You can read more about Bob Fu via the links below:
Wiki page
Washington Post article
You can buy the book
here or rent it from a local library.
