“Before we finish this funeral service,” her words rang out clearly to the thousand people in attendance, “I want to tell you what my husband told me before dying. He asked me to tell all his murderers that he goes to heaven loving wholeheartedly everybody, including his assassins. He has forgiven all for what they have done because Jesus loves and will also forgive them.”

“I will not allow it,” Chinese pastor Wang Min-tao said to the Japanese soldiers. “I will not hang that picture of the emperor in my church.”

Happy Monday Folks - Let us begin our week by reading another great entry from the book Extreme Devotion.

The blows seemed to come from everywhere, and Chloe tried to wrap his arms around his head to protect himself. Although he didn’t know how many attackers there were, he felt the sharp thud of each blow as he lost consciousness. His attackers shouted at him, mocking his faith and his Jesus. Chloe prayed, silently crying out to God to give him strength.

If you are not willing to die for what is in the Bible, you should not give money for Bibles. Because if you give, we will smuggle more Bibles. And if we smuggle more Bibles, there will be more martyrs. PASTOR RICHARD WURMBRAND—FOUNDER OF THE VOICE OF THE MARTYRS

The woman was one month away from graduating from Bible school along with her daughter. It was the same Bible school where her son, Stanley, had gone before he went to another Indonesian island as a missionary. Stanley was killed for carrying the gospel, but his testimony had prompted many others to go to Bible school and to accept God’s call to share his love.

I had the physical sense of being prayed for. Even when I knew nothing and received no letters, I felt warmth as if sitting near a fire. Sometimes this happened in punishment cells, which are very cold. It was like hearing someone pray for me and think about me. This supported me so much. It is difficult to explain. . . . I felt and knew I was not forgotten. This was sufficient to make me resist the most difficult moments.

“In Peru, Christians don’t expect to get something for serving Jesus,” said Pastor Zapata. “They expect to give something.” Outside the quiet mountain village, Pastor Zapata showed his guests a row of handmade white crosses, each representing a Christian killed by Communist insurgents.