Persecution Blog

Prayer for India

For those of you with a heart for the nation of India, here's a special request for you.

(Global Council of Indian Christians) On July 15th, around 11:00 p.m., a notorious group of Hindu radicals tried to burn down a transformer as part of a plan to attack 150 orphan girls in Kota, Rajasthan. The attackers allegedly had plans to rape the girls. The plan failed when the transformer led to an uncontrolled fire and created many onlookers. This is the latest in a serious of attempts to shut down the work of Emmanuel Orphanages. Previously, officials from the Rajasthan social welfare ministry tried to extract false complaints against Emmanuel Orphanages, but their repeated attempts have failed. Mr. Madan Dilavar, the social welfare minister of Rajasthan has made over 50 statements and threats against M.A. Thomas and Emmanuel Mission. Previously, Emmanuel Mission's licenses were cancelled and bank accounts for the orphanages were frozen. (actions that were later rescinded). Most of the orphan girls that Emmanuel Orphanages help are from Dalit background.

Pray God will continue to protect the children in Emmanuel orphanage. Pray the Spirit of our risen Lord will give the Emmanuel workers His supernatural love for those who oppose them. Pray this spiritual battle will prove the power of our God of love to overcome the spirit of hate.

Prayer for China

Precious Friends, today I decided I wanted to do something different with our prayer requests.  Instead of giving you one of the prayer requests that The Voice of the Martyr's offers in their weekly prayer alerts, I'm going to give you all of them in different posts.

What I would like you do to is print each post up, put it in your bibles and then continually pray for them and then next week you can add the new requests and start a prayer book just for the persecuted church.

"Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified" (I Peter 4:12-14)

(China Aid Association) A prominent female house church leader was imprisoned in Jilin province on July 14, 2006. Additionally, in the past few days, 17 house church pastors were detained in Henan and Sichuan provinces. According to eyewitness reports, on July 11, Mrs. Wang Jinhua, a prominent house church leader, was arrested along with her husband Mr. Xu Jinfu and their 8-year-old son Xu Enze. Xu Enze was released after some members of the church asked for the boy's release. After being interrogated for three days and nights, Mrs. Wang was transferred to Baishan Prison in Baishan town, Jilin city. Her husband Mr. Xu was released on the same day. The interrogators signed the date of Mrs. Wang's transfer and Mr. Xu's release as July 12th (instead of July 14th) in order to cover their illegal extension of summons time. Another major house church leader, Mr. Yu Peng, was forced to flee and is now on the run because he was put on the wanted list by the government. At least three other leaders of his church were questioned by the PSB.

Pray the Lord will deliver Mrs. Wang from those who would harm her. Pray God will give her His peace and hope for the future. Pray those who are coming against the Christians in China will begin to thirst for the living God.

Mixed Feelings Regarding Rick Warren's Pending Trip to North Korea

A few days ago  The Christian Post published an article titled Rick Warren's North Korea Visit Triggers Mixed Reactions from Freedom Experts  in which The Voice of the Martyr's very own Todd Nettleton was quoted.  Here's what Todd said...

“I have mixed feelings about North Korea and about Rick Warren’s agreeing to go there to speak,” wrote Todd Nettleton, director of media development for The Voice of the Martyrs – USA, in an e-mail on Monday. “On the one hand, I’m thrilled to think that the Gospel will be preached to a North Korean audience, even if that audience is carefully controlled and hand-picked by the government. I believe in the life-changing power of the Gospel, and so to have that Good News preached in such a dark land is a wonderful development.

“On the other hand,” he continued, “I know that the casual observer will see this and think there is progress toward religious freedom under the Kim regime, and that is simply not true…. I’m concerned that the publicity surrounding Pastor Warren’s visit will obscure the true situation that my brothers and sisters in North Korea are facing.”

The director for the Christian persecution group pointed out that North Korea is probably the world’s most closed nation and Christians are routinely arrested and killed. “Believing in God is considered to be one of the top three crimes,” he noted.

Great commentary as usual! 

Is Your Bible Valuable?

I think I may have shared this before, but when I first received Christ as Lord & Savior, I was in need of a bible.  So I asked my parents if they had one, and they didn't.  So then I asked if they would get me one...and about a year later my mother finally got me a bible and gave it to me as a gift.  While I was waiting for my parents to decide to actually get me a bible, my friend Gail who shared the gospel with me, asked her grandmother if I could use one of their bibles temporarily.  Thankfully she said yes...and my life has never been the same.

So when I read today's Extreme Devotion, I can relate to not only wanting a bible, but also the desire to NOT want to give mine away.  The bible is a valuable treasure, and in it you find life and peace and salvation.  Do you see yours that way, or do you use it as a doorstop...

“They begged and begged me, but I couldn’t give it to them,” said the man. “I know Christians are supposed to share, but I just couldn’t part with it.” He sadly held out his hand so that his listener could see his prized possession.

“I really wanted to, but I couldn’t. You see, people in North Korea told me that they have been praying for fifty years to get a Bible. But I didn’t give them mine because I had been praying for twenty years, and I had just gotten it from a pastor in South Korea.”

