Out of a Far Country: A Gay Son's Journey to God. A Broken Mother's Search for Hope. [Paperback]

Christopher Yuan (Author), Angela Yuan (Author), Kay Warren (Foreword)

Book Description

Release date: May 3, 2011

Coming Out, Then Coming Home
 
 Christopher Yuan, the son of Chinese immigrants, discovered at an early age that he was different. He was attracted to other boys. As he grew into adulthood, his mother, Angela, hoped to control the situation. Instead, she found that her son and her life were spiraling out of control—and her own personal demons were determined to defeat her.
 
Years of heartbreak, confusion, and prayer followed before the Yuans found a place of complete surrender, which is God’s desire for all families. Their amazing story, told from the perspectives of both mother and son, offers hope for anyone affected by homosexuality.
 
God calls all who are lost to come home to him. Casting a compelling vision for holy sexuality, Out of a Far Country speaks to prodigals, parents of prodigals, and those wanting to minister to the gay community.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”  - Luke 15:20
 
Includes a discussion guide for personal reflection and group use.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Out of a Far Country

“Christopher Yuan and Angela Yuan have told the story of their miraculous journey from broken lives, relationships, and dreams to a place of hope and healing. Out of a Far Country brings home the living truth that in the midst of a broken and hurting world, God is at work to redeem, renew, and reconcile his beloved. I’m particularly happy to endorse this book because Christopher, like myself, was broken in prison and redeemed by Christ.”
—Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship and the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview

“Out of a Far Country reads like a modern rendition of the prodigal son parable, only it is more gripping. The journey taken by Christopher Yuan is rarely documented. Be prepared, for the raw emotions of both mother and son authentically mark every page. The spiritual lessons to be gained from this book are many. May it gain a vast audience!”
—J. Paul Nyquist, PhD, president of Moody Bible Institute

“This is a moving account of how an Asian mother’s fragile love turns into a prayerful, patient, and tenacious force of forgiveness. It is also a gripping narrative of a son’s search for belonging and meaning. Out of a Far Country breeds hope in every despairing heart.”
—Lisa Espineli Chinn, director of International Student Ministries for InterVarsity/USA

“The Good Shepherd knows his sheep and calls them by name. Christopher Yuan, trapped in a life of drugs and sexual addiction, heard that call and rose to follow Jesus. His and his mother’s account of that rising is a profound story of redemption that all of us in this broken generation need to hear.”
—Duane Litfin, president emeritus of Wheaton College in Illinois

“Relevant, courageous, fascinating, and much more. I have known the Yuans for many years, and their walk is in line with their talk. This important and needed story goes against the wind, but it is one hundred percent in the right direction.”
—Dr. George Verwer, founder and former international director of Operation Mobilisation

“Out of a Far Country is a true-life parable of saving grace for a prodigal mother and a wayward son who needed God’s forgiveness. Their story will warm the heart and lift the spirit of every parent who prays for a wandering child and every believer who needs to be reminded why the gospel is good news.”
—Dr. Philip G. Ryken, president of Wheaton College in Illinois

“At one point, Angela and Christopher were living worlds apart. I have heard their story countless times, and it never grows old. I know you will be amazed by the God who did the impossible to bring this mother and son back together.”
—Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International

“This is the story of God’s persistent chase of a wayward son through the prayers and love of a determined mother. But even more, it is a testimony to the fact that loving God is a far more satisfying pursuit than following our own desires. I am thankful that Christopher and Angela are willing to be so transparent about their journey. Christopher’s desire to follow Christ regardless of the struggle stands as a model for all who desire to love God with all their heart.”
—Dr. Joseph M. Stowell, president of Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan

“God snatched Christopher Yuan from a desperately empty life and offered him the hope of Jesus Christ. This is a story of God’s redemption, love, and mercy in the midst of overwhelming sin and a heart that was far from God. Get two copies of this book—you will want to give one to a friend who needs Jesus.”
—Dr. James MacDonald, senior pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel in Rolling Meadows, Illinois

“The story of Angela Yuan and Christopher Yuan, Out of a Far Country, will minister rich grace and hope to mothers who are praying for the return of a prodigal, to the prodigals they love, and to anyone battling a sinful addiction that seems impossible to overcome. This is a deeply moving account of God’s amazing power and love.”
—Nancy Leigh DeMoss, best-selling author, host of the Revive Our Hearts radio program

About the Author

Christopher Yuan and Angela Yuan travel nationally and internationally to speak at churches, conferences, youth conventions, and colleges about God’s desire for prodigals of all types to return to him. Angela is a businesswoman and advocate for Chinese-American cultural causes. Christopher teaches at Moody Bible Institute (MBI). He holds a bachelor's degree from MBI and an master's degree in biblical exegesis from Wheaton College Graduate School. He is currently pursuing a doctorate of ministry from Bethel Seminary.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press (May 3, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307729354
• ISBN-13: 978-0307729354
• Product Dimensions: 0.6 x 5.2 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (222 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Gender & Sexuality
  • #2 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Parenting & Families
  • #4 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Specific Demographics > Gay & Lesbian

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 44 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely writing, compelling story May 7, 2011

By Almelle

Format:Paperback

In this joint memoir, mother Angela Yuan and son Christopher Yuan alternate chapters in describing Chris' prodigal son experiences, in parallel with Angela's experiences as a mother moving from suicidal depression to Christian community, along with hope and prayer for her still-troubled son. Their voices trade off as describe Chris' early successes in grad school, his growing identification with the gay community and embrace of a partying lifestyle, and his movement into success as a drug dealer. His crash when busted and jailed, along with his mothers' prayers and involvement, leads to his conversion to Christianity and eventual role as a prison minister. Now, it seems, he and his mother speak at Christian events about his transformation, a role which I assume has produced this book.

