Customer Reviews

Across the China Sky (Daughter of China Series, Book 2)

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Mei Lin has finally been released from prison, but life isn't the same after all she's been through. When she is invited to help in an orphanage for the summer, she can't pass up the chance that God has given her even if it means returning to Shangai so soon after her captivity. During Mei Lin's time away, it's her fiancé who ends up in more danger than he thought possible.

The sequel to Daughter of China, Across The China Sky stands on it's own with a gripping tale of religious persecution in China. C. Hope Flinchbaugh is a powerful storyteller and tackles this sensitive subject with grace and compassion. She doesn't stop with persecution, though. She also handles infertility, cults and orphans. The multiple story lines work together to bring the reader to his knees for any who might suffer through any of these situations.

At times heart-warming and at others heart-wrenching, readers will get a first-hand look at the lives of Christians in China. Flinchbaugh has done her homework. The characters are richly developed and the story deeply touching.

Readers who have an interest in other cultures will find Across The China Sky refreshing. As Americans, it's hard to keep our freedom in perspective. Every once in a while a powerful story like this one begs to be read as a reminder of the liberties we enjoy while others around the world suffer.

As I was reading, I truly felt like I was in China, suffering alongside Flinchbaugh's characters. Every once in a while I would need to pause to wipe the tears from my eyes. The powerful story is backed up at the end of the novel by a real-life update from an interview the author did while visiting China.

If you want to read a cozy book, this one isn't for you. The second book in a series, Across the China Sky divulges information that just now is hitting the front pages of American newspapers (Washington Post, for example, just ran a front-page story on the neglected Chinese orphans.) This book is gripping from the first chapter. The author's account makes you wonder if she lived it through it herself. Anybody would benefit from reading this - from the account of the childrens' plights to the wicked cultic schemes - it is truly a book that won't leave you the same person you were when you started out. As American businesses move toward China, we must also be aware of the other facets that make up this complex country. Human rights violations should not be ignored for the sake of lining a few billionaires' pockets, and with the Olympics coming up in 2008, this is the perfect time to be aware of what's going on in China and do something about it. Kudos to C. Hope Flinchbaugh for taking a stand and telling these stories. It's a book I couldn't get enough of and sad to see end. The acounts of the mental and physical torture are brutal, so be forewarned, this is not a comfortable story. But it will be time well-spent.

Publisher's Weekly completely missed the point of the book in their "review". And as far as their confusion over narrative, I can only wonder if that reviewer had had one too many. And disappointing, this book is not.

Like sipping a fine wine, you can't jump into this book expecting it to come out the way you would like it. Hold on for the ride and judge for yourself.

Based on true events, the author gives you insight into the Chinese Cult, 'Eastern Lightening'. It's a disturbing story, but one we need to be aware of. At the end of this book, the author provides an excellent outline for dealing with this cult. Sometimes in America, we feel all safe and cozy. This book was an eye opener of how Christians in China are being persecuted today.

In this sequel to her novel, Daughter of China (Christy-award finalist), author C. Hope Flinchbaugh takes readers on another journey into the struggles of the underground Christian church in China.

The main character, Mei Lin, returns home to her rural village after months of difficulty imprisoned in Shanghai. Yet her time at home on her father's farm is brief, and she soon says good-bye to her family and fiancé Liko so she can accept an opportunity to teach at a Christian-run orphanage in Shanghai.

While she's gone, Liko responds to an invitation to further his Christian education at the Haggai Institute in Singapore. He discovers too late that a religious cult masterminded this scheme to kidnap the best and brightest pastors of China.

Based on a true story, Flinchbaugh's poignant portrayal of persecuted Christians opened my eyes to a new area of the world. As the daughter of a missionary to the Chinese, this author has a calling to enlighten the world about the Christian movement in China.

This novel is so gripping, I couldn't put it down. Like never before, I'm praying for the heroic courage of my brothers and sisters in China.

--Christian Women Online Book Buzz

You don't have to be a Christian to understand this or to see what it talks about.
There are several themes in this books that raised issues in China that are very important in addressing.

Now this is a Christian fiction book however what is talked about here is all too real.