   He sighed deeply as his mind went to the needy believers in North Korea desperately praying for one copy of the Bible. He hugged his Bible to his chest. He had escaped the Communist prison state and was now living freely in South Korea.

    Bibles in North Korea are rare. Because of the opposition from the Communists, believers consider them more precious than gold. One man was beaten to death with an iron rod along the Chinese border when he was caught bringing Bibles into North Korea. Sadly, cases like this are reported over and over.     “I cannot forget those people,” he said with a sigh. “I cannot forget the look of envy on their faces when I showed them my Bible. I feel so bad for them.” They serve as coasters for drinks or a handy spot to rest the remote control. Their sturdy covers help compose a letter on hotel stationery or catch the ashes falling from a cigarette. They listlessly adorn the coffee table, next to the caramel candy dish and the TV Guide. Although this book remains a best-seller year after year, no one seems to be reading it very much. It is the Bible. The Bible is abused and neglected outside of those places where its true value is known all too well. How differently we might treat our Bibles if we had to pray twenty years to get one! What can you do to revive your passion for God’s precious Word?

   

How Much Does Your Church Do for the Persecuted?

Last week my husband and I attended a "faith fund rally" for the Gideon's International, and the reason I'm sharing this is because it was very very cool to hear the gentleman, and I mean that in every sense of the word, come and share his testimony of handing out bibles in Myanmar (aka Burma).

This precious brother in the Lord shared with an audience of about 80 people, what is taking place approximately 8000 miles from Southern California in Myanmar.  He shared that Myanmar's population is about  90%  Buddhist, 6% is Christian and about 3% is Muslim and there is a desperate need for bibles to be distributed there.

The average annual income in Myanmar is only $250 a year!  And yet Christian churches are growing by leaps and bounds in the country.

He also shared that in 1962 there was only one Gideon camp in the whole country, and today there are over 55 camps!  A Gideon camp is simply a group of people who meet on a weekly basis to pray for those distributing bibles and then actually go out and give bibles away.  That IS the ministry of the Gideons International.

At one point he shared how he and a few other Gideons literally spend at least an hour convincing the Muslim hotel owners why they should allow them to put bibles in the hotels.  He told us with a huge smile that there is a lot of explaining to do, but they do it patiently and usually they are allowed to place the bibles.  He also shared that some of the Gideons were able to hand out about 20 bibles to a whole group of Buddist monks one day after their trip to another destination had been delayed due to a flat tire.  God had other plans for that delay!

He went on to share with us how he and other Gideons literally would carry over 100 bibles on their backs through miles of water in order to deliver the bibles to islands around Myanmar.  To say that I was moved is an understatement.  I wish I could share with you the pictures that I saw with this presentation.

Which brings me to this question - how much does your church do for the persecuted?  I'm wondering because in all the years I've attended church I've never attended one church that has a focus on the persecuted church, including the church I currently attend.

And since giving bibles is something so simple and yet so needed for the persecuted church, I was wondering how many of you have told your churches about the awesome Bibles Unbound program that The Voice of the Martyrs started only a few months ago?

As you may know by now, the Bibles Unbound program is a very simple program to do.  For only $30 a month you can send 5 bibles to China or Egypt to a specially designated person.  Personally, I can't wait to meet the people I've had the blessing of sending bibles to.  Can you imagine!  Wow...

Anyway, if you haven't joined the program yet, you really should.  If people in Myanmar literally live on $250 a year, what is a mere $30 a month to send bibles to those who really want them, but have a hard time getting them.

As one Gideon said at the meeting, "We in America have so much, and yet do so little - when those in other places have so little and yet do so much."

What are you doing?

Pastor Warren's Trip to North Korea Delayed

Since we have been following some of the news concerning Pastor Rick Warren's opportunity to go to North Korea, I wanted to give you an update and let you know that his trip has been delayed, but his invite to preach there still remains.

Mission Network News is reporting the following:

Word came at the tail end of a training conference for more than 20,000 Korean pastors in South Korea. During the course of the conference, he challenged churches of all denominations to work and pray for a third wave of revival across the Korean peninsula. ...Once Warren's team was informed of the dely, they were assured the invitation stands for Dr. Warren to speak at the first outdoor Christian event in North Korea since 1945. It's in conjunction with the 100th Anniversary Celebration of the Pyongyang Revival in March 2007.

Dr. Warren remains in Asia for the next two weeks, continuing a 35-day tour of 13 countries.

Christians in the Crossfire in the Middle East

The following news item is from our friends at Mission Network News online.

Middle East on the brink of war; believers in the crossfire.

Israel (MNN)--Topping the news, Israel has intensified her assault on Gaza, while at the same time escalating the military action in Lebanon. Open Doors' Carl Moeller says the Christian community there is facing a grim reality. "The extremism of the Hamas and Fatah factions that has polarized the internal relationships in Gaza have created a terrible vise, in which the remaining Christians in the Gaza strip have been caught." Moeller says they're committed to supporting the remnant church in the region, because: "Who else can speak to the warring factions, both internally among the Fatah and the Hamas in Gaza, and also between the extremist Muslims and the Israelis? The prince of peace, Jesus Christ, has planted his church there to be agents of peace. Without a Christian community, there's almost no one who can speak to both sides."

