Video – Open Doors Youth

Ming has to be really careful when he uses his phone. He often communicates in code. He’s worried he’s being watched, and that his messages are monitored. He should worry too. In China, the authorities are increasingly using technology to keep an eye on people. And it’s people like Ming they are trying to find.

You see, Ming has been smuggling Bibles for a few years. He’s trying to share God’s Word with others. It doesn’t sound dangerous to us, but his efforts have already seen him get arrested. That time he was lucky, he was freed, but some of his friends weren’t so fortunate: they are still in prison.

After sending his message, Ming turns off his phone and removes the sim card so he can’t be tracked. It’s dark as he sets off, hoping the night makes it harder for anyone to follow him to the location of ‘the old place’.

Persecution from all angles

It’s not just his phone that Ming’s worried about. There are one billion surveillance cameras in the world, and half of them are found in China. They are everywhere – in shops, on streetcorners, even in churches. The use of software to track someone’s movements and behaviour is increasingly common, so you can see why Ming is nervous when transporting Bibles in his car.

And whilst technology is a problem, Ming knows there are other dangers too. He became a Christian as a student, but when his dad found out, he reported Ming to the police. His dad even stopped him from going to college so he couldn’t mix with other Christians.

Birth of a smuggler

So Ming moved. In a less restrictive town, he found support and encouragement from underground churches. His love and understanding of Jesus grew, but after a while he heard God speaking to him, saying: “Go back to your hometown. Tell people about Me there.”

Ming knew it wouldn’t be easy, but he moved anyway. He set up a business with friends and used that to cover up his Bible smuggling activities.

The authorities are looking to supress the church, and believers like Ming, who are part of an underground church network, are seen to be especially dangerous. There are even spies who pretend to be Christians so they can uncover these networks and report influential Christians to the police.

Since his arrest, Ming’s house is searched regularly by the police. It’s likely he’s being watched and that his phone is being monitored which makes it hard for him to trust anyone.

But Ming isn’t giving up. Despite the tight restrictions he’s desperate that others can read God’s Word and grow closer to Jesus in their own faith. He knows this is what God has called him to, and as Ming says: “No matter what happens… We listen and follow. He will guide our paths.”

Pray this for yourself and Ming now…

Father God, watch over and guide Ming. Keep him safe help him get your Word into the hands of many Chinese Cristians. Watch over and guide me. Help me see where you are leading me, and help me bravely follow you. Amen.

CHOOSE TO LOSE YOUR PHONE

As you’ve seen from Ming’s story, Christians in China have to be careful when using their phones. In March 2022 a new law came into effect banning ‘unapproved’ Christian content online. That means the majority of Christian websites, podcasts, videos and even social media accounts posting stuff to help people grow with Jesus, have been removed. That even includes Bible apps.

We’d love you to join us standing with our persecuted Christians like Ming, and choose to lose your phone for a whole weekend. We’d love you to shut down your device just like Ming, to go silent online and to raise money and prayer.

Could you get sponsored to put down your phone, along with your social media, voice and video chat, instant messaging and all other online time for 48 hours to raise money for Christians facing all kinds of restrictions, monitoring and surveillance? Find out more and sign up to get a free fundraising pack here…

A few years ago Baher, a Christian from Egypt, had turned 20 and was trying to run a small business to support his family, since his parents were too ill to work. “I began to transport gravel, sand and other light building supplies,” he says. “Yet no one wanted to hire me, and I was rejected.” Baher felt shunned, overlooked and despised.

There are two reasons for that rejection. The first? Because he is a Christian.

“Christians here suffer humiliation and oppression.” It was clear that people in Baher’s community didn’t want to hire him because he has chosen to follow Jesus.

The persecution that believers face in his village is sometimes quite subtle, like this refusal to use Christian-owned small businesses. At other times it is much more overt. The homes of Christians have been looted and burned down. A local church leader received death threats when he decided to renovate the church building. The victims of persecution have no legal rights, and they live in a climate of fear. Across Egypt and Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and North Africa, this is a common story. Christians can be victims of violent attacks – but they can also be ground down by everyday discrimination.

