Category: persecution

In 2006, our son Taylor spent a couple of months in Cambodia as a part of Youth With a Mission. In Battambang, the second largest city in the country, everyone he met had lost family members in the murderous reign of Pol Pot, the extreme Communist leader who had slaughtered his own people.

In 1975 there were twenty-seven evangelical churches in Phnom Penh, the capitol, and there were over 10,000 Christians in Cambodia. By the end of 1979 only two hundred Christians remained alive.

But Pol Pot did not just target Christians. He killed people of all religions, he killed people that had an education, he killed people that wore glasses, he killed people that could speak English… Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge murdered 1.7 million people and ‘the killing fields’ became synonymous with Cambodia’s genocide.

Sovann was one of the survivors. He came to know Jesus in 1972 and walked with the Good Shepherd through danger and imprisonment and torture and loss. He cannot explain why he lived and others did not, but he knows God has called him to shine light.

Sovann was given the nickname ‘Barnabas,’ which means ‘son of encouragement.’ Though he witnessed horrors beyond description, Barnabas believed God wanted him to lead Christians to worship the Lord with all their hearts. “Yes, I suffered. Yet I shouted praise in my heart. Yes, I was afraid. Yet I learned to trust my Lord. Yes, so much was taken away. Yet so much was given.”

‘Yet’ is a little word we can all courageously choose. The One we follow is worthy of praise.

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 42:5-6

(Quote from Church Behind the Wire, by Barnabas Mam with Kitti Murray, ©2012, Moody Publishers, p 131)

When the gospel is allowed to grow naturally in China, without forcing processes of development, the “church in the house” is usually its first form of organization.

God grant us faith and courage to keep “hands off” and allow this new garden of the Lord’s planting to ripen in the rays of the Divine Love, free from human interference! (Lottie Moon, 1890)

Hudson Taylor, C. T. Studd, Eric Liddell, and Lottie Moon are a few foreign missionaries that labored in China around a century ago. Marie Monsen was a Norwegian missionary who served in the province of Henan in the early 1900’s. Miss Monsen’s primary message to the Chinese (and even to fellow missionaries) was: “Repent and surrender yourselves totally to God.” Though her message was forceful and sometimes confrontational, Marie Monsen saw no benefit in preaching any ‘gospel’ that would produce ‘lukewarm’ Christianity.

Watchman Nee, Samuel Lamb, and Brother Yun are three Chinese Christians that have blessed my life. These (and multitudes of others) received Christ, preached Christ, and suffered for Christ by spending time in prison for the sake of the Gospel. Brother Yun, from Henan Province, credits the strong witness of those who benefited from Marie Monsen’s ministry as giving a foundation for the type of faith needed to serve Christ in the face of intense persecution.

Born in 1958, Liu Zhenying (or Brother Yun as most call him), speaks all over the world about God’s power and love. The Heavenly Man is a book that tells the story of Brother Yun’s life in China. It reads like the book of Acts, which chronicles the mighty works of God and the persecution of believers soon after Jesus left the earth.

The early disciples, and those from every nation who have boldly spread God’s Word these past two thousand years, understand that the Holy Spirit longs for every soul to know Jesus and receive salvation. The apostle Peter wrote, “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Peter also explained that the devil always opposes the plans of God. Our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world understand this and show us how to persevere with faith, hope, and love.

I have seen God transform my country and have seen countless men and women, boys and girls experience streams of living water flow out of them after the Holy Spirit came into their lives. I have seen hardened criminals and persecutors of the church fall on their knees like children and repent of their sins as the Holy Spirit swept them into the kingdom of God. The river of life — which was once a dry creek in my country — has become a series of mighty waterways. Millions of people are being cleansed from their sin. (Brother Yun, 2008)

This New Year, let us pray and give and speak and live to shine the Light of Jesus wherever we go. May His Kingdom be of far more importance in our hearts and minds than anything else in this world. “Your Kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Amen.”

“The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.” Acts 5:41-42

“Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same
kind of sufferings.” I Peter 5:8-9

(Yun quote from Living Water, by Brother Yun, edited by Paul Hattaway, published by Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2008, p. 125)

My friend Mark, his wife, and their two elementary-age sons have been faithful servants of the Gospel in predominately Muslim Asian countries. Persecution is more the norm in these lands and Mark often partners with Voice of the Martyrs to encourage and assist those in danger for following Jesus. Mark was in town recently and asked a group of believers an unusual question: “Do any of you going through present difficulty believe something strange is happening to you?” He then read Peter’s words: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.” (I Peter 4:12) Of course, the implication of this verse is that we should not be surprised when we confront hardship. Suffering should not be considered strange in the life of a disciple.