I got this review copy for free from WaterBrook Multnomah (full disclosure!), and was initially quite skeptical and concerned with how the book would portray homosexuality. Because the book is written within the conservative Christian social field, it probably will not be appreciated by liberal or secular readers. But for its intended audience, it strikes the right note. Addressing this social issue with both grace and truth has been a difficult issue for the American church, and it would be easy to turn this story into a polemic about sexual identity and the church.

But the Yuans, in general, refrain. While their story clearly fits within the cultural genre of "Christian testimony" (with overtones of Augustine's confessions as well as an identification with the specific trope of the prodigal son, moving from pride to fall to faith to restoration), it is well-handled, emotive, and lovely -- a good example of the genre. In his chapter on Holy Sexuality (182-189), Chris is frank about his long-standing desires and rejects movements which focus on trying to change a person's sexual orientation:

"But now, as I searched the Scriptures for the way I should live, I began to ask myself a different question: Who am I apart from my sexuality? ... I had always thought that the opposite of homosexuality was heterosexuality. But actually the opposite of homosexuality is holiness. God never said, 'Be heterosexual, for I am heterosexual.' He said, 'Be holy, for I am holy.' ...Holy sexuality is not focused on becoming straight -- orientation change -- but on obedience." (p.187)

Chris recommends that Christian sexuality remain within cross-gender marriage or celibacy, the most predominant framework within the Christian faith. In acknowledging his inborn nature but reframing the discussion from sexual identity to Christian identity, Chris moves away from sexual identity as a central social marker for the Christian and towards the question of what it means to be a Christian. This seems to be one appropriate stance within the Christian context -- I would love to hear others address Chris in dialogue about this. I know that Jenell Williams Paris has recently written a related book, The End of Sexual Identity, and hope to review her book soon!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A Journey Home, the Hard Way June 3, 2011

By Longfellow

Format:Paperback

A mother and son both struggling with their lives, and losing. He has come out as a homosexual and rejected his family to pursue something new. She has lost her son to something she doesn't understand, while living a cold, dying marriage. Over time, they realize God's presence in their lives, but not after a rough and rocky journey.

This book markets itself as a story of a son who is gay and leaves to live a prodigal son's life, while the distraught mother turns to the only thing left in her life, God, to find a way to bring him home. The preview focuses heavily on his homosexuality and how difficult and unknown a lifestyle that is to come out of. But to be honest, they didn't really discuss his homosexuality very much. It was in the beginning, and he resolved it in the end but the majority of the book is about his drug addiction and the troubles that came with this.

Its not a bad book, a little dry to read at times because they are not writers, they are people telling their story. But the end is very encouraging, and his idea of 'holy sexuality' is something I've never heard of before, but very biblical.

All in all, I would recommend this book, but not as a guide on a Christian's response to homosexuality. Its a redemption story, pure and simple.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Touching and Compelling May 16, 2011

By Mark Lattimore

Format:Paperback

In the 1990s, Christopher Yuan was a gay man who worked hard and played harder. After an experience with the drug Ecstasy, Yuan quickly became one of the top drug dealers in the major gay clubs of the Southeast, living the glamorous lifestyle marked by cars, clothes and the adoration of his new family in the homosexual community. As spectacular as the story of his life in the 90s is, it is not the subject of this book.

Yuan's world eventually came crashing down. Arrested for conspiracy and intent to distribute illegal drugs and later sentenced to six years in prison, Yuan was abandoned by all but a very few of his supposed "friends". To add insult to injury, Yuan learned, while wearing the tell-tale orange jumpsuit of the Atlanta Detention Center, that he was HIV positive, likely the result of one of his sexual encounters of the previous several years. As dramatic as the story of his Yuan's fall is, it is not the subject of this book.

In recent years, Yuan, now a Christian speaker and HIV/AIDS activist, has garnered a fair amount of notoriety for his frequent speaking engagements in which he talks about HIV and issues surrounding sexuality and Christianity. For this he has been both praised and roundly (and often angrily) criticized. Though one of this book's thirty two chapters is entitled "Holy Sexuality", neither HIV nor questions of Christian faith and sexuality are the subjects of this book.

What is Out of a Far Country about? It is a modern-day prodigal son story, about a son who rebels against his parents and effectively abandons his natural family in favor of living life on his own terms. It is about an awkward boy whose struggle to fit it and to make sense of his attractions led him on a journey into manhood defined by rises, falls and, ultimately, redemption. It's about a God who says to us "I created you in my image and, for that reason and that reason alone, I love you. Period." It's a story that demonstrates that God's ways are not our ways and that God uses whomever He wills, however He wills and does so perfectly. Yuan's journey from outcast kid to drug dealer to HIV statistic to Christ follower is, at bottom, simply a story of God's unconditional love for even "the least" of us.

More than that, Out of a Far Country, is about a mother's struggle. In alternating chapters running roughly chronologically with Christopher's story, his mother, Angela, tells her own story of redemption through the trials of a rebellious son, a lifeless marriage, and lifelong scars that haunted her inmost being. From her childhood in Shanghai and Taiwan to her life in the United States with husband, Leon, Angela describes for us her journey from atheist to Christian, from staunch anti-religionist to powerful prayer warrior, from suicidal mother to child of God. Hers is a story not only of redemption but also of the power of a praying parent who asks God not to bail her son out of whatever situation he might be in, not to allow him to remain in a school threatening to expel him, not to spare him from prison, but to do "whatever it takes" to bring her son to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. It was a bold prayer. It was an instructive prayer. It was an effective prayer.

At bottom, Out of a Far Country is a story of hope. No matter how far from God we may think we are, God pursues us in the most unlikely ways and in the most unlikely places, in a swank Atlanta apartment, in a prison bunk--even in a trashcan. Read the book. You'll understand.