Two ladies were freed by the Taliban and turned over to the Red Cross after three weeks of being held hostage. It's hard to imagine what those missionaries are going through. There is always the fear of this kind of thing happening to folks doing long or short-term work abroad, especially in a country where extreme violence is used without regard for human life or where people have no true awareness that their evil will be judged.Missionaries expect that their lives will be a living witness that they serve a living God, but few expect that the Lord will allow their lives to be put on display world-wide as these Koreans lives have been. Already, I've heard that Christians doing work in the 10-40 Window are nervous. Not so much for their safety as they are worried that people back home will be fear-filled and unwilling to send teams and support. After 9/11, short-termers sent by churches to the field dropped dramatically. The church's response to attacks has been dramatic and fear-filled; not biblical. None of these events - they are as rare as they are publicized when compared to the tremendous amount of work getting done - cancels the Great Commission.
There are still 19 hostages being held. Of the original 23 that were snatched off a buss over three weeks ago, two have been shot and two released. We need to continue to remember to pray for the remaining missionaries.
(link)
HT: One World Mission
1 comment:
I marvel at the Christians who go into hostile territory in obedience to the Great Commission. Especially do I marvel at someone like a couple from our church--actually, Okongo is from Kenya, but married to a woman from our church. Last fall, he went into an unreached peoples group in northern Ghana to preach. He approached the Muslim leaders openly, telling them who he is and why he was there, to tell them about Jesus, the God who came to earth as a man, who died for them. He did it all, I'm sure, with his characteristic big, friendly, open smile.
He's previously experienced imprisonment, beatings and other persecution, and that hasn't stopped him. He's preached and planted churches in several African countries, and he and his wife, along with their two little girls, are now in that formerly unreached peoples community. He saw about half a dozen men come to Christ in his first visit, and before he came home from that, he was invited to come back with his family, and to preach in the mosques. I shake my head and say, "Our God is an awesome God!"
But I am one of those who easily gets caught up in fear. I'm learning to just keep moving in the direction He has shown me, even when it means lifting a 150-lb. telephone to call a church. Small potatoes, compared to what others are doing!
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