Son of the Underground

by Isaac Liu, Albrecht Kaul

In the months before Isaac's birth, Brother Yun was in prison. His mother was about to be forced into having an abortion, though seven months pregnant, because she was carrying the child of an enemy of the state. After desperate prayer, the night before she was due to go into a hospital for the operation, she miraculously gave birth.

Genres: Christian, Biography, Nonfiction, Christianity, Biography Memoir

143 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Kate Frantz · Rating 5 out of 5]

People like to say that America is embarrassing (for whatever reason) but honestly, as a Christian, I don't find America embarrassing, I find the American Church embarrassing. When you read the accounts of persecuted disciples, you look around and ask yourself, "Where is this kind of devotion in the West?" From my viewpoint I see more allegiance to America than I do to Jesus among my Christian circles. When I look further - past the free coffee, seeker-friendly message, and water-downed Gospel - I see a glimmer of the Body at work in the West. I read this book with weeping and joy because there are those among us, here in America, with the same hunger for Christ as the underground church across the globe.

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1949-1950 all Christian missionaries were banned from China. After this the church went underground. If police found a Bible or found people having worship services in their homes, they were severely punished. This book is the story of Isaac Liu and his family and the stressful life they led as Christians in a communist country.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

The autobiography of the son of a prominent Chinese pastor who was arrested multiple times and whose family faced various trials and persecutions as a result. Isaac shares how his father’s ministry and his mother and grandmother’s faith impacted his own faith and how God led his own career choice.

I found the bits of this about Isaac’s grandmother more fascinating than his own life. I appreciate the boldness of Isaac sharing the joys and trials of being the son of a pastor in China who refused to conform to the state’s restrictions (though the family escaped to Germany). For some reason I felt like some of the book felt stilted in the writing to me. Perhaps it was a translation issue, as this was originally written in German. Still an encouraging read.

Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: He talks about a friend in high school who exposed him to porn and how his repentance about the event set the friend on a path to salvation. (No details about what he saw are given.)
Violence: He mentions his father was tortured but doesn’t give details. At other times the family is in peril, but manage to escape it.
Ethnic diversity: Most characters are Chinese or German. There’s also some Burmese, a Singaporian, and some others.
LGBTQ+ content: None.
Other: Religious persecution, encounters with evil spirits, honest wrestling with faith and calling after experiencing trials.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read the book 'The Heavenly Man' I thought it would be interesting to read this book written by his son. It was good to compare to versions of one story and to understand a little more about the challenges this family have faced in their passionate desire to serve God. It is interesting to learn and understand how different it is to be a Christian in China.

[Alchariot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engrossed with this book and completed reading this book very shortly ! Amazed me how tough life was for Issac and his family at that point in time when they try to live out their faith! Also can see how God's hand was with them throughout the arduous times, God prevail! :)

[Calum Mackenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing testimony of God’s work and of people who risked their lives to share the gospel. A quick read but packing so much punch.

I can’t wait to read Isaac Liu’s dad’s story next.

Recommend unreservedly

[David Luca · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you read the Heavenly Man, read also this one. It’s nice to see his son side of the story! 👍🏻

[Adam Balshan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars [Memoir]
(W 2.73, P 2.81, T 2.75)
Exact rating: 2.76

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here in America we have little personal comprehension or experience of physical persecution or death for the sake of our faith in Jesus Christ. Son of the Underground, the story of Isaac Liu, his parents and his sibling, Yiling, is told in first person about their life in China, before they escaped with their very lives to Germany, for preaching the Gospel in China between the years of 1950 and the early 2000′s.

We know from the New Testament that when persecution becomes extreme, the Gospel spreads and flourishes. You will learn firsthand from Son of the Underground how God used persecution to grow Isaac’s own personal spiritual life, as well as his family’s, in the midst of these circumstances. The times were horrific, scary, and sometimes discouraging. Yet God worked behind the scenes through fellow believers to bring them through. The dangers were real, personal and frightening, but the grace of God moved them forward.

The underground churches had to hide in order to worship and study the Bible. Sometimes they shared pages of the Bible to get the Word out to fellow believers. Isaac, himself, memorized the whole Bible in order to preach without being caught with a Bible. When their hiding places were found out, the leader/preacher was usually taken to prison. This happened often with Isaac’s father, Brother Yun. So frequently, in fact, that Isaac did not meet his father until he was four years old and saw little of him until 2001.

Son of the Underground is also an encouraging book, full of hope and faith in Jesus Christ to overcome persecution and struggles while preaching the Word of God, whether individually or as a group of believers. Isaac preached his first message at the age of thirteen without the aid of a Bible in hand. Though he later questioned his decision to become a preacher due to the horrific obstacles, he eventually surrendered his life to the Lord’s will and committed his life to preaching the Gospel. How Isaac came to this decision, after all the struggles of persecution and being on the run, is the meat of this book. Let it encourage you in your walk!

