Back to Jerusalem

[Jim Watt]

*"TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE" MINISTRIES*

*Jim & Marie Watt*

*PO Box **25116 – Federal Way** **WA** **98093-2116***

*Tel: 253.874.4256 – Email: jmbetter at gmail.com*

*Web: www.2rbetter.org <http://www.24better.org/> – **April 27, 2008***

* *

*"BACK TO **JERUSALEM**"** – "The Heavenly Man"*

*(Christian Brother Yun with Paul Hattaway)*

* *

Although China is a long, long way from Jerusalem, it's one of history's
remarkable facts that the Holy Land has been connected to China by road for
more than two millennia.



Some old accounts even suggest the gospel may have first entered China down
this road just a few decades after Jesus' death and resurrection. Seven
centuries ago the famous explorer Marco Polo came to China along the same
highway. This key trading route allowed herbs and spices, treasures, new
religions, and invading armies to flow in and out of China. At the other
end, Jerusalem acted as a hub from where products dispersed into Europe, North
Africa, and the Middle East.



The European aristocracy was amazed when they first imported a most
remarkable creature from China – the silkworm. It lent its name to this
rugged route – popularly known as the Silk Road.



Today, the nations along the ancient Silk Road are the most unevangelized in
the whole world. The three biggest religious strongholds that have refused
to yield to the advance of the gospel – Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism – have
their heart here. More than 90% of the remaining unreached people groups in
the world live along the Silk Road and in the nations surrounding China. Two
billion of the earth's inhabitants live and die in this area, completely
oblivious to the Good News that Jesus died for their sins and is the only
way to heaven.



In the 1920s God first led a group called the "Jesus Family" to take the
gospel on foot all the way from China to Jerusalem. They called the
initiative "Back to Jerusalem". Other Chinese church groups received similar
visions to start missionary movements that would impact many nations
in Asiaand the Middle
East.



Founded in 1921 in Shandong Province by a Christian named Jing Dianying, the
Jesus Family believed members should sell all their possessions and
distribute their wealth among the other family members. The five-word slogan
of the Jesus Family encapsulated their commitment to Christ and their
pattern of frugal living: "Sacrifice, abandonment, poverty, suffering,
death."



They targeted towns and villages, preaching the gospel as they walked from
one place to another. Their example of communal living and the Jesus
Family's deep Christian love amazed many onlookers. It attracted those
searching for answers to life as well as those who were homeless, destitute
and despised. Many blind people and beggars joined the Jesus Family and
found eternal life in Christ.



As they continued to grow, the Jesus Family suffered terrible hardships.
Often when this mobile community entered a new town the entire population
came out to beat, scorn and humiliate them. The opposition didn't deter
them, however, and when they preached the gospel there always seemed to be a
few people who were willing to forsake all that they had to follow Jesus.



By the late 1940's there were some 20,000 Chinese believers enlisted in more
than 100 different Jesus Family groups throughout China.



Several groups believed God had called them to take the gospel back to
Jerusalem on foot, preaching and establishing the kingdom of God in all the
territories along the way. After thousands of miles and many years of
travel, a band of faithful preachers reached the border town of Kashgar in
the Xinjiang Region of north-west China.



*       *       *



In the autumn of 1995 I was speaking at a house church gathering in central
China. The Lord had given me a deep desire to be part of his plan to send
many Chinese Christians as missionaries into Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim
lands. I encouraged the believers to seek God for a worldwide vision. I
challenged them not only to continue in their present ministries, but to
expand their horizons to include the unreached nations surrounding China.



With tears in my eyes I sang a song I had learned from an old book about the
Back to Jerusalem Movement:

*Lift up your eyes toward the West*

*There are no labourers for the great harvest*

*My Lord's heart is grieving every day*

*He asks, "Who will go forth for me?"*

* *

*With eyes filled with tears*

*And blood splattered across our chests*

*We lift up the banner of Christ*

*And will rescue the perishing sheep!*

* *

*In these last days the battle is drawing near*

*And the trumpet is sounding aloud*

*Let's quickly put on the full armour of God*

*And break through Satan's snares!*

* *

*Death is knocking at the door of many*

*And the world is overcome with sin*

*We must faithfully work as we march onward*

*Fighting even unto death!*

* *

*With hope and faith we will march on*

*Dedicating our family and all that we have*

*As we take up our heavy crosses*

*We march on toward **Jerusalem**!*

* *

While I was singing, I noticed an old man in the congregation who was
visibly moved. He was weeping and could hardly contain himself. I had no
idea who he was, and thought my preaching must have been really powerful to
cause such a response! The old brother, crowned with white hair and a white
beard, slowly walked to the front of the room and asked to speak. A
respectful hush fell over the audience.



