I love the feeling of walking into my church back home and knowing that I am walking into a place where I am known and loved. I can’t express the gratitude I have for the body of believers who gather (in freedom) every Sunday morning at Community of Grace. These people are my family.
Earlier this month, on Sunday, November 11th we gathered as a Squad to join in praying for the persecuted church around the world. As an attempt to enter into what a secret church goes through just to gather together we put parameters on how we would worship.
We taped the windows and door of our meeting space as if to create a dark basement. We turned off all the lights, electricity and air conditioning. We arrived in small groups of 2-3 people and whispered a password at the door to get it. We couldn’t wear Christian apparel. We had to smuggle in our Bibles. And we had to stay silent, or at least very quiet throughout the gathering.
We opened in prayer, the reading of scripture and acoustic worship. Danielle (one of the World Race alumni who work at the hostel we stayed at) lead us through our 3-hour gathering by sharing scripture, facts about the persecuted church and stories from the book “The Insanity of God.” I’d like to share some facts and stories with you,
Facts:
- Open doors USA interviews people in 50 different countries. During the time it took to do the interviews (1 year) this is what happened in those 50 countries:
- 215 million Christian experienced high-levels of persecution in the nations on the World Watchlist. That’s 1 in every 12 Christians.
- North Korea has been the most persecuted nation since 2002.
- 3,066 Christians were killed
- 1,258 Christians were abducted
- 1,020 Christians were raped or sexually harassed
- 793 Christian churches were attacked
- Islamic oppression fuels persecution in 8 out of the top 10 countries
One of the stories she shared was out of the book The Insanity of God. This story stood out to me, and I’d love if you read it, I attached an online copy of it here. It’s the story called “A Prison Sings.” It’s chapter 19 on page 155.
The whole night I felt a deep appreciation that I can worship freely, in Minnesota, and Thailand. I had a heavy heart for those that daily face opposition in regards to their faith.
Community of Grace fam, I love and miss you guys so much. I am so grateful to worship with you guys. I encourage you to join me in praying for the persecuted church.
Thank you all for reading! Here are the songs and scripture we read at Secret Church.
Songs we sang at secret church:
Scriptures we read at secret church:
“Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” Hebrews 13:3
