It is startling how that the opposition of the Christian life has become so worldwide. This is not simple disagreements from others who choose not to believe in Jesus. This is blatant open hostility to the point of killing Christ’s children. Pastors who lead their flock do so with immense bravery while facing targeted death. In particular, Muslim terrors have invaded the camps of those who gathered merely to worship Jesus some of whom have had to flee from their homes. This opposition ranges throughout the world from Africa to China and everywhere in between.
These small groups of Christians have had to sustain themselves in any way possible. Relocated to another area by persecution, some have been forced to invent a small business such as raising chickens. Not only are these believers persecuted and killed, but they are also destitute while hiding. At times terrorist groups have wandered through the streets seeking those they oppose indiscriminately shooting at residents. In oriental countries there exist many underground churches meeting in a home or hidden locations. Not only have there been terrorists, but the Communist opposition has been blatant.
Unfortunately, in America, the claim for humanitarian treatment of citizens in foreign countries has been more of a political ploy than actual intent to mobilize support for Christians who merely want to exercise their faith. The saying is action speaks louder than words. There has been no international effect from politicians on both sides of the aisle in the Congress of the United States. Their declarations of concern are only fodder as lines in speeches. The American church has likewise been silent in response to the hardships that Christian brothers and sisters suffer throughout the world. It is a picture that those who claim Christ only paint a message of not caring. No new church buildings are permitted to be constructed and those that do exist in public are monitored or even infiltrated to detect what the opposition claims to be illegal behavior. There is even a new education policy in which Christian families are forced to send their children to non-Christian specialized training.
This condition in other parts of the world is a precursor to what will happened to those people who accept Christ after the rapture and during the tribulation. We are not talking denominations. We are talking about people who genuinely have God in their heart and who are concerned about their own families and friends. In some cases, laws have been passed to criminalize any effort to convert another person to a new religion. This means that Christians often face harassment, beatings, evictions and persecution from extremists. In some cases, the penalty for evangelism is a fifteen thousand dollar fine and five years in prison or both. Just in the country of Burkina Faso 1.7 million people have been forced to flee from their homes while the persecutors invaded their neighborhoods even killing non-Christians in the wake.
We must allow our hearts to be touched by our brothers and sisters in the other countries who are so brave reflecting the kind of persecution the early Christians experienced. These people living in dangerous lands are not complaining but are honored to serve God in any way possible even to the point of death. Won’t you awaken to this international need for prayer and daily consciousness against the luxuries in America that are tragic contrasts to the world where other people live while proclaiming the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the salvation of everyone souls?
Christian Writer 