I think that the Lord is at work in Iraq, just as he is in the tsunami areas of South-East Asia. I recall a meeting I had with one pastor from an evangelistic church in Baghdad. People said that he was crazy not to flee to Jordan. But his answer was that this is the best time to be in Iraq. He said the daily bomb attacks only underscored the need for people to have Jesus in their lives. I have seen packed churches in Iraq. Christians there would argue that peace without the Prince of Peace is nothing. They would rather die from violence in the knowledge they will live forever with Jesus Christ. That is a message that was very impressive to me.

Stefan J. Bos of BosNewsLife (foreign correspondent) in a Christian Monitor Interview.

How can we possibly understand what persecuted believers go through? It is a question I ask myself time and again. On any given morning I wake up, take a hot shower, do my hair and makeup, and head to the kitchen for a cappuccino. I have everything I need – and want! I wear nice clothes, shop at the mall, and live in a comfortable house. I watch movies on Saturday nights, go out to restaurants, and hang out with friends.

How can I understand the plight of a woman who shivers behind a barbed wire fence in one of North Korea’s concentration camps? Her feet are raw and bleeding, her hair is matted and her fingers are numb with the cold. She has been tortured, raped, and cruelly separated from her family [because she would not renounce her faith in Christ]. How can I possibly comprehend what she is going through? Yet I have something in common with her that goes far beyond simple solidarity: she is my sister in Christ.

Over my desk hangs this verse:
Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, But we knew nothing about this, does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who guards your life know it? Will He not repay each person according to what he has done? (Proverbs 24:11-12)

No matter how distant we are from them, no matter how inadequate and self-centered we feel, we have a responsibility to the oppressed, to those “staggering toward slaughter.” We need to find out what is happening, and take action to help those who are suffering…

Kristin Wright of Stand Today in response to the question: “Do you think that Christians in the West are aware of the extent that some countries persecute our Christian brothers and sisters?” in a Christian Monitor Interview.

I personally believe that the greatest threat to the Church today is not Islam or Communism or nationalism – but the temptation to conform our minds to the thinking of the world, i.e. to do exactly the opposite of what Romans 12:2 tells us to do.

The Bible tells us clearly and demonstrates consistently that God’s strength is perfected in our weakness (2 Cor 12:9) and that God’s ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). In the face of seemingly insurmountable difficulties (such as persecution), Christians are tempted to look for solutions that are clever or strong in worldly terms. We must however, look first to God for HIS direction, wisdom, strength and intervention. This spiritual battle is bigger than us. If we try to stand or to win in our own way, in our own strength and in our own wisdom, we will fail. To accept this takes great humility – something fallen mankind is pretty short on.

In summary – independence is the greatest threat to the Church. To win this battle (which is actually the Lord’s battle) we must be totally God-dependent and obedient.

Elizabeth Kendal, Perspectives on Global Persecution, in answer to the question: ”What, in your opinion, is the greatest threat to the Church today?” in Christian Monitor Interview.

This question is too big to answer! So I will only answer personally. I personally have been greatly, deeply effected by the struggle, courage, and faith of the persecuted Church. It is the place where miracles happen – both miracles of deliverance and miracles of supernaturally enduring faith and grace. These are the miracles of God’s strength being made perfect through human weakness. The persecuted Church has shown me what the gospel is really worth – how valuable it really is. I will never again take God’s gospel for granted, nor take lightly the fact that some people don’t have access to it. It has put my fears and woes into perspective – I will never again complain about losing the TV remote! It has given me a great and consuming love for the global body of Christ, and a deep passion for the lost and for the world.

Elizabeth Kendal, Perspectives on Global Persecution, in answer to the question: ”How have you seen God working through the persecuted Church?” in Christian Monitor Interview.

I heard from the Bible Society Director, Mr. Enholc, who told me stories about professional smugglers who would come to his shop, buy 10 Russian Bibles, smuggle them across the border into Russia and make a fortune. Something began to wake up in me. I thought, if people do that for the love of money, unbelievers taking such a risk, how much more we should go over there and take the Bibles to the Russians. That’s where the first seed was sown.

Brother Andrew of Open Door Ministries, reflecting on how his ministry began over 50years ago in a Christian Monitor Interview.

