Over the past couple weeks, the Weekly Reminder has run stories of our Jordan trip. Check ‘em out!
July 16 - The moments that make it all worth it.
(And remember, you can always read past issues of the Weekly Reminder in the archives!)
It's one thing to lay your own life on the altar - one horrible, painful, ultimate sacrifice - but it is another thing entirely to sacrifice the needs of your family, as well. I have to wonder how many martyrs, as they willingly lay down there lives for Jesus, think of their families as they die. Even Jesus, as he was on the cross, made provision for His mother!
Today I read a story about a man who was able to provide for his family, knowing that persecution was coming.
“I know that if they decide to kill me as a martyr, you will care for my wife and my children,” the father of two told the Iranian pastor last month.
That certainly reminded me of the work that Remember is doing, and just how important it is that we continue to care for the widows and orphans of martyrs.
Jordan Ballor just ran a post at the Acton Institute PowerBlog that was both profound and powerful.
I’m becoming more and more convinced as time passes that the recognition of the complex realities of persecution, suffering, and martyrdom around the globe is of fundamental importance for the vitality of the Christian church in North America. We need to come to terms with solidarity, what it means to be one with our fellow Christians in the world, and in what ways all Christians “suffer” in the daily work of sanctification.
Though I only met Mahagoub for a couple of days, I will never forget him. He was a man of enormous heart, character, and passion–and even though we did not speak the same language, his fist-pumping encouragement ministered far beyond any language barriers.
His story is as amazing as the joy he spread to all around him. He had been a member of the Sudanese parliament, an influential
leader and able representative of the tribes of the Nuba Mountains. But he gave up his position of influence for one simple reason–to preach the gospel of Christ. He used his political influence and charismatic personality for the greatest good of all, bringing souls into the Kingdom.
The time spent with Brother Mahagoub was precious, and in just a couple of days I felt as if he were a good friend, as well as being a brother in Christ. As he traveled with us throughout Sudan, he could barely hide his excitement for Remember's work and the movement of Christ throughout the Nuba.
A couple of months after our first Sudan trip, we received the word that Brother Mahagoub was dead. I was heartbroken, and I wasn't the only one; everyone involved in ministry in central Sudan felt the loss.
We are still not sure what caused his death. In central Sudan they do not do autopsies, and Brother Mahagoub died on the mission field, in the midst of the Nuba Mountains. It would appear he died of heart failure, which could
easily have been the result of an assassin's poison (a tactic known to have been employed by Muslim extremists in the area) or just the result of many years of hard work, poor diet, and the stress of being a Christian in Sudan. One thing is certain, though–Mahagoub died doing the work of the Kingdom.
His wife had died of cancer a couple of years before Mahagoub went to be with the Lord, leaving their four children orphans. Three daughters and one son, each in their teens and early twenties as far as we can establish, left without anyone to provide for their needs. They can work, but in doing so, have no opportunity to obtain the education necessary to give them a chance to prosper–and to continue in the ministry footsteps of
their father.
I am so happy to say, in the face of all of this sadness, that Remember is reaching out to these children in the love of Christ. We have undertaken to provide them with enough money, on a monthly basis, to provide for their education and basic needs. Because of your generous work and donations, we are able to make sure that they get back on their feet. Our support is not a permanent entitlement, but a gift of love to give them the opportunity to be mighty weapons in God's Kingdom.
Will you join me in praying for these four? Pray for them through the grief of loss and the pain of hunger. But don't just pray for their current situation; pray for their futures. They have seen the Body of Christ at work, and the sacrifice the Kingdom is worth. Pray that this memory will never leave them, and as they grow up that they will become powerful tools in the hands of their Eternal Father.
Only that Father knows what value our investment will be worth. Let us pray that our assistance to these persecuted children will be the tool of revival throughout the nation of Sudan.
Members of Remember's Sudan team with Mahagoub's children - Khartoum, December 2007.
Last week, the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) released its report on displaced persons in Iraq. Millions of Iraqis have lost their homes in the past couple of years, but perhaps the most striking aspect has been the displacement of Christians. An astronomical percentage of Iraqi Christians have been forced to flee their homes, many being forced to seek refuge in foreign nations.
And aside from being the hardest hit, these Christians are not able to go home.
Returnees mostly go to neighbourhoods/districts/ governorates where their communities represent the majority and which often are not their original homes. To date, only a few families returned to areas under control of other communities. No members of minority groups (e.g., Christians, Sabaean-Mandaeans and Yazidis) have been reported to be among the returnees.
Remember ministered to a number of these refugees last year in our Middle East Survey Trip. From their stories, it is obvious why the Christians are not returning to their homes–they can't. They cannot return without risking their lives.
This woman, for instance, is a widow that we met in Amman, Jordan. She and her four children came to know Jesus Christ, and were forced to leave their homes to avoid persecution. When living in Amman, however, the learned that three times the Jordanian authorities had refused entry to a man who was coming to the country with the intention of killing all of them for their faith. This wasn't just any man, though, not just some Islamic radical bent on violence…
It was her brother.
That is the kind of persecution faced by our brothers and sisters in Iraq. They have lost their homes, been abandoned by their families, and they often have nowhere to turn. Will you lift them up in your prayers?
It's an age old philosophical question: Why would a loving God allow suffering in the world? For Christians, the question is even more pertinent: Why would our loving God allow His people to suffer?
I'm not going to try to give you an exhaustive answer to this question, one that has filled many books, but the lives of persecuted Christians answer these questions far more powerfully than I could ever begin to.
Today, for instance, I read an interview with the daughter of a Chinese pastor that has been unjustly locked away in prison. Even though the judge in the case admitted that the evidence against him is insufficient, and the facts "ambiguous," this house church leader has not been given a fair trial. Instead, he is suffering in very poor health in a Chinese prison.
But in that prison, he is doing the Lord's work among the most hardened of criminals. His daughter shared this touching story:
And so my father continues to share the Good News even while in prison. In 2005 after he suffered from the stroke in the previous prison and was hospitalized, he left a bag of sunflower seeds for his cell-mates to consume. But one of his fellow prisoners said, “No, we will not eat them yet; we will wait until Christmas when we can partake of them together to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ.” So on Christmas night, they distributed the seeds to close to 20 people in two adjoining cells and ate them together. After that, they sang songs and worshipped. That’s how they celebrated the Lord’s birthday.
We can't always see God's overarching plan. We tend to be stuck in our own little temporal lives, unable to see beyond our own temporary pain, and the temporary pain of others. But we can certainly see evidence of the truth of God's promise that "all things work together for good to them that love God." (Romans 8:28) We can see that evidence in the lives of those living in persecution. In the midst of their persecution, they are accomplishing the work of the Kingdom. Even their suffering is working together for good.
And as an added benefit to us, their suffering gives us the chance to meet their needs. In doing so, we are answering the calling on the Body of Christ, doing the work of the Lord for His church.