He said, "I am Simon Zhao, a servant of the Lord. Forty eight years ago my
co-workers were martyred for the name of Jesus."



He continued, "I was one of the leaders of the Back to Jerusalem Band. We
marched across China on foot, proclaiming the gospel in every town and
village we passed through.



"Finally in 1950, after many years of hardship, we reached the border town
of Kashgar in Xinjiang Province. We stopped for a while and applied for
visas to enter the Soviet Union. We were nervous and excited at the same
time at what lay ahead!



"Before we ever had a chance to leave China, the Communist armies under
Chairman Mao took control of Xinjiang. They immediately sealed the borders
and implemented their strong-armed style of rule.



"All the leaders of our movement were arrested. Five of us were sentenced to
forty-five years in prison with hard labour. All the other leaders died in
prison long ago. I'm the only one who survived. . . . For the sake of the
vision to take the gospel back to Jerusalem, I spent 31 years in prison for
the Lord."



We were all stunned. We sat there with our mouths wide open and tears
running down our cheeks, dripping onto the floor.



I asked Simon Zhao, the man of God, "Uncle, will you please tell us more?"



He continued, "When the Lord called us to this vision, I'd been married just
four months. My beautiful bride had just found out she was pregnant! We were
both arrested and imprisoned. Life in the prison was difficult and my wife
suffered a miscarriage."



He wiped away his tears before continuing, "At that time the Communists
killed many missionaries and their Chinese converts. In the early months of
my imprisonment in1950 I saw my beloved wife twice from afar, through the
iron bars on my window. Then I never saw her again. By the time I was
released many years later my precious bride was already long dead."



We all wept loudly. We felt that we were standing on holy ground in the
presence of the Lord.



I asked Uncle Simon, "When you were released from prison, did you still have
this Back to Jerusalem vision in your heart?"



He responded to my question by singing for us,



*How many years have bitter winds blown?*

*How many times have the storm clouds gathered?*

*Through the icy rain we couldn't see God's altar*

*The altar of God where he accepts our sacrifices.*

* *

*God's leaders are crying with broken hearts*

*Jehovah's sheep are scattered far and wide*

*Tears of sadness well up in the chilly wind*

*Where have you gone, Good Shepherd?*

*Where have you gone, soldiers of God?*

*Where have you gone?*

*Oh, where have you gone?*

* *

After Uncle Zhao rested for a while, I asked him again, "Uncle, do you still
have this vision in your heart?" He continued to sing,

*Jerusalem** is in my dreams*

*Jerusalem** is in my tears*

*I looked for you and found you in the fire of the altar*

*I looked for you and found you in Jesus' nail-scarred hands.*

* *

*We wandered through the valley of tears*

*We wandered towards our heavenly home*

*After walking through the valley of death for forty years*

*My tears dried up.*

* *

*Jesus came to destroy the chains of death*

*He came to open the path to glory!*

*The early missionaries shed their blood and tears for us*

*Let's hurry to fulfil the promise of God!*

* *

He spoke in a faltering voice, "Every evening for decades in the labour camp
I faced toward the west, in the direction of Jerusalem, and cried out to the
Lord, 'Oh God, I'll never be able to reach Jerusalem on foot. Our vision has
perished. Heavenly Father, I pray you will raise up a new generation of
Christians in China who are willing to lay down their lives to take the
gospel all the way back to where it started in Jerusalem.'"



I held his hand and assured him, "The vision God gave you has not died! We
will carry on the vision!"



We brought comfort to the heart of Uncle Zhao. He stood up, blessed us with
his holy hands, and encouraged us from Luke 24:46-48, *This is what is
written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and
repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."*

* *

He exhorted us, "You must recognize the way of the cross is the call to shed
blood. You must take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Muslim countries,
then all the way back to Jerusalem. Turn your eyes to the west!"



