International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted - Part 2 — K.P. Yohannan

Welcome once again to the Road to Reality. We'll hear from Dr. K .P. O 'Hannon in just a moment. If you're like most Christians, you probably don't give much thought to the persecuted church, and so it's good to be reminded of what believers around the world are going through because of their commitment to Christ.

Here in the month of November, we encourage you to join us and commit to pray and fast for the persecuted church. K .P. shares a special message today in light of the International Day of Prayer for the persecuted church.

Christian Homes Destroyed in Orissa

In the state of Orissa, just a few years ago, which I'm sure you heard about, some 4 ,000 homes, simple huts maybe, simple dwelling places, but 4 ,000 plus homes of these Christians, believers, were partially destroyed, completely destroyed, burned down.

I never forget meeting one of our missionaries. He and his wife said, they came and burned down our house, everything we had. Finally, when we came back to see what happened, they had to run, flee for their life.

They saw just partially burned one door frame standing up. Everything was completely demolished. That was a story of thousands of homes. They're crying. They gave up everything they believed in and gave up sin and living for darkness.

They now follow the Lord Jesus Christ. They became sons and daughters of the living God. Satan hates it. People that are instigated and driven by this hatred attack and abuse and destroy. Oh, by the way, thank God for thousands and maybe hundreds of thousands that prayed with us and said, we are praying, but also we want to do something to bring hope and help for these believers.

Prayer That Becomes Practical Help

And we were able to construct over a thousand homes completely and partially destroyed, being rebuilt. And thank God for the churches that we were able to rebuild. Again, that kind of helped me to say this to you.

Sometime, sometime, more than you realize, we ourselves are the answer to the prayer that we are praying. Oh, God, be with the suffering believers in Pakistan. Oh, Lord, be with those people that are abused and right now in prison.

Please, Lord. And then the Holy Spirit says, what do you think about canceling your planned vacation and take the resources and help my children to find a place to live? To buy clothes that they lost, Bibles that were destroyed.

Why didn't you help them to build the church in that village in the community for them to worship me? You see, you should not now interpret what I'm telling you as a means to collect some money from you or some benefits.

Entering Into the Suffering of Christ

No, I'm telling you, often our spirituality remains as information. But that's not spirituality. You cannot divorce the physical part of our obedience, our willingness to die to self in order to enter into the suffering of Christ, especially on the behalf of the church, our brothers and sisters that are being persecuted around the world.

I just think about, you know, this dear brother, one of our missionaries who spent eight years in prison and thank God just a few months ago he got released. You know what his crime was? Led several hundred people to the Lord Jesus Christ and the people around him didn't like him.

And they created all kind of false charges against him, such as he was a terrorist and on and on and locked him up. But the amazing thing, when one of our missionary leaders went to see him, many, many times over the years, every time he will say with a smile, you know, I'm sad, but I must tell you, my Lord Jesus knows that I'm here.

He has a plan. And of course, he's sad about his wife and kids living outside and now he's in prison. But you want to know what happened? When he was allowed, he was let out. He now leaves a significant number of people behind that he led to Christ and he was teaching and discipling.

And in Nepal, the same thing happened. After our brother was in prison for 10 years for a crime he didn't commit, except his only crime, leading people to Christ. But when he comes out, other prisoners that he led to Christ and discipled, some of them are right now studying in Bible schools preparing themselves after they've been released so they can serve God.

The Gospel Advances Through Paul’s Imprisonment

And that's what Paul said also. Remember in Philippians, you know, these believers are quite sad about Paul being in prison, abused and all that. He says, oh, don't worry about it. I just want you to know one thing.

All that happened to me helped for the furtherance of the gospel. And I ask you to consider a couple of more things during this very special time when we are committing ourselves for prayer and fasting on the behalf of the persecuted church.

Christ Promises Trouble and the Church Endures Hardship

You know, in the Gospel of John, chapter 16, verse 33, Jesus said, in this world, you shall have trouble or tribulation, but take heart. I have overcome the world. Acts 14, 22, we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.

It is given to us on the behalf of Christ, Paul says in Philippians, not only to believe on him, but also suffer for his sake. And I, you know, sit here and talk to you and you're listening to me. I want you to know right now, tens of thousands of our brothers and sisters are experiencing unbelievable amount of suffering, starvation, physical abuse, being rejected and kicked out of their own villages and homes.

Children rejected by their own parents. But then keep this in mind. You read the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 10. What did Jesus promise for those that want to follow him? He said, I'm sending you as sheep among wolves.

I wish he said, I'm sending you as wolves among sheep. That'd be a better deal. But no, you see, having lived eight years on the mission field, the early days of my life and being beaten up and abused and my clothes destroyed and burned, I have seen much of it.

Suffering as a Privilege in the Christian Life

I live with the reality of sharing this pain and agony in many, many of these nations that we serve today. But I ask you, while these sufferings and abuse and killing are forced upon the believers, the Christians, the church in many of these nations, they recognize this is a privilege the Lord gave them to suffer for his sake.

As Paul talked about it often, take time. Would you read 2 Corinthians to find the normal Christian life? But here's a question I want to ask. Do you understand the meaning of bearing the cross of Christ?

Do you understand the meaning of taking two or three or four days of fasting with the world map weeping on the behalf of the suffering church and people that do not know the Lord and perishing? Are you waiting for someone to force suffering on you and burn down your house and take everything away from you and reject you and throw you out and kick you out your school and college and you're nothing?

Or are you willing to choose the inconveniences, the difficulties for the sake of Christ? You see, carrying the cross does mean following in Jesus' footsteps. And in his footsteps are rejection, brokenheartedness, persecution, and even death.

There are not two Christ, an easygoing one for easygoing Christians and a suffering one for exceptional believers. By the way, that statement was made by Hudson Taylor who understood what it means to surrender everything to Christ by choosing to do so than giving his life on the behalf of people that do not know his master but suffering also with the people of God by embracing the cross.

A Call to Fasting and Prayer for the Persecuted Church

And I pray that as pastors, ministers, and brothers and sisters that claim to know the Lord in free nations such as we are in, I pray that we will take these few days, especially this particular day, not as a day of celebration but a day for fasting and tears and prayer, intense prayer on the behalf of the suffering church.

And if you go to our website, I'm certain you can get a mountain of information about what's going on so that you can pray. There's plenty of information that will be given to you in your church and magazines and radio broadcasts and in a thousand ways.

And may we remember the call of Christ to come after him, denying ourselves, forsaking whatever we need to forsake for the sake of our Lord and the church. And by the way, as I said earlier, a hundred years from now, what does it matter?

May now we choose to say no to ourselves and be the kind of people that will need to spend even the whole night or day or days in prayer. Especially times like this, when you know what happened in Pakistan or in Orissa or what's happening in China or the Muslim countries.

May the Lord break our hearts that break his heart and may he lead us with his burden that will go alone as a community to pray and intercede. May the Lord speak to us. Amen.

That's Brother KP O 'Hannon on the road to reality. And he's been encouraging us to join churches all across the world in lifting up the persecuted through prayer. In addition to praying and fasting yourself, why not encourage your church to get involved in the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church by going to our website.

We have quite a number of free helpful resources from videos to church bulletin inserts and even some prayer ideas. That's waiting for you at roadtoreality .org. Again, we're online at the roadtoreality .org.

You can also call us at 866-WIN-ASIA. Thank you for remembering to pray for the persecuted through the month of November. This has been The Road to Reality with KP O 'Hannon.