Our work thrives on prayer. Pray as we face this terrible dilemma of growing persecution, diminishing church influence worldwide and exodus of Christians from the Middle East where Christians are running away. God is building his Church but you and I have to help. We have to witness, we have to be obedient to the Great Commission, we must supply the needs, we must go and say what can we do for you. And they always say, “please pray for us.” And if we press the point further they probably say, “bring me a Bible, but come, come; come and encourage us so we can stay here.” Until that point is reached they will leave by the tens of thousands. That’s the mission of Open Doors: like a cry of distress, an SOS from God, “strengthen what remains and is at the point of death.”

Brother Andrew of Open Door Ministries, in answer to the question: ”What is the most important thing we can do for the Persecuted Church?” in Christian Monitor Interview.

“As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. ‘Tell us,’ they said, “when will this happen, and when will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’” (Matthew 24:3). The Lord described the increasing chaos of the last days and then came to one of several definitive statements describing what we will see in the last days. “And this gospel will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations … and then the end shall come” (Matthew 24:14).

Jesus was not describing a 2,000-year journey; he zeroed in on the happenings of the last days to answer the disciples’ question. How would we preach, or make the gospel available, to the whole world—all seven to ten billion people (depending upon the number of days left), if we do not leverage emerging mass communication technologies? There are simply no longer enough Christians to meet the demand of an exploding population.

For example, Google executives suggest that some two million people conduct a search on spiritual terms every day. That’s what we can measure for the Internet world of one billion people. So if there are two million daily searches out of one billion Internet users, then out of 5.5 billion people in the world, there must be eleven or twelve million people who wake up every day looking for God. Most have no intention of ever going to a church. Some could be arrested or killed for seeking Christ openly. We must make the gospel available and actionable on computers, laptops, and hand-held devices to communicate privately in words and videos in native language. We must minister to the masses seeking God.

The Biblical Case for Action, Excerpt from the article: Internet—The Transition of Everything from Atoms to Bits By Walt Wilson.

At Global Media Outreach (GMO, we describe our mission as not telling people about Jesus or Christianity, but telling them how to have a relationship with the Lord. Every three seconds someone comes to one of our seventy-eight evangelistic websites and receives a gospel presentation.

Visitors come from every country in the world since bits do not know, understand, or care about political borders. Bits do not care about time, place, or space. They are not place-specific, but person-specific. At the same time, however, bits carry us into a real place not restricted by the old world of atoms. The grasping of this concept is of critical importance to the implementation of interactive engagement with people in need, no matter where they are or who they are. In a typical month, well over one million people visit our websites. They come from places that cause us to consult a map to find out where they are. In a typical month, well over 200,000 of them will indicate their decision to follow Christ; that’s more than two million decisions in a year.

Excerpt from the article: Internet—The Transition of Everything from Atoms to Bits By Walt Wilson

“When we go into a restricted nation and we’re able to deliver help, we say, ‘This is from Christians in America who love you and are praying for you during this time of suffering.’ Then when we come home and talk to the church in America we say, ‘Our brothers and sisters in restricted nations are praying for you here in America.’ We get to be a bridge between the two churches, and it’s really an exciting role that God has called Voice of the Martyrs to play.”

Todd Nettleton of Voice Of Matyrs,USA expressing excitement about VOM’s “vital role” in connecting believers with their Christian brothers and sisters all over the world.

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That is always a hard question to answer, because it’s hard to know whether persecution is getting worse or if our ability to report on it has gotten better. I suspect that it is both. I do believe that the rapid growth of the Church in the southern hemisphere is a primary cause for the rise of persecution and will only increase. Also the rise of militant Islam and the dying embers of Marxism (afraid of seeing a repeat of the Soviet Union) have helped contribute to this.

To say which are the worse countries is also difficult to answer because it depends on how you define “worse”. If you mean, “where are the most number of Christians persecuted?” the answer is undoubtedly China, where unregistered Christians are facing an increasing crackdown in recent years. If you mean, “where is it the most dangerous to be a Christian?” then Saudi Arabia and North Korea would need to be on the top of the list, where even becoming a Christian can mean execution. Eritrea, with its recent campaign to wipe out evangelical Christianity, deserves special mention as well.

Many Christians would like to do more to help victims of persecution, but feel that as individuals there is little more they can do but pray and donate money. What other actions can they take?

• First of all, the need to pray and to donate should not be minimized in any way. Especially prayer, as this is the first and foremost thing that persecuted Christians ask for. To be honest, I have yet to meet anyone who has prayed or given too much to assisting persecuted believers.
• But beyond that, letter writing and other forms of advocacy work are very important. This is often key to the release or better treatment of prisoners of faith.
• Raising awareness by telling others about the persecution of Christians is a vital way of helping. We can’t do it alone.
• Mobilizing prayer meetings, conferences, inviting speakers from VOM or other organizations to your church, school, or organization.
• Perhaps going yourself to a restricted nation to serve alongside the persecuted church. There are no closed nations, in God’s eyes.