But that wasn’t the only reason that Baher’s business was scorned: the other was his disability. And even this links back to his faith.

No choice but to work in a dangerous quarry

Baher was only 13 when he started working in the local quarry. Almost all the young Christian men in the village end up working there – since, because of their faith, they aren’t offered any better, safer work. He hadn’t been working at the quarry for very long when a tragic incident happened.

“We work with old and badly maintained machinery, without safety precautions,” says Baher. “It is common for a worker in the quarry to lose a limb.” One day, Baher’s arm was severed by the quarry’s cutting machine. He passed out from the pain, and woke up later in hospital with the prospect of a very different future.

The family faced even worse a few years later. Tragically, Baher’s brother was killed at work in the quarry.

“My brother had an electric shock,” remembers Baher. “His employer did not want to let him leave the job. But my brother was not able to stand the pain, and his heartbeat accelerated; he could not take a breath. His lungs were filled with the fine dust.

“We tried to save him and rushed him to the closest medical centre. However, the closest hospital was not equipped to deal with emergencies. The doctor brought the stethoscope to examine him but realised that my brother had died. We were unable to determine the exact cause of his death. My heart was torn apart, and I lost all hope in life.”

Without hope

So many things in Baher’s life came together to make him feel hopeless. The loss of his brother. His disability. The pressure of being sole breadwinner to support his parents, his sisters (who aren’t allowed to work in their strict Islamic culture), and his brother’s wife and children. The way that he saw Christians being treated all around him. And his story is one that is repeated by many young Christians throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

“Most young people here don’t have a bright future and they know that,” says Thomas*, Open Doors director for the region. “Most of those who remained have no option. They stay because Europe closed the borders, because they have no money to travel, or they have responsibilities to their parents. We need to invest in those who stay. They need to grow in their faith, to survive hopelessness. The youth is the church of today and the future. If the youth leaves, the church will, humanly speaking, diminish to almost zero.”

Baher didn’t just feel hopeless in the wake of all these sad events. He felt angry – with God: “I hated myself and I hated God because I thought He was the reason of all that happened to me,” he says. “I blamed God. ‘Why did you do that to me? I did not do anything wrong! I just wanted to help my family!’”

Meeting an Open Doors partner

Baher was despairing when Fady* visited him. Fady – a local Open Doors partner – remembers that day well.

“Baher looked miserable and anxious,” Fady says. “His heart was full of resentment and bitterness towards God. When I entered the room, Baher didn’t want to talk with me at first, and it was really challenging to start building a conversation with him.

“Suddenly, Baher exploded with anger, bombarding us with questions: ‘Does God exist? Where is God in my life? If God is in control, as you say, and works everything for the good, why has He forsaken me?’”

“That’s really horrible,” Fady replied. “I understand your feelings, but please, don’t lose hope. God is not far away from our troubles. Believe me, God never leaves us because He is our Heavenly Father and the Father never forsakes His children.”

Fady also shared the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, praying that God would use the verse to speak to Baher’s troubled heart: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12).

How a microloan project changed Baher’s life

This visit was just the first step in the relationship that Fady and his team have with Baher. They are keen to show Baher that he is part of a wider community of Christians who will stand with and support vulnerable believers like him.

“I have seen God’s practical love through your love, care and presence.”

“We are showing our heavenly Father’s love to him and his family in a practical way,” shares Fady. “First, we helped him to set up a microproject to start sheep breeding, so that he can have a regular source of income for his family.”

Having researched the area, they knew this small business would have a better chance of success – and a microloan from Open Doors partners made it a possibility. Last year, these partners provided 969 microloans in Egypt, each one often supporting entire families of Christians. Baher’s sheep business is pictured (right).

“I am blessed with the microproject the ministry provided me,” says Baher. “It is now working very well, and I can provide for my parents and for my brother’s wife and children. If you had not helped me with it, I would not have had any income.”