We all understand this was an important message to pass on to new Christians in the first century who often lost everything for their faith, but what about today? Mark can tell story after story of Asian believers losing property, homes, family members, freedom, and their own lives for the sake of Christ. When someone becomes a Christian in these places, the differences are so distinct that Peter’s words make sense. “Of course it is not strange that I will suffer for this Truth I have found. But I have found eternal life, so is it not worth it?” Mark can also tell stories of some who decided it was not worth it and denied Christ at a critical point of decision. Interestingly, Mark extended the meaning of this verse far beyond what we consider the “far-away-places-of-persecution.” If you are undergoing a certain hardship, don’t consider it strange. All believers are in the same Body and we all have a common enemy. With eyes on Jesus, Peter encourages us to choose a different attitude. “Rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” (I Peter 4:13)

We know such things as “rejoicing in the midst of suffering” are easier said than done, but Peter was not unfamiliar with difficulty. To embrace this mindset requires the Spirit of Christ, so we must constantly pray, “Lord, fill me with your Spirit and give me the mind of Christ.” We can also participate with those enduring hardship by praying in faith and serving them with God’s love.

In light of this, I want to share recent news I’m tempted to call “strange.” Next week, Lord willing, we leave to visit and serve John and Suzanne Hunter in Africa. For years they have led a Christian school in the poorest area of Windhoek, Namibia. John has had a nagging cough for months and Suzanne urged him to check things out. After many tests, John has been informed he has multiple myeloma, the same disease I have. This is a very difficult time for the Hunter family. Please pray for them. Susan can be a good encourager for Suzanne while we are there, and I hope I can encourage John. There is no doubt the enemy hates the work being done to share Jesus with the lost and to rescue children from poverty and disease. I pray the Hunters, all the teachers, and all of us will remember that, in the end, Satan will be defeated and Christ will reign. In the meantime, may we all fight the good fight with our eyes fixed on Jesus – the author and perfecter of our faith.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4

Many have asked about the results of my last tests at Emory. I am to meet with doctors Tuesday and they will tell me how things are. We all appreciate your prayer. Thursday, Susan and I fly to China to visit a co-worker who is teaching at a language school in QingDao. We are excited about this trip and hope we can encourage Gerry and Becky Hill and their little girls. Thanks for praying about this too!

Several Chinese Christians have impacted my life greatly through writing and example. Many have persevered through fires we cannot imagine resulting in beautiful fruit of the Holy Spirit. THE HEAVENLY MAN is the autobiography of Brother Yun, a brother still alive today, who has been imprisoned and tortured for his faith. Listen to a prisoner of the Lord.

God is my witness that through all the tortures and beatings I’ve received I have never hated my persecutors. Never. I saw them as God’s instruments of blessing and his chosen vessels to purify me and make me more like Jesus…

In this prison seminary we have learned many valuable lessons about the Lord that we could never have learned from a book. We’ve come to know God in a deeper way. We know his goodness and his loving faithfulness to us…

When a child of God suffers you need to understand the Lord has allowed it. He has not forgotten you! The devil cannot snatch you away! Jesus made this beautiful promise to his children, ‘My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.’ John 10:27-29

The first time I went to prison I struggled, wondering why God had allowed it. Slowly I began to understand he had a deeper purpose for me than just working for him. He wanted to know me, and I to know him, deeply and intimately. He knew the best way to get my attention for a while was to give me rest behind bars…

I’m often asked about the rights of pastors in China. A pastor has no rights, except the rights of a slave! Everyone in this world is a slave. They’re either slaves to sin or slaves of Christ. Our ‘rights’ are in the hands of Jesus. We must fall on our knees in complete dependence on him…

The world can do nothing to a Christian who has no fear of man.

THE HEAVENLY MAN by Brother Yun with Paul Hattaway. published by Monarch Books in the UK and USA in 2002 portions from pages 311-313

I recently read of a brother in Pakistan who was murdered for his faith. Fifty-year-old Mukhtar Barkat was warned to stop sharing Christ in his Muslim community. But Mukhtar believed it was worth the risk to keep sharing the good news with those who were lost. Early in the morning on January 5, 2004, this pastor was shot and killed. He left behind a wife and six children.

In the article I read, this sentence caught my eye: “Family and friends say he did not fear death.” That’s the way I want to live… “he did not fear death.”

But how does one live in such a way? Where does one receive such courage? What man or woman can overcome the natural fear of death? Jesus promises abundant life and then calls us to bold living. He knows the way of the cross is full of danger, so He admonishes, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” But how does one not fear what kills the body?

The man or woman who realizes what happened at the cross has great advantage. Jesus wants us to grasp what He has given us. “The most dangerous warrior is the one who does not fear death. I have called you to be dangerous warriors in the Kingdom of Light. The gates of Hell will not overcome you. Do not be afraid to obey Me. I took the sting from death and I have given the devil a death blow. Understand what happened at the cross and be free.”

“Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Hebrews 2:14-15