Can you tell us any inspiring stories of martyrs that VOM Canada has worked with?

Oh my, where do I start? This is really a more difficult question than you can guess because “inspiring” is really very subjective. Let me share with you what I have found perhaps the most inspiring testimony in my personal experience of the persecuted church to this point. A few years back I visited Ethiopia for the first time. While there I met a young woman named Ababa who lived in a tiny little shack with two other young girls, all of whom had been thrown out of their homes because they had come to a living faith in Jesus Christ. Each of them had stories of terrible physical and mental abuse, often at the hands of their own loved ones. Each had been disowned and for periods of time had been forced to live on the streets of Addis Abeba, sometimes having to resort to begging to survive. Can you imagine; having to beg because you are a Christian? Well, I have seen it.

Each of them found it difficult to find meaningful work for two reasons; 1) they were evangelicals and, therefore, considered cursed (and who hires “cursed” employees?) and 2) they had been forced from home while still teenagers and were unable to finish school, to say nothing of being able to learn a trade.

After they told me their stories of what they had endured for the sake of Christ, I asked them what would happen if they would deny their faith and return to their family’s religion. Every one of them told me that their families would gladly welcome them back. Looking around at their tiny, crowded, one-room home, I asked Ababa what Jesus meant to her. Eyes shining, she said, “Everything. He gives me everything I need. I love my Jesus.”

As I looked at her home, her tattered clothing, the fact that she often begged to provide for her and her two friends, all I could see was what she lacked. Talking to Ababa, it was clear that her focus was on what she had in Jesus.

This spoke to me then and three years later when I was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, a slow-growing, but incurable form of cancer. The day I was diagnosed, I remember lying in bed, pondering my future, and these three young women came to my mind. And I thought to myself, “If they can stay true to God in their circumstances, so can I!” and I said to God, “Lord, I will not deny You.” And this has kept me going for over two years now. The God who is with the persecuted is the same God who is with us and we rob ourselves of such practical help when we refuse to expose ourselves to the testimonies of those who are paying the price to follow Christ.

Can you provide any inspirational stories of the Lord at work among persecuted Christians?

Way too many. This is not to criticize the question, but everyday I receive such stories and we often report on them in our monthly printed newsletter and our weekly email news service, The Persecution and Prayer Alert. I find it difficult to identify which ones are inspirational and which ones are not, if you know what I mean.

Let me share one, though, that comes out of my most recent trip to Ukraine and Belarus in December.

Seventy-six year old Mary Yovdick still has difficulty talking about the events that forever changed her life over a half a century ago. First her father was murdered because he refused to collaborate with the Communists and was labeled a traitor. Then in 1946, when Mary was just 16-years-old, she witnessed the execution of her mother and brother.

“My brother and mother were executed in the yard of our house. Then I hide from the government because they were looking to arrest me. I was arrested many times. I was beaten and tortured in prison. My finger was broken during the torture. They put needles into my fingers to torture me. They also tortured me with hot metal. My back was almost broken. I almost lost consciousness, but I heard the KGB who tortured me say, ‘Look at her, she is so young and so brave.’”

The torture continued but Mary refused to renounce her faith or betray anyone in the church. At one point, she was forced to spend ten years in hiding from the authorities. Eventually she returned home and worked in the underground church. She converted one tiny room of her apartment into a chapel where more than a 100 people would gather together to worship.

“Only because of my faith in God, His help, and prayer that I have been able to survive all these years,” Mary told us. “I tried to get jobs and made small money. But I understand everything is from God and that I have victory because I am still alive.”

She understands that the only reason she could stand was because God had given her the grace to go through it. This is grace, when we suffer for Christ and endure, as Peter says in his first epistle. This is how we know what grace is. Grace is not just something we get to make our life better.

You use the internet quite extensively. How important is the internet, compared to more traditional means of publicity, such as magazines, newsletters, etc?

Our vision is to be Canada’s most effective and reliable source of information and support for persecuted Christians around the world. Hence, we put a lot of emphasis on finding effective ways of raising awareness in whatever way we can. For many, that is the internet and we have two websites that we are very proud of (our main site www.persecution.net and our multimedia site, www.persecution.tv).

