The following is from the VOM book Extreme Devotion.

A church that does not remember its persecuted brethren is no church at all.

In spite of the painful reflections and memories, I have no time for bitterness. My life is filled with too much happiness, too many loving, caring people to allow myself to be devoured by the cancer of hate. I rejoice. I sing. I laugh. I celebrate, because I know that my God reigns supreme over all the forces of evil and destruction Satan has ever devised. And best of all—my God reigns supreme in me!

“Hurry, get into the closet. Do not make a sound unless you hear my voice. Do you understand?” Rose heard the two small voices of her preschool children say, “Yes, Mommy,” then she bolted out the door and headed toward her daughter’s school, praying that it was not too late.

For those who have suffered in prison for their faith in Christ, Holy Communion is a precious ceremony; however, it is rarely shared under the watchful eye of prison guards.

The following is taken from the book Extreme Devotion. Learn from this man.

“He cannot come with us!” Paul insisted. “He is a coward and of no use to the ministry.”

In Albania, the first self-declared atheist state in the world, a young Christian by the name of Valerii Nasaruk was arrested for boldly tattooing a cross on his hand. He wanted everyone to know from the first handshake that he stuck to his faith in God. Valerii was frustrated, however, by not being allowed to verbally tell others about God’s love.

We don’t pray to be better Christians, but that we may be the only kind of Christians God means us to be; Christlike Christians, that is, Christians who will bear willingly the cross for God’s glory. FROM A LETTER SMUGGLED OUT FROM THE UNDERGROUND CHURCH IN ROMANIA