Perseverance In Christ Through Persecution
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After 4 flights and over 24 hours of travel, we arrived on the other side of the world in a country where Christian religion is significantly controlled and monitored by the government. An “above-ground” church is permitted in this country; however, members and pastors are required to register their affiliation with the government. These brothers and sisters are under close surveillance and are frequently harassed by the authorities. A secretive underground church is also firmly established in this country and has been growing exponentially. If discovered, the underground church members can face detainment, imprisonment, or expulsion from the country. As a result, they have to constantly change meeting locations and quickly scatter if their location is discovered. Our organization has the privilege of working with both the above-ground and underground churches.
“We found ourselves dodging police officers/posts to avoid suspicion and questioning.”
We are full-time missionaries and specifically train under-resourced pastors who lack access to solid theological, Christ-centered education to confidently preach the Word of God. On this specific trip, Elijah was training pastors in the book of Revelation. On an average Sunday in the United States, you might see police officers kindly directing traffic outside of churches; in this country, we found ourselves dodging police officers/posts to avoid suspicion and questioning. While walking to our training location we wore face masks, not to avoid Covid exposure, but to help hide our identities.
Over the course of two weeks, we trained 35 pastors in the book of Revelation. Other missionaries on our trip taught courses on Preaching and the book of Romans. During our visit, we had the opportunity to hear some amazing testimonies. Below is one such story: (Names have been changed to protect identities)
At the young age of 17, Joan found herself in the middle of war. Her hometown had been seized by a new oppressive regime and she and her family were being forced to relocate to the mountains where resources were scarce. Escape was her only option. In the shadow of night, Joan and her 14 year-old brother climbed aboard a tiny boat, which was intended to bring them to a larger boat, and on to freedom. Their destination: anywhere but here. However, their tiny boat was captured, and they were arrested. Even though Joan was a minor, she was tried as an adult. At the age of 17, she was sentenced to 1 year in a jungle prison where conditions were harsh and her future seemed bleak.
Upon her release from prison, Joan reunited with her family. Prior to the war, Joan’s mother occasionally attended a Christian church. As war and persecution increased, Joan’s mother’s trust in Jesus Christ also increased. Joan slowly began observing her mother’s faith and eventually agreed to attend a church gathering. As time passed, the Holy Spirit gripped Joan’s heart, she surrendered her life to Christ, and was baptized. Her pastor was preaching the saving power of Christ, the church was in a state of revival, and the congregation grew to more than 2,000 people. However, this growth greatly concerned the denominational leaders. The government was taking notice.
Due to fear and pressure from the government, the denominational leaders fired the pastor. Motivated by the Spirit, the pastor went on to establish the very first underground church in the country. Joan eagerly joined in the underground church movement. As Joan grew in her faith, the leadership of the church recognized her gifts and sent her to attend a Bible school. To further prepare for service in the church, Joan also completed our five year intensive training program. She has boldly and fearlessly dedicated her life to ministry and the proclamation of the Good News. Currently, Joan serves in leadership at an underground house church, and she also provides classroom translation for the pastors of the underground church who are going through our training program.
It has been a blessing and honor to work with Joan and hear her remarkable story. A common theme in the testimonies we heard was perseverance in Christ through persecution. After lunch each day, people in this country observe an hour of rest. One day during this rest time, we listened to the Church at the Cross sermon from the previous Sunday. Pastor JR was preaching on Matthew 5:10, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Listening to this sermon (in a religiously oppressive country), after hearing first-hand accounts from persecuted believers, certainly brought a whole new understanding to this verse. May the Lord indeed bless and protect these faithful brothers and sisters in Christ!