Ministry / The contagious intensity of a willing witness

Love in action

For years I managed our local prison ministry where we could give our Seminary students some real-world training in preaching and teaching. One of those students came from Canada. His message quietly but intensely described his own conversion story as a teenager who was running wild. He had met a neighborhood pastor and his wife as if by accident. They reached out to him, bringing him into their home where they filled him with food, education, and an incredible limitless love. Through that simple sermon, I was introduced to Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, not in person, but by someone they had deeply affected.

Then I read Richard’s life story, in a book published by the Living Sacrifice Book Company. Richard was a former Romanian atheist who suffered at the hands of merciless, wicked prison guards. He spent fourteen years in communist prisons. His crime, like that of thousands of others, was his fervant belief in Jesus Christ and his willingness to witness that faith despite the danger. Like Paul, he found himself preaching the very gospel he had once ridiculed.

The most powerful force on earth

He wrote, “There is only one force that can change evil governments. It is the same force that enabled Christian states to take the place of the heathen Roman Empire. This force is the power of the gospel. When Christ was crucified, he stretched out his hands, one to the west and one to the east.” His statement calls for Christians to love like their Lord, even when that includes loving their enemies.

This is what I ask of all who read this: would we have enough awareness of God’s love to pray for our enemies? Would we be able to take their ridicule and punishment and still be concerned for their souls? Do we understand how challenging this might be for those who are physically mistreated and persecuted?

We offer up a blanket of prayer

One of our goals at 316NOW is to cover our students with a blanket of prayer. They are up against a huge deficit in the attitude of the government and society toward Christians. Nevertheless, they can and often do have as much influence as the Wurmbrands had on their oppressors. Meeting in homes, in basements, and in woods — sometimes daring to preach in public — these faithful souls persist in their Christian witness knowing full well the cost of their actions.

Pray that our people may be faithful in their expressions of love. Pray that they have the courage and stamina to outlast any harsh treatment and evil around them. Pray that Jesus stretches his hand over the east and calls forth people who are imprisoned in their own minds by unbelief. Pray for our entire ministry that we might support those who are on the front lines, those who are willing to pay a personal price for their belief in the savior. God hears our prayers and moves mountains of obstacles with the power of the gospel.