Choosing A Proper Response Under Pressure

In today's Extreme Devotion we are humbly reminded of the reality that we always choose our responses and reactions to the events around us.  This is such a powerful and humbling lesson we can all learn from our persecuted family in Christ and also from Christ Himself.

“If Abu wanted to be a Christian, he’d have to do it somewhere else. We surrounded his house, ready to force him out and burn it.

“As we got closer, we could hear him talking. Had he gathered others to help him? we wondered. Then we could hear that he was praying for the entire village and asking Jesus to forgive us for what we were about to do! This made us even angrier, so twenty-five of us rushed toward his house to apprehend him. But there was an invisible force that would not let any of us enter his house, and we were frightened away.

“When I got home, I could not sleep. I kept thinking about Abu’s prayer. Finally at three in the morning, I went back to Abu’s house. I asked him to tell me about Jesus. After three hours of talking with Abu, I asked Jesus to forgive me, and I surrendered my life to him. I rushed to my house and shared what happened to me with my wife, and she also became a Christian, along with my children.” Within days, Idris Miah, the Bangladeshi believer who told this story, faced a test. He was fired from his job, and his children were forced out of school. Yet he says that he still has joy, for he has Jesus in his heart.

Often we can’t choose our life context, but we can choose our attitude and response. We can always make those choices, despite the circumstances. So when, like Abu, we stand at the brink of disaster, will we choose a prayerful, Christlike response, or will we give in to panic and distress? It is impossible for others, despite their best efforts, to make us angry or stressed. We make those choices ourselves. In the same way, we can choose to imitate Christ in our response to opposition. Who knows what will come of it? Ask God for help today to choose the proper response to any trying situation.

Persecution Blog Carnival #8

It's been two weeks since we've had a Persecution Blog Carnival so let's get right to it! Our first entry is from Tidbits & Treasures  who has written an entry titled Chinese Protestant Minister Sentenced to 7.5 years. 

Our next entry comes from Jennifer who writes at Under His Wings a post called Life in the Midst of Suffering, which is about Jennifer's view of the abundant life I see in the suffering of Israel and the Persecuted Church.

Then my buddy Hal Paxton who writes at The Great Separation has a post called 20-year-old Woman Proclaim Christ, Murdered in Police Custody.  Hal writes, "This 20-year-old woman's martyrdom touches home when I consider the 20-year-old women I worked with on my mission trip."

Our next entry is from Ian who blogs at Ruminations by the Lake and he has written about an upcoming The Voice of the Martyrs Toronto Conference and VOM Canada's Glenn Penner who will be teaching a course.

Carol from The Riches of His Glory writes about What God Can Do with the Wind and a Hat.

Continuing our theme of persecution in this carnival, our next entry is from Scott who writes at Random Responses.  Scott has written about The Ugandan Martyrs (1885-1887) and how the roots of the African Church's strong stand against homosexuality can be found in the martyrdom of over forty African Christians in 1885-1887.

Our next entry is  from Karanja who has a plea to pray for North Korea, and you can read about that at Wake Up Christians! 

Jan from Counted Worthy offers us another wonderful post called Searching for Joy? Behold the Mystery of Christ's Suffering Church and she says, you put your hands in His wounds (John 20:27) – as you finger and help to dress these wounds of His brothers and sisters – you realize that the power of the resurrection is true. That’s when you stop your search for inner peace, because you’ve found the very wellspring of it."

Our next entry is from E.A. who writes at Religión en Revolución concerning a A Christian pastor who  is harassed in Guaimaro, Camagüey Province, Cuba.

Cindy gives us our next offering and writes at Inspiration Korner concerning the new The Voice of the Martyr's book Iran: Desperate for God.

Thank you all for your contributions and for those of you reading.  Please leave us your feedback, we value all of it!

Moeller Calls for Prayer for the Church to Be Bringers of Peace

In today's Mission Network News email we read the following concerning the unraveling war in the Middle East.  Please consider time today to pray and if the Lord leads, also fast, for the situation in the Middle East.

War looms over Israel and Lebanon.
July 13, 2006

Israel (MNN)--Israel is responding to Hezbollah's actions as 'acts of war'.

Hezbollah militants are accused of kidnapping two Israeli soldiers, prompting military response from Israel in southern Lebanon.

Their retaliation is causing a deep international concern, prompting a call to both sides to resolve. However, Israel and Lebanon continues to answer one another with deadly force.

Open Doors' Carl Moeller agrees that it's a volatile situation. "Any massive military movement into southern Lebanon would really re-shuffle al of the political cards in that deck. Anyone's guess is good for what could happen if Israel's full military mobilizes into Lebanon."

The escalating uncertainty is causing notable alarm among the Christian communities. Moeller urges believers to stand in solidarity with the substantial Christian community in Lebanon.

Their concern? They're reliving the nightmare of a potential religious civil war. Moeller says "The Christian population has a long-standing large presence--but it is a decreasing minority--pray that the church would take up its rightful role as the bringers of peace."