Prayer for the Persecuted Church

And two testimonies to inspire Faith

Pastor Joe Fuiten, November 9, 2003

One would think in 2003, with all the emphasis on tolerance and human rights, that the persecution of Christians would be eliminated. In fact, violence against Christians continues unabated, often at the hands of governments that say they are allied with the United States.

We do tens of billions of dollars of trade with China but this fall they have continued to arrest Christians. On Monday, November 3, 2003 Mr. Zhang Yi-nan, a Chinese house-church writer and historian, was sentenced to two years of “re-education through labor”—by the Re-education Through Labor Commission of Ping Ding Shan County in Henan Province. Zhang was arrested on September 26 and charged with “subverting the Chinese government and socialist order.”

In Mexico, several Evangelical Pastors have recently been killed. In Egypt, the government has rounded up a number of Christian converts from Islam. They are being charged with forging Christian identity papers.

It has gotten particularly bad it Pakistan where Christian people are being economically deprived even as churches and Christians are being attacked by militants. In Laos the Hmong people are being persecuted while in Vietnam it is the Montagnard Christians who are being exterminated. Even India, which still considers itself a democracy, is being caught up in a tide of militant Hinduism.

The Radical Moslem world including supposed USA allies like Saudi Arabia continue to arrest any known Christians. Even the supposedly moderate Moslem world does not crack down on anti-Christian threats and harassment.

The Persecution of Christians takes many forms

•In countries and regions where the demonization of powerless Christian scapegoats occurs, it often serves to vent, foment, and popularize hatred of the West and the United States.

•Imprisonment and torture of persons for simply attending Christian worship services or Bible studies.

•Establishment of government-controlled "religious associations" and criminal prosecution and torture of members of "unlicensed" Christian churches.

•Encouragement and appeasement of unpunished mob violence against Christians conducting burial and other religious services.

•Encouragement and appeasement of unpunished looting and burning of businesses and homes of practicing Christians.

•Church burnings and systematic official refusals to allow the building of new churches or church repairs.

•Encouragement and appeasement of systematic beatings of children who attend Christian schools.

•Literal sale into slavery of Christian children abducted by government forces.

•Refusal to distribute food to Christians in famine-stricken areas unless they agree to renounce their faith.

•Wide dissemination, often with government support, of scurrilously hateful, deliberately provocative, anti- Christian tapes, books and tracts.

•Imprisonment of Christians for the mere possession of Bibles.

•Prosecution, torture and even murder of practicing Christians under infamous and broadly construed "blasphemy" laws.

•Prosecution, torture and even murder of Christian converts and the children and grandchildren of such converts, under equally infamous and broadly construed "apostasy" laws.

The Bible is not silent about these kinds of things:

· 2 Timothy 3:12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

· 1 Corinthians 12:26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it;…

· Hebrews 13:3, Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

· Proverbs 31:8-9 "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."

When people talk about mistreating the earth and its environment, mention the people being persecuted. When people talk about racism, gender bias, and prejudice of any kind, mention those being persecuted. When they talk about the supposed persecution of homosexuals, mention that people of our denomination are suffering and dying all over the world.

I would like for you to see the faces and hear the stories of three people from different parts of the world. (Show DVD)

Lead in Prayer for them.

Two Testimonies to Inspire Faith

The second part of my message today is not related to the first. I wanted to deal with both topics so I took liberties with the sermon format and decided to do two mini-sermons rather than keep it all under one topic.

I relate these stories not because I think your situation might be like that. The people and facts change in every story. The one constant is that God is a great God who still does miracles today. If you need a miracle, I am telling these stories for your benefit.

Last week I received an email from a Doctor in Olympia who told me her story. She will be here in January to relate it herself but let me give you the preview. She was infertile and all treatments had failed. A friend told her about our service. Before she came she had a dream in which a reporter was asking her questions. She had no idea that members of the media would be present at the service. In fact, she said that had she known they would have been present she wouldn’t have come. As a physician she values her privacy and she was not ready to disclose to the world her medical situation.

She came and enjoyed the service. As she was leaving, a reporter from King 5 caught her and began asking questions, the very same questions as in her dream. That night she said she was all over the news on King 5 and Kong 16. Patients and Colleagues saw her and made comments.

She emailed to report that it was quite a testimony to those patients and colleagues when she delivered twins just a few days ago. Those twins were conceived three days after attending the service.

When she came, she didn’t want the media to know but now she told me she would be happy to tell her story and can hardly wait to bring her two babies and tell you the story herself.

I think it is astounding that God would give that doctor such a dream. For her as a scientific mind, I think it helped assure her that God was the one who was doing the work. Then to follow that up with the miracle of twins being born is really the second phase of a wonderful miracle.

The second story is equally amazing. I was in Poulsbo a few weeks ago preparing to speak to a group of ministers about Presentation Sunday and how they could be involved in that service in their church. As I stood up to speak, another minister stood in the back of the room and asked to say something. He related how he and his wife had come to our District Council meeting in Olympia. They came to the altar at the end of the service and asked that I pray for them to have a baby. For whatever reason, she had never had a period in her life. We prayed at the altar. The young Pastor told the other ministers that his wife who had never had a period, immediately got pregnant. They are expecting their baby right at Presentation Sunday this year.

That miracle was a creative miracle. Something which was not there before was created. She produced an egg for the first time in her life. I encouraged them to have a prayer service in their church because there was a great testimony they could share of what God had done for the.

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