Blatant Rejection, Blatant Love: The Story of Christopher and Angela Yuan

Christopher Yuan
The Beloved Son

Angela Yuan was a good Chinese wife and mother bringing up her two sons in the Chicago suburbs.  She decided to end her life when her son declared his homosexuality and she saw no reason to go on.

Christopher Yuan was a good Chinese-American son who made good grades, obeyed his parents, and played piano.  He decided to shut out his mother and father because he found that living life however he wanted was easier than dealing with their judgments.

Along the way, both mother and son came to see each other's lives and their own lives in completely different ways.  Each came to see that sometimes real love is in conflict with what they once believed love to be.

A group of protestors outside a circuit party door said, "God hates fags" and "You are going to hell."  Those entering the party experienced those signs as proof of why they would never want to associate with Christians.  This story of a son's redemption and a mother's embrace of truth gives snapshots of events we've all experienced, but did not have the courage to speak aloud.

How these two people danced intimately around each other's judgments and their own fears to eventually embrace one another in a new way unfolds chapter by chapter.  Angela learned to show compassion and acceptance for her son, while speaking the truth about the harm of homosexuality, and without a trace of self-righteousness.  This is the narrow road we must all learn to walk.

Seemingly random wisdom came to Mother Angela.  Someone gave her a booklet that explained how a certain kind of bird, called a shrike, kills its prey.  This bird impales its prey on a sharp object and then pulls flesh off bit by bit.  An analogy is the Christian who picks apart fellow human beings without acknowledging his own wrong actions.  Angela recognized herself, and vowed to change.

Son Christopher had always felt different from other people, and did not know how to deal with secret feelings.  Eventually, the secrecy became too much to bear, and he felt accepted by those who lived a lifestyle of drugs and promiscuity.  So he rejected his family of origin and embarked on a lifestyle that eventually landed him in prison with a diagnosis of HIV+.
At his lowest point, a Bible found in the trash brought him hope, and hope brought him to new, meaningful life.  How Christopher came to accept the way he was made and to embrace "holy sexuality" will inspire you to live for something bigger than yourself.

Out of a Far Country tells the story in a biographical way.  How do you define love?  How do you show acceptance?  How do you rid yourself of wrongdoing? How do you become self-aware?  What is the line between telling the truth with compassion and pushing people away with self-righteousness?

Interview April 28, 2011 of Angela and Christopher Yuan by Mary Reichard on the Mary Reichard Show, 1340 Ozarks Big Talker Radio