Sharing the Persecuted Church with Jr. High Students

Today I had one of the greatest opportunities I have had in a long time.  I was asked recently to speak to a few Jr. High classes at a local church that has a Christian school, and all I can tell you is that it was totally fun to see these young men and women begin to learn about the persecuted church.

The first class I spoke to had all girls in it, and it was fascinating to see them as they watched a small portion of The Voice of the Martyrs great DVD called Underground Vietnam.

One of the observations of the class with all girls was that they couldn't quite understand why the underground church was so joyful, and were crying when they received the bibles the teens in the film had delivered.  So I had the opportunity to share with them the joy of the persecuted church because those who are suffering for Christ have a greater joy because they get to see the Lord answer prayer in miraculous ways.

After we watched the DVD, we then had an opportunity to unpack my bibles I received from the Bibles Unbound program and share with the class the five bibles that we were going to ship to China.  And it was very cool because the teens were eager to look at the bible in a different language, and also eager to get the bibles in the mail so that those who have never received one, can get one.

In the second class I got to speak to, the class was half boys and  half girls, and none of them have ever heard of the ministry of The Voice of the Martyrs.  So it was especially exciting to be able to introduce them to the persecuted church for the first time, and also answer some of their questions.

One topic of discussion had to do with what the persecuted Christians ask for, and also what they are praying for Western Christians to have.  We shared about the number one request of the persecuted church, which is prayer.  And then the value of having a bible so that they could grow in their commitment to Jesus Christ.

We ended that class by packing bibles to Indonesian and praying for the recipients.

And the teacher was touched by what had happened in her classes, that she asked me back to share more about the ministry of VOM.

And she also cried when she saw the joy of the persecuted church in the Underground Vietnam DVD. (I did too.)

So I would like to encourage you to share about the suffering church with your Sunday school classes, or classes in your Christian schools.  You may be surprised at how interested you will find your students, and you may be leading them into a  ministry that is far greater than anything you could imagine.

To participate with the Bibles Unbound project, please visit www.biblesunbound.com to sign up today.  It's easy, fun and will change so many lives.