Issues such as...

Christian Persecution

The One-Child Policy

Inhumain state orphanages

Child abandonment

Cult kidnappings (this chronicaled Eastern Lighning)

Brainwashing

The crulty and falsity of Communisum

But not only that but the characters in this book have lessions to learn too and learn vaulable lessions about...

Self-sacrifice

Sticking together

Mei Lin finds that she is barren because of beatings and torture in prison but is scare to admit it because of the stigma. She wants to adopt a newborn baby girl she found thrown in a trash can (as a result of favoring males in the one-child policy) to hide this fact but learns she needs to be honest with herself.

Supporting others in the hardest of times

Loving others for who they are no matter what

Not ignoring your gut feeling when something doesn't seem right.

Listening to God first

Forgivness

Courage in the face of great danger

The Author C.Hope Flinchbaugh really did speak with Chinese citizens on this issue and got to hear it from those that experenced this first hand. The way she presented this was well done and showed the trails all of them are going through wether it is grieving over murdered loved ones,barreness,or forgivness.
I reccomend all of these books 1-3 at the time of this review (please write a forth if the author reads this).

You definitely need to read "Daughter of China" first! This book focuses on Mei Lin's barrenness and the Eastern Lightning Cult. You should be at least 14 to read this. There are some disturbing scenes where Jade, a follower of the Eastern Lightning group, takes off her shirt and gets in bed with Liko, Mei Lin's fiance. Liko runs and doesn't look at her, but still...mature readers only!
Overall, this is a very good read.

C. Hope Flinchbaugh has written a novel that is heavily focused upon current issues in the persecuted church in China. The cult, Eastern Lightning, kidnaps Christians, drugs, tempts, and tortures them to convert and lead others into their doctrine. Across the China Sky is based upon personal interviews of the author with those who have survived kidnappings by the cult. Chinese Christians are desperate to warn the church at large of their dangerous techniques and teachings, as they seek to spread to the West. This is what Flinchbaugh is striving to achieve in her novel.

Until I had Across the China Sky in my hands I didn't realize that it was a sequel to Daughter of China. Not having read the first title I dug in. The story was a bit slow in starting off. My unfamiliarity with the characters led to an initial sense of disconnect, and I struggled somewhat to keep the Chinese names connected to the characters; foreign names not being my strong point, a cast of characters would have helped considerably. The pace soon picked up as I was immersed into Mei Lin's mother-love for Little Mei, and once the Christians were kidnapped the pace became relentless. I couldn't put the book down. Sweet scenes of Mei Lin showering Christ's love upon unwanted children are interjected by scenes of temptation and torture creating a riveting combination.

While some of the characters, such as Liko, could have used more depth, it is possible that the first novel provided a deeper knowledge of these individuals. The chaste love between Liko and Mei Lin is very sweet; I appreciated its understated yet abiding nature. Flinchbaugh did leave a few loose ends dangling, perhaps a sign of future novels to come. I'd love to see works in the same vein, and will be keeping an eye on her.

Though Flinchbaugh's novels of the church in China have been largely overlooked by Christian fiction readers, I highly recommend them. Here in North America we don't often consider the struggles our brothers and sisters in Christ are engaged in. To be persecuted, to lose members of our families to torture from government officials, and then to be kidnapped and tortured oneself by a violent religious-political cult - what a nightmare! Through impassioned prayers for each other and perseverance these Christians are enabled to stay true to their faith despite painful, enduring consequences.

The year of 2008 has been one of international attention for China. Hosting the summer Olympics, the Chinese government laboured to present a positive image to the watching world. The Olympics were followed all too quickly with the current baby formula tragedy in China, and I found myself reading Across the China Sky only a week or two after the deaths and illness of many Chinese babies. God has used this work to light a fire in my prayer life for Chinese orphans and infants and for the persecuted church in China. I now understand their struggles and devotion a bit more clearly.

Very good story. Makes you taste and feel and see China, both rural and urban. I will share both Flinchbaugh's books with a Chinese couple who while they lived in China had NO knowledge that the Christian church in China is persecuted. It was not until they left China that they discovered the truth.