"Religious Incident"

Recently, in one of the primary Dong counties, a few national Christians ran into trouble. Some foreigners came into town and were very openly sharing the Gospel and interested in finding any existing Christians in that area. That was the spark that started the fire.

A student said, "Oh, you are Christians! A village close to my home has lots of Christians!" And with that, the foreigners asked the student to lead them to the village to meet these Christians. Though not important to the story, the village in question is actually full of a Christian cult causing harm to people all over the area.

The mother of the student knew her child was spending time with the foreigners, but not where her child went. She called the police fearing a kidnapping. The police investigated, contacted the school, and quickly located the missing student.

The problem? Well, this is an incident involving both religion and foreigners. Bad combo in China. As the police questioned those directly involved, they began to hear about other students who believed, though completely unrelated to the present case. Those Christian students were questioned, along with some other unrelated, foreign teachers in town, the students' Bibles were confiscated, and they were told this God of whom the foreigners speak is a lie.

One student, who has believed for only six months, said, "Well, if he is a lie, why did my whole life change when I accepted him? I know he is real."

Father, please give strength and assurance to these young Christians who were questioned and intimidated for their faith. We give you praise for the joy you have placed in their hearts. They know you are real, and we ask that you would use this incident to teach them about following you through all trials. Lead them to share of their trials and triumphs with their friends. May those words meant to harm the Gospel be used for the glory of the one and only true God!