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Nik Ripken shares a story about the joy of the persecuted believer on the Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

Looking for ways to pray for the persecuted? Visit imb.org/persecuted for a prayer guide.

Matthew 11:16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves…”

Where do you go to learn how to be sheep among wolves? Listen to Nik Ripken share the amazing testimony of Dimitri and his faithfulness to Jesus’ calling.

Within six months of being inside Somalia our team of 8 were feeding 50,000 souls per day, resettling refugees, attempting mobile medical clinics, and providing necessary tools and seeds in “food for work” projects that enabled rural farming families to reestablish their lives after eating even their planting seeds during the famine.

We were in-country for over 6 months before we met a female over 13 who hadn’t been “used” by men in excess of 6-8 times. Burying babies and the aged was a daily activity.

All this was attempted in the midst of a famine and war zone. Our team was less than a mile away when the horror of “Black Hawk Down” took its place in the American narrative and psyche.

To add to this terrible unreality was the gruesome and growing persecution of the few Somali believers. Of the 10 million Somalis in-country, there were an estimate of 150 Somali believers. As civil society continued to meltdown, a more conservative form of Islam infiltrated Somali culture with believers being hunted down and killed, much in the same manner one hunts and kills a rabid animal. 

Such radicals killed 4 of my best friends. These 4 brothers-in-Christ were stalked, followed, and assassinated in 45 minutes on one of the blackest days in Somali history. Their bodies were taken and thrown into latrines, garbage dumps and into the Indian Ocean where the sharks fed.

For 25 years, from 1988-2013 the believing community never had a Somali believer’s body at their own funerals.

Fast forward 23 years. Those who sought to bring life to the all People’s in Somalia during their famine and war zone had been cast out of the country. For years few believers from the West could live anywhere in-country. While the country slowly rebuilds, Somalia remains ungovernable outside of Mogadishu. Fundamentalist Islam is the order of the day while many Somalis have rejected Islam as a failed religion. 

Yet hope is once again on the rise as, increasingly, a new generation of Somalis embrace Jesus. It would be foolish to give details of numbers of believers; where they dwell, what numbers there might be, or to whom they relate. Suffice it to say that God always finds a way to make Himself known and believers from outside of Somalia remain committed to taking Jesus and His Good News to the toughest environments on earth.

Obedience is always a trait of those who are “in Christ.” And obedience to share Jesus among all peoples of the earth, giving the  access to the kingdom of God always leads to new life. The love of Christ and eternal life grows again in Somalia. 

There is nothing new or unusual in this.

Yet, as faith grows in Somalia so does persecution toward those who embrace Jesus. Evil never surrenders its territory and the lives who dwell under its current dominion. Once again Somali believers are being hunted. Once again they are being chased from their homeland. Once again they are experiencing imprisonment and beatings. Once again they are facing death.

There is nothing unusual in this.

Ruth and I have sat with hundreds of believers in persecution in approximately 72 countries.  Sitting at their feet brings, perhaps, an interesting perspective in regard to the global reach of the Coronavirus.  There are many commonalities.  Here are a few

• This is not something any would choose.
• This has been forced upon us.
• It’s bad and it’s hard.
• It fuels our deepest fears.
• Our need to live is the center of the universe.
• It separates us from those we love.
• The simple basics for living increase in value.
• Time slows down, almost has no meaning.
• Not everyone will survive this challenge.
• Eternity seems more near.

Yet, there is much believers in persecution can again be our example, our teachers.

• They cannot hoard.  Praying for their “daily bread” is a real prayer (forget the luxury of toilet paper!)
• They choose joy where joy is in short supply.
• They choose to witness.  They refuse to have other prisoners and their guards without an opportunity to experience Jesus’ love.
• Witness leads to worship. They begin their own “church” by, consistently “loving their enemies.”
• They recognize their imprisonment is hard. They do cry out to God.
• Often they are living off the prayers of others, especially when they can no longer carry themselves.
• They hold in tension the Sovereignty of God and the sin of humankind.

The hardest persecution is suffering by oneself. Being the only believer in their home, or worse, in prison is extremely difficult.  Their biggest enemy is fear. The fear of not seeing one’s children grow up. The utter loneliness of being separated from one’s spouse. In these days of “sheltering in place” I’m always aware that I get to shelter in place with Ruth. Worshipping with her allows all of life to become praise. Looking beyond our situation and needs allows all of life to become praise.

It was a revealingly, powerful moment.  Believers in Chinese house churches had asked me, “Has Jesus made it to other countries, or is He only known in China?”

I was floored.

I chose to talk about believers in the U.S. and Africa. Spontaneous praise; laughing, hugging, and dancing broke out.

Then they asked, “If Jesus has made it to other countries, are they persecuted like us?” I chose to tell them about believers in Somalia and other countries who often kill believers in Jesus.

To my surprise, no one said a word.

At 6 a.m. the next morning, I awoke to the sound of loud cries and sounds of distress. Thinking that security policemen had found this gathering of believers, I rushed from my bed to the inner compound.  There I witnessed approximately 170 Chinese believers, sitting and lying on the ground.  As I listened I could hear them cry in the midst of their Han Chinese language, “Somalia, Somalia, Somalia.” They were also shouting out to heaven the names of those other countries I cannot write out loud.

My interpreter came over and said, “Nik, they were so moved by your stories of believers so harshly treated in other countries that they have vowed to God to awake an hour earlier each day to pray for those who are truly persecuted.”

My tears joined theirs.

This is a time of crisis.  Use it well. Look in the mirror and see someone who is much loved by God in the midst of a pandemic. Yet also rush to look out your window upon a world where the pandemic of sin results in the imprisonment of followers of Jesus for 1 – 31 years.

Praise mixed with tears is a recipe for turning a time of crucifixion into an eternity of resurrection.