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In Prison for Doing Good
 “The most evil feeling in the world is hate. … Christ alone can help us overcome these feelings. With his help, we are able to forgive and love.” — Mr. Choi, a Korean Christian who went to prison for helping refugees from North Korea
 
Mr. Choi is a Christian from South Korea. He, his wife, and his two daughters lived in China, where Mr. Choi was a missionary. 
 
In China, he met North Koreans who had escaped from miserable conditions in their country.  People in North Korea have little freedom, and many are very poor. “I wanted to minister to them,” Mr. Choi said.
 
Mr. Choi began talking with North Koreans as he helped them with their problems. “As we did things together, I led by Christ’s example,” he said. “I wanted to see them gain independence as Christians so they would be strong if they ever found themselves back in North Korea.”
 
Cuba: A Link in the Chain
When Tom White was a boy, his mother gave him a book called Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. The book told the stories of people who had been killed for their Christian faith. As Tom grew older, he learned more about Christians who risk their lives to share the truth about Jesus.

He believed God wanted him to do more than just learn what others were doing. “I decided to commit myself fulltime to active duty,” he said.

Tom decided to drop Christian pamphlets out of a small airplane while flying over Cuba. Cuba is a communist country, and the government at that time did not allow anyone to share the gospel there.

Tom’s airplane accidentally crashed in Cuba, and Cuban officials took Tom and the pilot to prison.

Sunglasses Can’t Stop Prayers
A Cuban officer, Captain Santos, questioned Tom often during his time in prison. Captain Santos did not believe in God. He questioned Tom for many hours, sometimes threatening him if he did not answer the way the captain wanted.

“How can I fight this?” Tom wondered.  “This could go on forever.” God helped Tom feel sorry for his questioner. Captain Santos did not know God. “God, help Captain Santos,” Tom prayed silently.
Pakistan: Punishment Turns to Blessing

As a Muslim youth in Pakistan, Rafiq joined the Pakistani army. The army sent him to a city far from his home. A Christian invited Rafiq to a church in the city. Rafiq heard what the Bible says about sin and salvation, and he gave his heart to Jesus!

He was so excited about his new life! He began to tell everyone about Jesus, even the Muslims in the army.  One day, a Muslim army officer warned Rafiq to stop talking about Jesus. But Rafiq could not stop sharing the love of Jesus with others.

The officer decided to punish him. He told Rafiq he was going to send him to another place where the army work was very hard.

Sad to Leave
Rafiq did not want to leave his new church family. “Will you pray that I will not have to go away?” he asked the people at the church.

“No,” they answered. “We can’t pray for that. For two years we have been praying that God would send more Christians to the place where the army is sending you. Maybe you are one of the Christians he is sending.”


Rafiq did not understand. He felt sad and disappointed. He left the city with an unhappy heart.
Ten Bold Believers Stories from 2009
The following stories are about kids and families who bravely continue to serve God in the face of difficulties and danger. Please pray for them and for others around the world who face similar struggles.

1. Turkey: I Want to Belong to Jesus
Asli is a Christian girl in Turkey. During the summer, she invited her friend Yildiz to go to a Christian camp with her. Like most kids in Turkey, Yildiz grew up in a Muslim family. But happily, her father said she could go to the camp.

Yildiz heard the good news of Jesus for the first time at camp. Every evening, she called her father and said, “Dad, I want to belong to the Lord Jesus.”

“No way,” her father answered. But Yildiz kept calling, and finally her father reluctantly agreed. Yildiz was very happy. When she went home, she told everyone that following Jesus was the most important thing in her life. Pray that Yildiz will grow in her faith, even if others give her a hard time about it. Muslims in Turkey who become Christians often face persecution from their friends, relatives, teachers, and bosses. Pray that Asli’s parents will come to know Jesus, too.

2. Vietnam: A Letter from Dad
Rebecca and Samuel live in Vietnam, where the government controls all religious activities. Like dozens of other Christian children in Vietnam, they are separated from their father because he is in prison for his Christian activities. The children rarely see their father because the prison is far away from their home. Rachel and Samuel were thankful for this letter they received from their dad in prison:
Government Accidentally Spreads the Gospel
One day, Pastor K’Be’s children were watching TV in Vietnam where they lived. Their father’s picture appeared on the screen! They were excited!

The TV announcer said their father was a “criminal.” The report said he was guilty of “crimes” against the government of Vietnam. Their excitement disappeared.

The government wants to control Christian activity. They do not want Christians to have activities outside of churches that are registered with the government. Pastor K’Be preached at church meetings that took place in people’s homes.