Alongside this, Fady helped Baher enrol in a local discipleship group where he is deepening his faith and learning more about God, particularly His presence amidst troubles. Last year, almost 270,000 Christians in Egypt were able to enrol on discipleship programmes run by Open Doors partners, thanks to the gifts and prayers of Open Doors supporters.

“My whole family shifted our focus from blaming God to praising Him and now we go to church on a regular basis,” says Baher. “I have seen God’s practical love through your love, care and presence.”

“He is not far away; He is very near to me”

Most of all, Baher knows that God has not abandoned him: “I believe in God’s sovereignty, and that He is not far away in the sky, but He is very near to me. When I was searching for my own solutions, God was preparing and making a way to reach out to me through your ministry team.”

It’s clear that Baher’s life is being transformed. He is able to raise money for his family through a much safer job, he knows he is not alone, and he knows God’s closeness. “If you had not backed me, I would not have changed,” he says. “You lifted my morale and helped me to restore my relationship with God.

The Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo is a dangerous place for Christians. Stephanie* was 18 years old when members of the ADF, an Islamist extremist group, targeted her town. After five months in captivity, she escaped and walked to freedom. Although she is still recovering from her ordeal, she can still see God’s provision in her life.

Blessed are the risk-takers,
The rebels and the rule-breakers.
Blessed are the grieving and the broken,
Blessed are the brave and the outspoken.

One of the riskiest things you can do is to choose to follow Jesus. You might have heard that in a talk – and it’s true. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, to lay down our self-interest, to serve and bless others, showing them God’s love and hope.

That’s risky. But there’s another level to the risks – following Jesus can truly cost everything.

Today, 360 million Christians around the world are risking it all, simply for choosing Jesus: brave risk-takers who face violence, exclusion, rejection, insults, prison – and sometimes even death – just because they believe in Him.

Jesus says, ‘Blessed are the persecuted’ (Matthew 5:10).

Watch this new spoken word film with Joshua Luke Smith (words by Nick Page) to be inspired to take more risks in your walk with Jesus.

This film contains footage of real persecution and re-enacted scenes of persecution based on true stories that some may find distressing.

DID YOU KNOW IT WAS ONCE ILLEGAL TO READ THE BIBLE IN ENGLISH?

William Tyndale was a linguist who believed that everyone should be able to read the Bible in their own language. However, under a 1408 law, translating the Bible into English was illegal.

Tyndale escaped to Germany where he translated the first ever copy of the English New Testament. He smuggled 1800 English Bibles across the channel into England, and believers held secret meetings in their homes to read the Bible in their own language for the first time.

Tyndale was arrested, but after a year of torture, he refused to recant. He was burnt at the stake. His final words were a prayer, ‘God, open the eyes of the king of England.’

His prayer was answered. Several years later, the king recanted. Henry the Eighth allowed the Bible to be translated into English for the first time in history.

What is it about this library of Scripture that meant some of the greatest luminaries of history, across culture and time, were willing to suffer and die to ensure you had access?

THE WORD OF GOD IS ALIVE AND ACTIVE

It is a light in the darkness and hope for generations. It challenges the authority of kings and upends the empires of the world. It brings hope to the hopeless and good news to the poor.

Today, while we open English Bibles in many translations, on our phones, in church, on our bedside table, or audio-Bibles, there are thousands of believers still on the other side of history, where possessing a Bible in their own language could lead to severe persecution. This means they face harassment, abuse, imprisonment, torture, or even death, simply for their decision to follow Jesus.

THE BIBLE IS STILL ON THE BANNED BOOK LIST IN 52 COUNTRIES.

Where is the Bible illegal? For believers in countries like North Korea, Afghanistan, or Somalia, just possessing a copy of the Bible could be a death sentence.

These believers may share one Bible between a whole church community, travel great distances to find a copy, or sit huddled in underground meetings, whispering passages of the Bible in the secret of their homes.

At Open Doors, we, like William Tyndale, believe that every believer should have access to the word of God. Open Doors started with smuggling Bibles into Communist Eastern Europe, and we continue to distribute Bibles today.

“I live in permanent fear,” says Fati (not her real name), a young mother and wife. “Whenever I hear a gunshot, I get scared, and I think they are back to kill us all.”