We are finding the internet extremely important in reaching those who would never have heard of us or the Persecuted Church any other way. The internet is a high priority to us. It has to be in today’s world. We have also found it helpful in supplementing our printed material and in attracting people to receiving our printed monthly newsletter. It does not take the place of our newsletter; this is still where we give our best stories and testimonies; the internet tends to get used more as a news outlet. Our weekly email news service, The Persecution and Prayer Alert is an example of this. The internet is also more useful when we need to mobilize rapid prayer and letter writing campaigns. Printed material can be out-of-date before it gets in people’s hands. But our printed material tends to be more helpful in building personal links between the persecuted and those in the West, since we can take the time to tell their stories, use more pictures, show ways that people can get involved and the link. People can also pick it up on more than one occasion and look it over at their leisure. So both are very important. We are increasingly trying to find ways to link our internet ministries and our printed ones as well. We often have features on our multimedia site www.persecution.tv that can only be accessed through passwords found in our printed newsletter and which relate to or go beyond stories in the newsletter. For example, we may tell the story of a believer and then have online a short segment of an interview with her so people can hear her in her own words.

You publish a magazine, ‘Bold Believers,’ specifically for those aged 6 to 12. Please tell us a little about this. What sort of response do you get from young people?

‘Bold Believers’ is a six-page quarterly magazine that we put out that seeks to introduce young people to what it is like to live in many nations of the world where Christians are persecuted. The stories tend to be not as graphic as in the monthly newsletter (although we insist on sending the newsletter to the children’s parents or guardians, in order to reinforce what their kids are learning). They learn basic geography and history about the country. Perhaps something about the culture, the food, the predominant religious climate and the how Christians are being persecuted. We suggest ways that they can pray and remember their brothers and sisters in that nation. Do keep in mind that many of the reports of persecution we receive involve children either directly or indirectly. We share so that kids in Canada will learn how to think of others and live bold Christian lives in their setting.
The response has been very positive. It is a unique product. No one else in Canada has anything like it. Also we find that families like to do things together and so when we asked them to draw pictures or write letters to kids overseas, we often get a pretty good response.

For the last two years, you have been a Visiting Professor at a university in the United States and recently The Voice of the Martyrs released your first book, “In the Shadow of the Cross: A Biblical Theology of Persecution and Discipleship.” How does this relate to the ministry of The Voice of the Martyrs?

One of the things I discovered early in my ministry with VOM was the dearth of teaching almost anywhere in the world on what the Bible taught about persecution. Most of the teaching and books that I could find tended to deal with the subject very shallowly or came up with inadequate and even incorrect conclusions. Even the believers in restricted nations often did not have a very good idea of what the Bible taught. Most of their teaching (when they had any) and books came from the West which almost never dealt with the topic specifically. No educational institution anywhere, from what I know, had special classes on the subject. But I was continually being asked to teach on the subject by those going through persecution. Yet I, myself, didn’t have a very good grasp of the whole topic.

So I started to research, partly out of interest and partly in preparation to teach others in nations Iike Sudan and Colombia. My research let me into a pit that I am still in. The subject of persecution in the context of Christian discipleship is a deep subject and is, in my opinion, one of the major themes of scripture. Oklahoma Wesleyan University asked me to help them head up a new academic program two years ago focusing on persecuted church studies and one of the classes we felt that we needed to teach on was on the biblical theology of persecution and discipleship. Out of my class lecture notes came my recently released book, which to my knowledge is only the second such book in the English language. I am still studying and researching; I suspect that it will be a lifelong journey. Perhaps this will be my legacy.

What means a lot to me is the knowledge that Richard Wurmbrand had a vision for such an educational ministry. He was always chastising colleges and seminaries for not teaching on the subject of suffering and persecution. The Voice of the Martyrs in Canada is helping to fulfil this vision by providing the tools to make this possible. My heaviest burden right now is to find men and women who will join me in this so that this kind of teaching can become more mainstream in educational institutions around the world. Faithful handling of God’s Word requires that we teach on the subject far more than we are. I believe that educators need to see their role to develop Christian disciples who will willingly embrace the sacrificial and all-encompassing purposes of God of reconciling the world to Himself. Can you imagine what a difference graduates from such training could make in today’s world? Men and women who are paying any cost in order to bring others to Christ in a hostile world; these are the kinds of messengers God needs. I want to be part of that; the training of suffering, sacrificial servants who follow the Lamb wherever He goes…

-Martin Roth (23-May-2005)

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