If you hammer a nail's head....

If you hammer on a nail's head it gets harder to pull out of a wall.

This quote was shared with me this weekend at a Voice of the Martyr's conference. The woman who spoke this quote is named Helen, she is from the country of Eritrea. These words were spoken as her body was literally hammered on in order to get her to renounce her faith in Jesus. Wow, that just floored me. I can't imagine the horrors she went through, and I can't imagine having that amount of boldness. Yet, she is not alone. The world is full of people just like Helen, willing and ready to give their lives for the Gospel of Christ. In America, we have no concept of true persecution.

Can you imagine risking your life every time you attend church? Can you imagine not having access to a Bible? Can you imagine giving up food in order to buy a satellite so your family can get fed on the Word? Can you imagine reading from a burnt Bible? Can you imagine being imprisoned for a year and forced to live in the jungle with your captors, only to have your husband killed during your rescue? I know I can't imagine these things, yet they happen, daily around our world.

I can't even begin to share the impact these stories have had on me. The work that Voice of the Martyrs does is amazing. They provide so many resources to persecuted Christians; Blankets to Sudan, Action Packs filled with clothes, Bibles to countries where it is illegal to own one, and they send parachutes into Columbia with radios so the locals can hear Christian radio programs. That is just some of what they do. I encourage you to visit their website and explore this ministry. We are such rich people in comparison to the rest of the world and our Christian brothers and sisters need our encouragement. 

www.persecution.com

Voice of the Martyrs

Action Packs ready to ship out!

Even if you can't help in any of the ways that require money, you can always pray. Prayer is powerful and God does move! Gracia Burnham (her husband was killed in the Philippines) shared a very practical way to remember to pray. As you dress in the morning take time to read the labels on your clothes and then pray for that country. Today my sweater told me to pray for China. So I remembered some of the things Bob Fu shared with us about China and I am praying today for the 130,000,000 Christians there who have been struck down but not destroyed. I know I will be praying differently and more diligently, I also know I will never look at a hammer the same way again!

   Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

Hebrews 13:3