That meeting was a pivotal point in my life. I felt as if God passed a
flaming baton from this dear old man of God to the house churches, giving us
the responsibility to complete the vision.



The Lord had already placed the Back to Jerusalem vision in my heart, but
after meeting Simon Zhao it became the primary focus of my life. I came to
understand clearly that the destiny for the house churches of China is to
pull down the world's last remaining spiritual giants: the house of Buddha,
the house of Mohammed, and the house of Hinduism, and to proclaim the
glorious gospel to all nations before the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ!



You need to understand that when we speak about "Back to Jerusalem" we're
not saying that Jerusalem is the main goal. We are not planning to rush
there for a big conference! Jerusalem was the starting point for the gospel
two thousand years ago, and we believe it will circle the whole world and
return to its starting point. Our aim is not merely to evangelize the city
of Jerusalem, but the thousands of unreached people groups, town and
villages located between China and Jerusalem.



The vision for Back to Jerusalem is now the primary goal of all the house
church leaders in the Sinim Fellowship. This is not one project we have
among many. This is the main thrust and focus of all our activities. We talk
about it over breakfast, lunch and dinner. We pray unceasingly, asking God
to raise up labourers and remove all obstacles. We dream about it in our
sleep.



A few years ago the Sinim leaders prayed about their involvement in the Back
to Jerusalem mission. We then came together and each house church network
revealed the number of missionaries they were committed to train and send
overseas. When we added the number of workers together it totaled 100,000.
That means we intend to send 100,000 missionaries outside China in the
coming years!



A closer examination of history reveals there were actually three main "silk
roads" leaving China. The one starting in Xian and heading through Central
Asia and the heart of the Islamic world is the best known one. The second
major trading route went through Tibet, across the Himalayas to Bhutan and
Nepal, then towards Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, connecting up with the
main highway to Jerusalem. The third Silk Road went through south-west China,
where the majority of unreached minority groups live today. It headed south
into Vietnam and then westward into countries like Laos, Cambodia, Thailand,
Myanmar (Burma) and India. This route went deep into the heart of today's
Buddhist and Hindu worlds.



After we considered these facts the church leaders decided God was calling
us to follow these three main directions with the gospel. The Holy Spirit
had already called certain networks to focus on specific areas. For example,
one network had many missionary families already working in Tibetan areas.
It was natural for them to lead the thrust into the Tibetan Buddhist world.
Another network for years had the burden to reach the minority groups in
south-west China. Most of these tribes spill across borders into countries
like Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar (Burma). That network assumed the
responsibility of taking the gospel "back to Jerusalem" via the southern
route.



We are not ignorant of the fact that these nations don't welcome the gospel!
We're well aware that countries like Afghanistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia will
not take kindly to preachers in their land!



We also understand that in order to send missionaries they will need to be
equipped, trained with language and cultural skills, and supported so they
can fight for the Lord with maximum effectiveness. Today there are hundreds
of Christians inside China learning foreign languages such as Arabic and
English, in preparation for missionary service outside China.



We have also come to understand that the past thirty years of suffering,
persecution and torture for the house churches in China were all part of
God's training for us. The Lord has perfectly fitted us to go as
missionaries to the Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu worlds.



Once I spoke in the West and a Christian told me, "I've been praying for
years that the Communist government in China will collapse, so Christians
can live in freedom." This is not what we pray! We never pray against our
government or call down curses on them. Instead, we have learned that God is
in control of both our own lives and the government we live under. Isaiah
prophesied about Jesus, *"The government will be on his shoulders." Isaiah
9:6.*

* *

God has used China's government for his own purposes, moulding and shaping
his children as he sees fit. Instead of focusing our prayers against any
political system, we pray that regardless of what happens to us, we will be
pleasing to God.



Don't pray for the persecution to stop! We shouldn't pray for a lighter load
to carry, but a stronger back to endure! Then the world will see that God is
with us, empowering us to live in a way that reflects his love and power.



This is true freedom!



