Persecution Blog

Video: Mindy Burnham

Mindy is the daughter of Gracia Burnham and she shares a little bit about her experience when her mom and dad was taken captive. Her mom's newest book To Fly Again: Surviving the Tailspins of Life

Video: Gracia Burnham

Exclusive video of Gracia Burnham at the Chain Reaction Conference 2008 For more information on Gracia's ministry visit her website Gracia Burnham.org  Feel free to leave us a comment.

National Conference: Answered Prayer

I sat this morning listening to Gracia Burnham speak at the VOM national mission conference, and I was moved to tears by the thought that I was sitting there seeing an answer to my prayers. You see, when Martin and Gracia Burnham were being held hostage in the Philippines, my wife and I and our sons prayed for them. I remember in particular one night as a national news show featured video clips of them in captivity, being interviewed. The way the piece was edited, they seemed very down, very discouraged. They seemed to be hanging on by the slimmest fingernail to any trace of hope.

That network news show drove our family to prayer for Martin and Gracia, prayer that they would know that the Holy Spirit was with them, that they would know that they were not forgotten, that people like us around the world were in fact remembering and praying for them.

This morning I saw again the answer to our prayers. Gracia talked about how, on the morning of her rescue and his death, she looked at Martin and said, "There are people praying for us."

Sometimes we see the answer to our prayers, as when a lost relative chooses to follow Christ or God moves in some way to provide for us or others. Many times, though, we pray on without seeing the answer. This is often true when it comes to praying for the persecuted church. We know a Christian is in jail, or on trial, and we pray. But we may not hear the answer to our prayers. We may not ever meet the man or woman that we have been on our knees on behalf of. Some have labored in prayer for years—even decades—without visibly seeing God answer.

Let us press on in those prayers; but let us also be grateful when God allows us to see His answer.

I am grateful today, for this morning I saw the answer to my prayers.

 

Todd Nettleton is the Director of Media Development for The Voice of the Martyrs—USA.

National Conference: Jesus must be number one

One of the high points of the VOM National Conference is the closing communion service; we gather from different nations and different backgrounds, and we partake together of Christ's Body, remembering His ultimate sacrifice just as we remember and pray for our brothers and sisters who are sacrificing so much right now.

"Jesus must be number one," we were challenged before being served communion by our speakers from the persecuted church. "Jesus must be number one."

National Conference: Dr. Tom White

Dr. Tom White was the final speaker at the VOM National Mission Conference. He shared how the negative thoughts and emotions brought on by sin actually burn holes in the dendrites of our brains, but how the grace of God can literally make a mind whole again.

"The helmet of salvation can protect your brain from the black holes…That's what Jesus can do. He can brain-wash you. He can get rid of the methyl chemicals."

"We can affirm that Jesus does save."

VOM National Conference: China update

Bob Fu, founder and president of China Aid Association, brings us an update on the state of the church in China. He began by asking the question why. Why does the government police beat an 18-year-old girl who is a follower of Christ? Why does the government call for aid to earthquake victims, then arrest house church Christians who are trying to bring aid?

Fu pointed to II Corinthians 2:15-16 for the answer:  "For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?"

To the Chinese authorities, the house church Christians who are faithfully serving Christ are the smell of death. And they are striking out against that penetrating aroma. But to God their faithfulness and their sacrifice is the sweet aroma of Christ.

How do we respond to suffering for our faith? Fu gave the National Conference attendees advice: use the "Three Ups."

First, we must be willing to STAND UP. "There is no neutrality between right and wrong," Fu said. "There is no neutrality between good and evil. Stand up for the Truth. It is not easy. The "smell of death" will anger many, even among our fellow Christians."

Second, we must SPEAK UP. We must be a voice for these voiceless brothers and sisters suffering for Christ.

Finally, we must SHUT UP. "This is even more difficult," Fu said. When the accusations and persecutions come, it is difficult not to defend yourself; not to speak out in anger. When you are tempted to compromise, be quiet.

Let us go forward, disseminating the aroma of Christ in every location on every occasion.

National Conference: Gracia Burnham

"The hardest part of our ordeal was that I saw what I really was."

One of the great gifts of Gracia Burhnam is that she is honest. Brutally honest. Her book, In The Presence Of My Enemies, gives the unvarnished truth of her time as a hostage to radical Muslim rebels in the Philippines. She doesn't present herself as a saint who never struggled during her months of captivity. Instead, she gives the whole truth; the days she questioned God and the times when her anger and frustration came out.

But she also tells how God worked inside her as they hiked and were bored and ducked during repeated gun battles. She tells how God helped them to show love to their captors.

"Stepping out and being a preacher isn't always going to work out well," she told the VOM National Conference audience. She talked about Peter's release from prison in Acts 12; but pointed out that the story begins with the execution of James, another of the apostles and another of Jesus' inner circle.

"Jesus said that His church would be a costly bride."

"We are called to obedience, and the scars that we get along the way are a testament to His faithfulness. I challenge you to lift up your eyes to the harvest, and to be faithful in whatever He has called you to do."

"Maybe our captivity was the only way that those Muslims would hear the gospel in their own language."

 

National Conference: Sunday morning

"You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God you will receive His promises." The Sunday morning service at VOM National Mission Conference opened with the children from the Kids of Courage conference blessing us in song and choreography.

Did You Know?

Did you know that even though China is known for printing tons of bibles, that the bible is not sold in bookstores in China.

Does that make you thankful that you have access to the bible? I hope so.

North Korean Defector Speaks at VOM Conference

Mr. K is the current speaker for our conference. He is a defector from North Korea and now lives in South Korea.

There is more freedom for Christians in South Korea. There are 13,000 defectors in South Korea and approximately 130,000 around China and other places.

It is widely known that North Korean defectors are considered traitors and often sought for death.

He is sharing how he had to learn that quotations from Kim Jong Il were worthless. There are 600 songs in the hymn book to Kim Jong Il, when he saw the hymn book for Christians only had 558 songs he felt sad. At that time "I was refusing God".

Then one day, I went to the mountain to pray and overheard Chinese and Korean Christians. They were passionate about their prayers even though it was very very hot. They were praying for the North Korean defectors. This is when he realized it would be wrong to criticize the Christians.

Then one guy promised to send him to South Korea if he would copy the bible one time. Then in 1997, he gave up copying the bible and left the church.

While waiting for a boat to leave for South Korean, he was arrested. They handcuffed him and forced him to go back to North Korea.

Then he was tortured and interrogated. His mouth was torn and all of his fingers were broken. Then sent to his prison cell, after less than an hour.

After a public trial was held, he may have been killed. However, all he could do is pray to the God he rejected. He prayed for three days on the journey to his trial. It should have taken one day, but instead it took three days.

He then told the Lord he would give his life for Him if he was set free.

So when he was in the bathroom, he sensed it was his time to escape. Without thinking he jumped off a moving train.

As the train disappeared from his sight, his body was flattened. He cried out to the Lord, "Thank you for saving me!"

Then he was able to defect back to China, where people noticed he had been saved.