Fellowship Found in His Sufferings
by James Chow
Greetings brothers and sisters of Evergreen Church. I want to thank the pastoral staff for permitting me to share about my road of discipleship as it pertains to the persecuted church. This blog spot is a return to five years ago, when I was searching for clarity on my next steps towards retirement. God gave me a strong conviction where His prompting was strong. It arose from a time of meditation on Gal 6:9-10, which states,
“9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. 10 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”
The part of the verse that shouted out to me was “…. especially to those of the household of the faith.” God brought to my heart and mind the numerous brethren around the world who are suffering persecution. Persecution takes on various forms. Here in America for the faithful, we are dismissed, derided, or ignored. Our brethren who reside in Middle East countries like Iran and Syria, African countries like Egypt and Nigeria, Asian countries like India and China, and Latin American countries like Colombia, all have a target on their back because of their faith. Humiliation, theft of livelihood, imprisonment, torture, and death are all instruments of the Enemy and have been deployed against our “household of the faith”. These household ties continue to tug at my heart, prompting me to share with them as if I was with them (Heb 13:3). In God’s timing, I was introduced to an organization called Voice of the Martyrs (VOM, www.persecution.com). Through their monthly newsletters, local conferences, and livestream interviews, VOM puts a face, and, at times, a name to these, our brethren. As Julie (my wife) and I continued to support VOM efforts, God has opened other opportunities to be an open hand and heart to our persecuted household. VOM gave me the opportunity to tangibly support our persecuted brethren.
One support campaign I would like to highlight with you is giving the gift of a digital Bible.By donating new, unused, or used SD or micro-SD cards (greater than 10 MB), VOM will prepare the cards with the Bible and Bible helps and distribute them to the persecuted.This campaign is so important in places where the distribution of Bibles is forbidden and punishable by prison.Such digital media can be moved and distributed more effectively through such restrictions!The urgency of such a campaign is even more clear with the realization that the communist Chinese government is producing a modified Bible to make Bible-based faith subservient to communist teaching.The John 8:7-11 story of Jesus with the adulterous but forgiven woman has the following modified Bible excerpt in a recent Chinese student textbook[i]:
John 8:7-11, Chinese communist Bible
Jesus once said to the angry crowd who was trying to stone a woman who had sinned. “He who is without sin among you, let him cast a stone at her.” When his words came to their ears, they stopped moving forward. When everyone went out, Jesus stoned the woman himself, and said, I am also a sinner.”
John 8:7-11, ESV Bible
And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you, go, and from now on sin no more.”
From this August through the first week in September, donation box will be available Sunday mornings near the front entrance before worship and near the back exit after worship. Join us in donating such digital media or checks made out to Voice of the Martyrs (memo: Digital Bible). In addition, for 2 weeks beginning September 12th, please pray for a group of families (Chans, Chows, Lums, and Quons) who will be at VOM headquarters supporting their communication distribution ministry as well as developing the vision how to harness our resources and efforts to support our persecuted household. Let us share in their suffering: become aware by subscribing to the VOM newsletter; pray for their support and faithfulness to the gospel; and give our resources freely to meet their immediate and long-term needs. Thank you and Blessings!
[i] Voice of the Martyrs Newsletter, May 2021, pg. 11