My Dad Was a Fugitive … and a Preacher

An Enemy of the State

“Working as an evangelist is forbidden in China,” remembers Isaac Liu, author of Son of the Underground published by Monarch Books. “From the very beginning, the Chinese state was suspicious of our family. Even as a young man my father talked about Jesus in many places in China and countless people had become Christians because of this. Preaching was only allowed in the official church, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, which is controlled by the Communist state. Setting up new congregations in private homes was illegal. Because of this, my father was considered an ‘enemy of the state’ and life was dangerous for the whole family. He never stopped traveling, however, secretly preaching about Jesus, and was arrested several times.”

Meant to Be

Isaac recalls: Chinese officials decide who can have babies and who can’t. For a long time my mother kept her pregnancy a secret because she was married to a convicted preacher. Life was difficult for her with hard work in the fields, poor nutrition, my father in prison and the mockery and contempt of the people in our village because she was married to an “enemy of the state.” One evening, when she was seven months pregnant, two policemen came and ordered her to abort the child of an illegal preacher. She was to report to the hospital within three days or she would be forcibly collected and taken there—which most women didn’t survive.

In her anxiety, she turned to prayer: God, you have given me this child, even though its father is in jail. Preserve this child for me and it shall live only for you.

On the evening my mother was due to go to the hospital, I came early into this world. Now I was protected by the law and could no longer be killed. God saved me at almost the last minute.

Prayer equals power

“Much prayer, much power – little prayer, little power.” We lived that truth. Because my father was in prison for preaching and my mother worked in the fields, much of my time was spent with my grandmother, Nai-Nai. Her faith was an immense encouragement in my life. She was diligent in evangelism and prayer. She moved around the surrounding villages, tirelessly carrying me on her back, leading secret prayer meetings.

One day, we came home to find all of our chickens had been stolen which meant no food. My grandmother, instead of being upset, prayed—asking God to take care of us. The other Christians in the community not only encouraged us but brought eggs with them as well which was unusual for Chinese people -- who are traditionally concerned with helping family members, not outsiders. This was evidence that that the Christian community where we lived was a new family. Generosity stemming from faith in God was the best possible sermon.

Persecuted, but alive and active

Following the deadly massacre of hundreds of freedom protesters at the “Gate of Heavenly Peace” in Beijing on June 4, 1989 (also known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre), the Chinese government decided to take a harder line with the illegal house churches that had sprung up all over the country.

“Although a law had been passed to dissolve house churches, they had been growing even more, thanks to the work of travelling preachers, and through the direct intervention and miracles from God,” recalls Isaac in his book Son of the Underground. “The leaders of the house churches were trying to make contact with Christians overseas, an action that was punishable as counter-revolutionary by the Communist government. Yet the movement could no longer be checked by the state, not even by means of arrest and cruel persecution.

You are going to do great things for China

Our church community continued to meet in our house or in other private homes. When it wasn’t safe to meet in a house, we would meet in the woods or on a riverbank that wasn't easily spotted.

My father was released from prison again but on the run. Our house was under constant surveillance because they were hoping he would return home in disguise or at night. One day the police came to our house looking for my father. They searched the whole house and spotted the many certificates that I had been awarded for achievements at school and in sports. These were all hanging in a line and filled an entire wall in our central room.

One of the policemen examined them very closely and said, “I can see that you are going to do great things for China.”

“Indeed,” agreed my grandmother. “He’s going to be a preacher of the gospel.”

Forced to Flee

“One evening,” writes Isaac Liu, author of Son of the Underground, when I was staying overnight at a friend’s house, the police showed up at my house to arrest us all. They took my mother and used various methods of torture to get her to tell where my father was hiding but they never got the information they wanted. I knew nothing of the raid and when I returned to our destroyed house, I was seized by a sudden fear of being arrested myself. I was taken to town by a community leader and found Christians waiting for me who took me to the provincial capital of Henan, Zhengzhou.

“If I hadn’t been brought out of the ‘danger zone,’ I most likely would have had the fate of many other children of ‘enemies of the state.’ These children were placed in ‘approved schools,’ which has been set up partly to brainwash children into abandoning their Christian beliefs and renouncing their ‘enemy’ parents. I would never willingly have turned against my parents, but how do I know just what the authorities in such places of correction might have done to make me recant?”

Disappointed by God

I was a country boy and city life wasn’t easy for me. I found the dirt, the cramped flat, and the smell of the city unbearable. In addition, I had to put up with the scorn the other pupils showed me as village child and for my dialect. I also had to conceal my Christian faith and all in all, it became too heavy a burden for me. I got angry with God.

“You must be a tiny, weak God. The gods of the Chinese people seem much bigger and more powerful. There are temples to these gods everywhere, but where are you?”

I understand now how it’s possible for people living through terrible circumstances are unable to believe in God’s love. For me, the realization came later, that even if I could hate God, he still loved me. He didn’t abandon me, even when I wanted to stop following him.