A few nights ago all the girls on my squad had to opportunity to attend “secret church” to get a feel for what its like for persecuted christians all over the world. What we experienced was no where near what people have to go through in real life but it was really eye opening.
There were a few rules we had to follow like:
– we were prohibited to wear anything that showed christianity (including tattoos)
– disguise our bibles
– only arrive in groups of 2 or 3
When we arrived, we had to say a password to get in which was a bible verse we memorized. There were no lights, only candle light & closed, blocked off windows which made it very hot! We sang worship songs that aren’t your “typical” worship but more like secular music that can be interpreted as praise. It was really cool to sing radio songs that I am very familiar with in a whole new way.
We also had the opportunity to each pray for a separate country on the “Top 50 most dangerous places to be a christian” list. The country I got was #29, Tajikistan. When I got this country I honestly felt really bad because I had never even heard of it before and out of the 195 countries in the world, Tajikistan is the 29th most dangerous place to be a christian. And here I am living in America freely traveling the world, never having to worry about being persecuted for my faith while there are people in this country literally dying for Jesus every single day. I take my faith for granted so much. When those people choose Christianity they aren’t doing it just because, they are literally putting their lives on the line for Jesus and I’m over here struggling to force myself to read my bible everyday…
After we finished prayer, the leader asked if anyone wanted to share anything about the country they received. One of my squamates shared that she got the country Myanmar, which is #18 on the list and is where we will be headed in less than two weeks. Hearing that kinda shook me a little bit honestly. I knew that it wasn’t very safe but I didn’t realize that it was so high up on the list. But it also kinda made me excited because we have the opportunity to go into that country and share love & hope with those people!
Throughout the night the leader shared stories with us about persecuted christians all over the world and the terrible things they’ve gone through, but also the hope and restoration the Lord has brought into their lives. We got to a point where she was sharing a story about a man who was literally on his way to be murdered when the spirit stepped in and saved his life (its a really cool story if you want details let me know) but after, she gave us this question:
“Are you willing to die for Jesus?”
Now, that hit me hard (& its not the point of this blog so I’m not going to share my response because I have a lot to say lol), but it’s something I really challenge you to ask yourself, as a christian, are you willing to die for Jesus?
This whole night was a major reality check for me… where I am physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, all the things. Spending four hours in a steaming hot room, asking some really difficult questions, fighting the urge to cry or just be mad at Jesus for the things his followers go through in these countries, and realizing really where I am in my relationship with the Lord. This is something I wrote in my journal… “its 9:30pm. We are about halfway through. We blew out the candles because it’s so hot, right now its very dark and very stuffy. The heat is very real, its getting hard to focus on the questions and stories. But somehow I feel closer to God, like everything feels more real, vulnerable. I can’t even imagine what other people choose to go through just to gather in a steaming how room just so they can praise Jesus. How can anyone say He is not real? Theres just no way anyone would go through this if He wasn’t real and if he wasn’t worth it. Because he is SO worth it.”
Ya’ll, Jesus is so worth it! He is worth saying no to a party because you know people aren’t doing good things there, He is worth staying in at night rather than going out with that boy who just wants to use you, He is worth not taking that job because you know it steals your integrity, He is worth traveling across the world just to share his love, He is worth sitting in a hot room for hours, He is worth traveling miles and miles just to go to church, in the little & big things, He is worth it!
I just want to leave you with this verse that we talked about…
“Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are misread as if you yourselves were suffering.”
(I like the msg version better…)
“Look on victims of abuse as if what happened to them had happened to you.”
Hebrews 13:3
Please pray for all the countries where people are being persecuted for their faith, whether on the list or not… they all need our prayers. We are blessed to live the lives we do, and we are called to help fight their battles through prayer and praise.
If you would like more information about the top 50 countries, this is the website we used: https://www.opendoorsusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/WWL2018-BookletNew.pdf
Please pray specifically for Tajikistan for:
– bold faith for christians who are under surveillance by authorities and are beaten and pressured to renounce their faith
– church leaders who are faced with the stress and anxiety of raids and arrests – for courage, wisdom and discernment
– that government pressure would lessen and the country would become more open to christianity
And please pray for protection for my squad as we finish our time here in Thailand and travel to Myanmar in less than two weeks!!
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In other news, just some life updates!
- my squad is still thriving in Chiang Mai
- “Songkron” the 3 day water festival just ended and it was SO FUN (video to come soon!)
- My team has started a new ministry at the “wildflower home.” For the past few days we have been working on a banana farm, helping cultivate the mushrooms, moving dirt back and forth, and playing with the sweetest kiddos!
- We just had mini debrief which was a huge success (I’m bias bc I helped plan it:) ). We had some good squad bonding as we start to realize how quickly our race is coming to an end!
Thanks for reading & please feel free to reach out about what happening in your life!
love, melina