There is little that any of the Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu countries can do
to us that we haven't already experienced in China. The worst they can do is
kill us, but all that means is that we will be promoted into the glorious
presence of our Lord for all eternity!



The Back to Jerusalem missionary movement is not an army with guns or human
weapons. It isn't a group of well-dressed, slick professionals. It's an army
of broken-hearted Chinese men and women whom God has cleansed with a mighty
fire, and who have already been through years of hardship and deprivation
for the sake of the gospel. In worldly terms they have nothing and appear
unimpressive, but in the spiritual realm they are mighty warriors for Jesus
Christ! We thank God that he c*hose "the foolish things of the world to
shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the
things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no one may
boast before him." *  *1* *Corinthians 1:27-29.*



God is calling thousands of house church warriors to write their testimonies
with their own blood. We will walk across the borders of China, carrying the
Word of God into the Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu worlds. Thousands will be
willing to die for the Lord. They will see multitudes of souls saved, as
well as awaken many sleeping churches in the West.



Hundreds of Western missionaries spilled their blood on Chinese soil in the
past. Their example has inspired us to be willing also to die for the Lord
wherever he leads us with his message. Many of our missionaries will be
captured, tortured, and martyred for the sake of the gospel, but that will
not stop us.



God has not only refined *us* in the fire of affliction for the past thirty
years, he has also refined our methods. For example, we're totally committed
to planting groups of local believers who meet in homes. We have no desire
to build a single church building anywhere! This allows the gospel to spread
rapidly, is harder for the authorities to detect, and allows us to channel
all our resources directly into gospel ministry.



Some people have challenged the fact that we are sending missionaries
outside China. They say we should stay in China and win our own country
before we go out. To this illogical argument I respond with a simple
question, "Then why does your country send missionaries? Is everyone in your
country saved?"



If we stay in one place and refuse to advance until we've completely
finished the job there, we'll never be able to impact the world with the
gospel. Surely God's way is for us to be winning our home at the same time
as we're sending new workers to the ends of the earth! Believe me, our
vision to reach the world does not mean we'll stop or slow down our efforts
to reach all of China with the gospel!



The two will take place hind-in-hand.



In fact, I believe the best way for the Chinese church to remain strong is
to keep it motivated to reach out to the nations of the world. When
believers focus on serving the Lord and reaching the lost, God blesses them
and the church remains sharp. When we become self-centered and critical of
each other, Satan has won already and the church will become a blunt,
useless instrument.



We knew from the beginning that there is a high price to pay for this. Back
to Jerusalem mission. I'm not just talking about money! I'm talking about
the many Chinese who will be martyred and suffer as this vision unfolds.
Many will go on one-way tickets, realizing they'll never return to China to
see their loved ones again.



We also realize Back to Jerusalem will cost a lot of money, but even though
our churches are so poor, we have already collected tens of thousands of
dollars to support our missionaries. Like the Macedonian church, many
Chinese believers have given literally all they own, *"Out of the most
severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in
rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and
even beyond their ability." 2 Cor. 8:2-3.*

* *

The Chinese church is willing to pay the price.



Since my escape from China in 1997, I've been responsible for the training
and implementation of the Back to Jerusalem missionaries.



When the first batch of thirty-nine missionaries left China in March 2000,
thirty-six of them were arrested. They didn't lose their vision however.
They went back home, prayed, and found another way to get across the border.



Little more than a year later, the number of Chinese house church
missionaries outside China already exceeded four hundred, serving in more
than ten countries. The floodgates are beginning to open.



Each Back to Jerusalem missionary receives training in several main
subjects. These include:

            One. How to suffer and die for the Lord. We examine what the
Bible says about suffering, and look at how the Lord's people have laid down
their lives for the advance of the gospel throughout history.

            Two. How to witness for the Lord. We teach how to witness for
the Lord under any circumstance, on trains or buses, or even in the back of
a police van on our way to the execution ground.

            Three. How to escape for the Lord. We know that sometimes it is
the Lord who sends us to prison to witness for him, but we also believe the
devil sometimes wants us to go to prison to stop the ministry God has called
us to do. We teach the missionaries special skills such as how to free
themselves from handcuffs, and how to jump from second-storey windows
without injuring themselves.



