The Christian Heartbeat: World Missions; Christian Persecution …
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.
