Remember Ambassadors

We met Brother J in Jordan, a soft-spoken man whose gentle demeanor belied the incredible story that he told us.

His father was kidnapped first, a terrible, but not uncommon, situation for Christians in their home nation of Iraq.  The kidnappers called Brother J, pretending that they wanted him to go pick up his father for rescue from their evil.  When he went, though, they kidnapped him as well - and that was only the beginning.  They subjected him to unbelievable torture.  Masked militants held a knife to his throat and threatened him with death.  They strapped him down, attached wires to his bare flesh, and ran electric shocks through his body.

These kidnappers held him for three weeks, subjecting him to this brutality.  While all human expectation would be for him to give up, or to become bitter and angry, Brother J did none of those.  In fact, as he  showed us pictures taken shortly after the experience - legs covered with massive bruises from the beatings and electricity - and explained that he still could not walk without pain, he constantly referenced his gratefulness for the love and faithfulness of our God.

All of this torture, he told us, actually brought him closer to God, and taught him to truly pray.  Even more than that, he said, he even had a chance to witness to his kidnappers!  Imagine that - being chained to a chair, being brutally tortured, and witnessing to those evildoers of the eternal plan of salvation!

What a testimony.

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.

July 9 - Testimony of a persecuted Iraqi Christian.

(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.

Read the whole story here. 

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.

Read the whole article. 

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.

Read the full story from UNHCR.

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?