Not Ashamed
The government put his picture on TV to shame him. The Bible tells us that the apostle Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16, NIV). Pastor K’Be wasn’t ashamed either. The government also wanted to warn people who saw the TV report to stay away from Pastor K’Be. But it only made people more curious. They looked for answers about what Pastor K’Be believed, and they found out about Jesus. “The government is helping to spread the gospel,” said Pastor K’Be.
The Philippines: Learning to Forgive
“Then God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry…?’ And he said, ‘It is right for me to be angry, even to death!’” (Jonah 4:9.)

Gracia Burnham was angry. A gang of violent Muslims had kidnapped her. Gracia did not even like to go camping. But the group forced Gracia and her husband Martin to live with them in the jungle. The jungle had no beds, bathrooms, stores, or air conditioning.

Gracia and Martin were missionaries in the Philippines. Before the men kidnapped them, Gracia homeschooled their three kids: Mindy, Zach, and Jeff. Martin, a pilot, flew mail and supplies to other missionaries in hard-to-reach places.

The men who kidnapped the Burnhams belonged to a group that wanted Muslims to have more power in the Philippines. They had the mistaken idea that they could get power by hurting innocent people. The kidnappers took Martin, Gracia, and other innocent people into the jungle. Friends and relatives took care of Mindy, Zach, and Jeff.
Thanksgiving in North Korea

Few Bibles
The man hiked to a place some distance from his home. He walked as quietly as possible to a secret spot on the ground that he knew well. After looking around to see if any strangers were watching, he knelt down in the dirt. He gently lifted a piece of sod out of a hidden hole in the ground. He brushed away leaves, then carefully removed a sack. Now he could read the Bible inside the sack.

Most Christians around the world do not have to go to so much trouble to have their devotions. But the Christian hiking in the woods lives in North Korea. People who own a Bible in his country can go to jail for years. The government punishes people for following Jesus.


Few Worship Services
“We can’t meet on Sundays,” said a North Korean Christian. “We only meet once or twice a month.”

Christians meet together in secret. If more than three people gather at a home, suspicious neighbors might report them to the police. Thankfully, Jesus promised, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in their midst” (Matthew 18:20).
China: Witnessing Secretly in School
Leah is a Christian woman in China. “The most important calling we have from God is to preach the gospel in places where people have not heard it,” said Leah.

Leah knows how difficult it can be to follow that calling. She went to jail for three years because she taught others about Jesus. Now the police watch her every day. She and her family have moved three times in the last three years to avoid the police.

God began preparing Leah to face difficulties as a Christian in China when she was a girl. She told her story to a worker from The Voice of the Martyrs.

Leah’s Story
I was about 5 years old when my mother became a Christian. My father was not a believer.

I knew about Jesus for a long time. My mother told me about him. But I didn’t get saved until I was 12. One day I went with my mother to a small church. Only about nine Christians went to the church. They had no Bibles and no pastor.

That day at church when they prayed, I wanted to cry. I don’t know why. One person asked, “May I pray for you?” I said yes. I felt Jesus’ presence and I really loved him and wanted to follow him.

After that I always wanted to pray. But I didn’t know much about Jesus. I just knew I loved him very much.
Sudan: James Lual
James Lual was a “Lost Boy.” Sudan had a civil war which began in 1983 and lasted until 2005. During that time Muslim attackers drove thousands of boys from their homes in southern Sudan. For years the boys wandered from place to place. Some ended up in refugee camps in other African countries. People called them “the Lost Boys of Sudan.”

More than 3,000 of the boys came to America. Others were allowed to settle in Australia, England, and Canada. James hoped to be one of those chosen to leave his homeland behind and start a new life somewhere else.

Plans for a New Life
James met a Sudanese girl at a refugee camp. She and James longed to get married and leave Africa together. Every day James checked with officials to see if he had been selected to go to another country.

One day, James found his name on a list of people who could go to America! His girlfriend was on the list to leave, too! She was very excited. She told James she would marry him and they could travel together.
Nigeria: Fish Eyes and Hard Work
“Lord, give me strength,” Mary Slessor prayed silently. She smiled at the tribal hosts who had invited her to a feast in Calabar. (Calabar was a part of what is now called Nigeria.)

To please her hosts, Mary knew that she must eat whatever she was offered. She wanted to make friends with them so she could tell them about Jesus. But the soup looked like tar to her. Another dish was filled with plants and fish heads. She prayed for help.

“Excellent!” she exclaimed as she sipped the soup. “Superb!” she said as she tried the fish dish, trying not to look at the fish eyes.

Not Afraid of Work
Mary was not afraid of difficult tasks. She grew up in the late 1800s as the second oldest of seven children in a poor family in Scotland.

At the age of 11, she had to go to work to support her family. When she got paid, she hid the money from her father. He was an alcoholic, and he wanted to spend the money on liquor instead of food for his family.

Mary became a Christian through the influence of a neighbor woman. She was willing to do hard work in God’s service, even when others said it was not proper work for “ladies.”
 
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