This is not a "normal" seminary or Bible College!



If you ever visit one of the places where we are training our Back to
Jerusalem missionaries, you will see how serious we are to fulfil our
destiny in God. You may see people with their hands handcuffed behind their
backs, leaping from second-storey windows!



Nothing less is required if we are to break down the walls that separate
Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists from knowing the sweet presence of Jesus.



*       *       *



When the elders of the Sinim Fellowship heard how God had miraculously
allowed me to escape from China, they appointed me as their "Authorized
Representative", to speak for the house churches around the world.



The elders of the Sinim Fellowship drafted the following letter for me:



*To Brother Yun, our holy brother who is a close comrade of Christ the Lord
and who is filled with the Spirit of the Power of God:*

*            You are the "chariots and horsemen of **Israel**" of God! You
carry the victorious message of the expansion of the **kingdom** of **Christ
** in you!*

*            Dear Brother, you are sent by God from the Sinim Elders'
Committee of the Chinese house churches as our authorized representative
overseas!*

*            God has shown you, according to his guidance and Lordship, that
life is the foundation, building up the church is the centre, and the
training of workers is the point of breakthrough – the strategic place from
where expansion can be carried out in all directions, radiating to every
nation and people in the world, so that the ground that the sole of your
foot walks on will become your inheritance!*

*            March forward towards the Muslims, the Hindus and the Buddhists
in Europe, America, Africa, **Australasia** and **Asia**!*

*            We pray the Lord will give you wisdom and power from above, so
that your message is filled with heavenly authority. Like the fire Samson
tied to the foxes' tails, it will burn wherever you go.*

*            May you accomplish the holy mission God has given you, to take
the gospel back to Jerusalem, until the last holy disciple is added to the
church and the bride is prepared to welcome the return of our Saviour Lord
Jesus Christ, so that the kingdoms of the world become the possession of our
King! Our holy goal is that he will be King forever and ever.*

*            We are ready to work hard with servants of the Lord all over
the world, who are members of his body, serving one another with the
spiritual gifts we have received, so that the holy mission of God can be
fulfilled!*

*            Dear Brother Yun, this is the conviction of all the servants of
God in the Sinim Elders' Fellowship. May the Lord strengthen the task
entrusted to you, lead you, and open the way ahead. We and all our
co-workers are your solid shields. May the will of the Lord be done quickly,
on earth as in heaven. Amen!*

*            Your co-workers in Christ and Elders of the Sinim Fellowship*

* *

* *

*NOTE**:* Following are a few words written by Paul Hattaway in his
Introduction to this book:

            There are lessons and experiences from Yun's life that can
greatly encourage Christians around the world as they seek to follow the
Lord Jesus.

            Brother Yun's testimony is one that reflects the faithfulness
and goodness of God in his life. His is a story of how God took a young,
half-starved boy from a poor village in Henan Province, China, and used him
to shake the world. Instead of focusing on the many miracles or experiences
of suffering he has gone through, he prefers to focus on the character and
beauty of Jesus Christ. He wishes the whole world to know Jesus as he does,
not as an historical, distant figure, but as an ever-present, love-filled,
all-powerful Almighty God.

            In researching this book I interviewed dozens of Christians in
China who were eyewitnesses of, and completely verified, the events
contained in the pages that follow. Interspersed throughout the book are
short contributions from Deling (Yun's wife) and a few Chinese house church
leaders. These insights will help the reader gain a different perspective –
and a more complete picture – of some of the key incidents in Yun's life.
Most of Deling's reflections were made while her husband was imprisoned for
the sake of the gospel.

            It has been said, "It is not great men who change the world, but
weak men in the hands of a great God." Those who know Brother Yun can vouch
that he is a humble servant of God who does not want any part of his life to
bring glory to himself or man.

            Brother Yun desires that his story would focus all attention and
glory on the only true Heavenly Man – the Lord Jesus Christ.             –
Paul Hattaway



The book "The Heavenly Man" with Paul Hattaway was first published in 2002 –
USA: ISBN     0 8254 6207 X

            It is distributed in USA by Kregel Publications, PO Box 2607, Grand
Rapids Michigan 49501.  The above quotations are made to support this book's
distribution.











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