Non-Fiction Review: God's Double Agent: The True Story of a Chinese Christian's Fight for Freedom

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God’s Double Agent: The True Story of a Chinese Christian’s Fight for Freedom by Bob Fu and Nancy French is a fascinating look into the plight of Chinese Christians today.

Bob Fu narrates his personal story, from wanting political freedom, to his participation and escape from Tiananmen Square, to finding the Lord Jesus as His personal Savior. He describes his humble hometown, his schooling, and his dreams. “Bob” (actually Xiqiu) opens the curtains on what it’s like to live, study, and love in China. He helps us understand sanctioned churches, the house church movement, and exactly what it takes to be openly Christian.

Bob himself spent several months in a Chinese prison for his faith. Many more have suffered. This book brings them to life.

Bob describes almost incredible escapes—and his role in them.

He founded the ChinaAid organization, which provides training, financial support and legal defense for persecuted Christians in China. Bob shares some of their stories.

This book fascinated me for several reasons: it helped me understand the opposition that Christians face on a daily basis in Communist China. It is not a pretty picture. They are under constant surveillance. They are opposed in their studies and careers, lied about, tortured, and beaten. If one person in a family is a Christian, the authorities go after all the family—even if they are not Christians and don’t know anything. What hit me the most was that this is current. We’re not reading about what took place many decades ago. We’re reading about events that happened after the year 2000. 

There are times when I felt that Mr. Fu was blowing his own horn. He seems to be some kind of a Superman figure who swoops in and rescues people. He comes across as fearless and always on the side of right. You never know his flaws, and rarely does he reveal any misgivings he might have had. I realize this may be due both to first person narration and to wanting to get so many events packed into one book. I can also understand the language translation issues, so I’m not overly bothered by it.

I noted twice in the book where Fu is purposely dishonest. He lies to interrogators and in another instance, he commits a felony. (I’ll let you read about that one!) I believe that, even though he did both to protect others, “it’s never right to do wrong in order to get a chance to do right.”* I believe God will help a person remain silent and that He can open doors for freeing His servants. I also had a couple of issues also with a few of his statements about theology.

God’s Double Agent was an incredibly interesting read. I gained a new appreciation for the endurance of the persecuted church and its dedication to Christ. It gave me a new understanding about fledgling Chinese churches and their need for Bible training in doctrine and practice. It gave me more of a burden for China and other countries where Christianity is discouraged. This book is very well written and chock full of adventure.

I highly recommend God's Double Agent to teens and adults. Five stars.

* Quote from Dr. Bob Jones, Sr.