Isaac’s book will also show you specific ways to pray for the persecuted Church in other countries, as well as how to get involved in helping financially to fund the many underground churches and children’s homes. Though American believers currently live in a free nation, we are held accountable to help the persecuted churches through prayer, finances, and even personal involvement.

This book is a challenge to each of us to do God’s will whatever the cost—to live out the New Testament command to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth. This English translation was done in early 2012. You may find a few subtle sentence structure errors, but the message comes across loud and clear. God reigns!

This book was provided by Cat Hoort of Kregel Publications in exchange for my honest review. No monetary compensation was exchanged.

[Latawnia · Rating 5 out of 5]

His father was an enemy of the state. His mother was told to have an abortion. His teachers mocked him. He first met his father when he was four years old. He and his family lived for years on the run.

Yet Isaac Liu, son of Brother Yun, survived to develop his own faith and character, and today is serving the Lord from his home in Germany.

My Review:

Though I have not had the privilege of reading the story of Brother Yun, The Heavenly Man, reading the story of his son, Isaac Liu, was riveting.

From the moment of his illegal birth in Communist China, to the harrowing journey to Germany, Liu's life was fraught with deprivation, hardship, hunger and fear. But in spite of all he and his mother and sister and grandmother endured in China, the Lord continued to be a source of light and life.

Reading about his grandmother reminded me of Timothy's grandmother, who was a godly influence in his life. She was a pillar in their village and would travel far to other villages to bring the Good News. Nai Nai actions and deeds in her Christian faith brought many people to Jesus. She would carry young Isaac on her back as they would travel to various villages to meet with other Christians.

I can't imagine what it must have been like for Isaac to have been ridiculed, mocked and tormented by his fellow students and teachers. They did that because his father spent so much time in prison for being a traveling minister. That made his father and his family an enemy of the state.

Many times he and his family had to deal with the state police searching their home, which wasn't more than an hut, looking for his father. When the danger of being arrested would arise, the family would move to another place and change their names.

My heart broke for this young man and all that he had endured. Yet at the same time, reading his story made me take a hard look at my own faith. Would I be able to hold onto the Lord's hand in such persecution? I can only pray I would.

In the United States of America we are still free to worship as we chose. We still have the freedom to attend any church we desire to. We Christians, still have liberties that our brothers and sisters in other countries don't have.

I am thankful for these freedoms, yet I believe those freedoms are going to disappear. By reading books such as Son of the Underground, and The Heavenly Man and For Those Tears, the Nora Lam Story, we can be encouraged to hold fast to our faith in Jesus.

Stories like Son of the Underground need to be shared. They help make those of us who are complacent and unaware of the persecution our brothers and sisters around the world are enduring to be mindful of them and remember them in our prayers. Their stories can help strengthen our walk with the Lord, bring about repentance in our lives and encourage us to live more fully for Him.

Son of the Underground was provided to me by Kregel Publications for the purpose of review. Thank you Kregel Publications.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isaac Liu's father was an "enemy of the state." His father was an evangelist and preacher in communist China. His parents as well as Isaac's paternal grandmother loved and worshiped Jesus. Isaac's grandmother he called Nai Nai, even in her old age she would walk many miles to neighboring villages for prayer meetings and worship. Nai Nai would take her grandson Isaac with her. Isaac's mother worked in the fields and his father was often in jail for failure to stop evangelizing others to Jesus. Nai Nai would tell Isaac, "Much prayer, much power-little prayer, little power. Prayer equals power." Isaac grew up with a family that lived their faith in a country that was hostile and abusive to them. They persevered and worked tirelessly to spread the Gospel message of Jesus. China was a country not only of communism, but of belief in evil spirits, bad luck, fate, and occult worship. Yet, Isaac's tiny Nai Nai would in God's strength and power renounce evil.

Son Of The Underground is the story of Isaac Liu and his family beginning in China, from the time of his birth until present. We are given a powerful memoir of life under communist China. Isaac being born in to a Christian family did not automatically mean he was saved, but he became a Christian because of his own personal choice of belief in Jesus as the Christ. Isaac's belief in Jesus would lead him to also be at risk of being persecuted. It would also lead him to wonder and be in prayer about what was God's mission for his life!

Son Of The Underground, was eye-opening in its depth of what life in communist China is like for a Christian that lives their faith in action.
I appreciated Isaac Liu's transparency and boldness in sharing his story.
This is a book that is encouraging, inspiring, motivating.
I love to read biographies that do not just tell me the character's are Christian, but they show me by their faith in action---even at great peril.

For more information---but in German, link was given in the book:
www.avc-de.org

Thank you to Kregel Publications and Lion Hudson for my free review copy in exchange for an honest review!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book needs to be read by every Christian who doesn’t understand fully what persecution is or what it looks like. We need to be able to know what our Chinese Brothers and Sisters are going through as they literally live and die for Christ – which is something we don’t know in our freedom in the United States. When you begin the book you are introduced to life from Isaac’s little boy eyes, where his father is absent through no fault of his own and where his mom has to work in the fields all day. He learns early on that his faith is the only thing that he has that will not change from day to day.