Living in fear is a daily reality for believers like Fati in Burkina Faso, where Islamic militants have driven more than two million people from their homes since the insurgency in Mali began spilling over in 2016.

The attacks don’t stop

Fati remembers the first time the militants attacked her Christian village. They spent the day firing their weapons, before leaving and returning three days later. “This time, they went through the entire village shooting at everything and everyone,” she recalls. “They set fire to the marketplace, set fire to people’s houses, their possessions and their animals. The cattle and flocks were doused in petrol and burned alive. Those who were able to run hid themselves, but many people were burned alive in their houses.”

After a third attack, locals began taking supplies to a nearby village, in case they had to flee – but the militants caught wind of their plan. “The terrorists then placed explosives along the road to stop the displaced people from reaching safety,” shares Fati.

The attacks on Fati’s village continued with increasing devastation, including one occasion when Fati was in a nearby village dropping off supplies whilst her husband and children were at home attending a prayer meeting. Learning of the attack, Fati ran home fearing the worst. “When I got to the village, I couldn’t find the children or my husband. I finally found them hiding in nearby bush.”

“God will be with us no matter what”

The family fled to the nearby village before heading to the capital, Ouagadougou. “On our way to the city, the few things that I was able to save from home were stolen,” continues Fati. “We were empty-handed, and we didn’t have any food or housing.”

When they arrived in Ouagadougou, Fati and her family found support from the local church. “When we came here, the church received us with love,” she says. “They cried with us and they comforted us. They helped us with money and food and also comforted us with the Word of God.”

Through the upheaval, trauma and loss, the family know that they’ve never been alone. “The Bible says that we will face trials in this world. But He says He will make a way for us. We believe these words written in the Bible. And this gives us life. It strengthens our faith and brings joy into our lives. When I think God has forsaken us, I remember His words in the Bible. He tells us that He will be with us no matter what.

“I’d like to thank all those who supported us in prayer,” adds Fati. “You helped us to carry our burden. God has answered your prayers. He saved us from hardship, problems and temptations.”

Woah! You’ve got to Week Four of your Brave Faith journey! You’re doing great. Here’s some extra material to encourage you to keep going and delve further into this week’s story and Bible material.

Brave Faith Conversations: Week FOUR – Brave ACTION

Join Jamie and Naomi as they chat to our guest Stan about taking brave actions.

Brave Faith Video: Week FOUR – Brave ACTION

Jamie is in the woods to share a little video to encourage you in your Brave Faith challenge this week…

Get in touch

We’d love to know how you’re getting on in your Brave Faith journey. Email us to let us know or direct message us on Instagram (@opendoorsyouthuk). If you post anything up on IG about your Brave Faith journey, make sure to tag us and use the #bravefaith

Nice one! You’ve got to Week Three of your Brave Faith journey! Here’s some extra material to encourage you to keep going and delve further into this week’s story and Bible material.

Brave Faith Conversations: Week THREE – Brave CHANGE

Join Jamie and Naomi as they chat to our guest Jude about making a brave change.

Brave Faith Video: Week THREE – Brave CHANGE

Naomi shares a little video to encourage you in your Brave Faith challenge this week…

Get in touch

Well done for getting to Week Two of your Brave Faith journey! Here’s some extra material to encourage you to keep going and delve further into this week’s story and Bible material.

Brave Faith Conversations: Week TWO – Brave PRAYER

Join Jamie and Naomi as they chat to our guest Abi about praying brave prayers.

Brave Faith Video: Week TWO – Brave PRAYER

Jamie shares a little video to encourage you in your Brave Faith challenge this week…

Get in touch

Welcome to the first week of extra Brave Faith material. Each week you’ll get access to a page like this with a audio conversation to listen to and a special video to watch.

Brave Faith Conversations: Week One – Brave Choice

Join Jamie and Naomi as they chat to our guest Tim about making brave choices.

Brave Faith Video: Week One – Brave Choice

Naomi shares a little video to encourage you in your Brave Faith challenge this week…