I devoured this book in a day – I could feel the passion and the hurt as his family ran for their lives and the worry of who may be spying on them to the Chinese government. There are some things that we only hear of but reading about it from a first hand account, such as what happens to women who refuse to abort their babies, will have you reaching for the box of tissues. There is sadness in the pages but there is also hope, hope for things not seen and hope for better things to happen – and believing in God is what that hope is pinned on and that resonates within these pages as well.



If you desire to learn more about what is going on to the Chinese Christians this book is a great place to start, one cannot deny a first hand account of the atrocities that the Chinese go through. You’ll be inspired in how you can pray to help them be strengthened by the Holy Spirit among other ways to help by visiting the website listed at the back of the book. At first I was going to let my 10 year old read this but after finishing it I know she isn’t ready for the whole story of persecution but this would make a good study for the older child.



**Disclaimer: I was provided a copy of this book from Kregel Publications in exchange for my honest review, no other compensation was given.

[Christy Trever · Rating 4 out of 5]

Son of the Underground by Isaac Liu is about the son of the famous Heavenly Man, Brother Yun, who has a story of his own to tell. Isaac's father was in prison for preaching God's Word when Isaac was born. In fact his birth was just the first of many miracles in this young man's life. Growing up in Communist China, he faced persecution and disgust from his peers and people from his village because of his father's record as an "enemy of the people" for being a firm follower of Jesus Christ. Yun missed much of his son's life, on the run and in prison, but his influence was felt in his son when Isaac began teaching people about God's Word at a very young age. He has seen the staunch faith of his grandmother, Nai Nai, who raised him when he was very young, and his mother who never gave up on or turned on her husband or God. In this book, Isaac tells the story of his youth in China, flight to Burma and then on to Germany to escape persecution for his faith and his father's "crimes." The book is fascinating in its tale of life in Communist China as a Christian, and each of us should be very grateful for the freedoms we have. It's also the very personal story of one man's search for a faith and calling of his own, separate from the father who has shadowed much of his life. The book is compelling and inspiring, but the narrative jumps around chronologically at times. jumping from age ten to eleven and down to eight or nine within a few pages. Isaac's writing style is also a bit stiff (which probably comes from his not being as familiar with English), so the deeply emotional parts don't have the impact they should. It's a good read for anyone wanting to know more about the Heavenly Man and his family, or looking for the story of one man's faith in impossible circumstances.

[Tim Baumgartner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the Christian autobiography The Heavenly Man, by Chinese Christian Brother Yun several years ago and was astounded by what I read! Tremendous courage, grit, hunger for the lost, constant persecution and hardships, along with mighty miracles permeated those pages.

So when I came across Son of the Underground: The Story of Isaac Liu, Son of Brother Yun, The Heavenly Man by Isaac Liu, I knew I had to see how the “torch was passed.”

It was fascinating how Brother Yun’s son, Isaac, picked up the faith at such a young age, but with a family like his, it was not surprising at all. But to be in constant fear of the state, of being roughed up, slander, threats of imprisonment, threats of isolation from family, threats of propaganda to brainwash you, etc. is something a lot of us Western Christians haven’t known much about–although our post-Covid days have certainly given us more exposure.

If you want your Christian faith to be challenged and encouraged, look no further to some honest sharing of one’s experiences: memorizing scripture since kindergarten, preaching at ten, wrestling with stability, wrestling with the thought of the lost, wrestling with overall future, etc. look no further!

[Maureen Timerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The life of young Isaac growing up in China is almost unimaginable for someone living in the USA. I have always been free to worship God, anyway I choose. A high price in personal sacrifice is required of any Christian in China.
He grew up with his Dad being away a good share of the time, or in Jail...being treated horribly and tortured for "Loving the Lord". I loved that his family has such deep routes in Christianity. When some days turned their darkest, you see God laying his hands on them with the opening of doors that were surely closed.
Isaac is such a refreshing wonderful young man and looking for where God wants him to be, a heartwarming read.

I received this book from the Publisher Kregel, and was not required to give a positive review.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved getting to hear about this family from the son. It is remarkable what this family has endured to be committed Christians. We have it so easy. I always wondered how it was for Bro Yun's family because he was separated from them so much. God was a father to the fatherless, just as He promised. It is wonderful to hear how Bro Yun's son is continuing his legacy. Loved the book.

[Vikki]

Awesome power of God over this family!! :)

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can appreciate his frank honesty in his description of the struggles he had being the son of Brother Yun and the expectations that he felt were placed on him.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the kind of book I would pick for myself, but a friend asked me to read it. It's a good story and I enjoyed reading it. Really made me appreciate the religious freedom I have.