Sunday, October 23, 2005

Christian Persecution

Hey guys,

I just got this story for Newsmax.com, have a look.

Damare, a small Sudanese boy, was taken as a slave and forced to tend camels after his village was attacked by radical Muslims. One day Damare, who had been raised in a Christian home, snuck away from his master to attend a church service. When he returned, his Muslim master was waiting for him and accused of committing a deadly act, "meeting with infidels." The master then dragged Damare into a field where he nailed his feet and knees into a large board while the boy cried out in agony.

Damare was miraculously rescued and has told The Voice of the Martyrs that just as Jesus was nailed and forgave, he forgives also. What bold faith from a simple Sudanese boy!
Damare is not alone in the persecution he has endured. The Muslim government of Khartoum in the North has declared a jihad, or holy war, against the mostly Christian South. Omar Hassan al-Turabi, an Islamic leader, has stated that anyone who opposes Islam "has no future." Since 1985, approximately two million have perished due to the genocide. Families in the South are terrorized-fathers killed, mothers raped, and children sold into slavery. Yet in the midst of these atrocities, the Christians in Sudan remains strong, worshiping their Savior and leading others to Him.

Damare has now received some assistance from workers with The Voice of the Martyrs. His wounds are still open and additional medical attention as well as some rehabilitation is still needed. (VOM is looking into further assistance.)

Voice of the Martyrs Homepage

PersecutionBlog.com

(Excellent post here here.)
(Quick quote: Worldwide it is believed that more believers were martyred in the last century than during the previous 1900 years of Christian history...But one place this slaughter has never occurred is in the United States. Please read)

Comments on Main Story:
Wow, I can help but wonder is there anyway to stop this injustice? Whenever I hear I story like this the first thing that seems to come to my mind is how can this be stopped. Maybe that's just how I am geared up. What can be done to free these innocent people from tyranny? Let have a look.

The first thing we should know is that all true Christians will be persecuted.

2 Tim 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

However that does not mean we should not defend and help these fellow Christians. In fact we are commanded to.

Prov 31:8 Open your mouth for the mute, For the rights of all the unfortunate.
Prov 31:9 Open your mouth, judge righteously, And defend the rights of the afflicted and needy.

What kind of evil are we to look out for?

Ps 94:21 They(evil persons) band themselves together against the life of the righteous And condemn the innocent to death.

Is 59:7 Their feet run to evil, And they hasten to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, Devastation and destruction are in their highways.

I can't help but wonder is there anyway we could help the largely Christian southern part of Sudan to raise up and overthrow their oppressors? What do you think? Is it the part of one nation with great power to defend the righteous people throughout the world?

Luke 12:48b ...From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

It seems that we are continually playing the worlds policeman these days, but I wonder, is that just the price of being a superpower at this time? What do you think?

The Blogging Boy Scout,
Travis

2 comments:

Hannah said...

Thanks for drawing attention to this, Travis. The persecuted church gets far too little attention...

Anonymous said...

When one government attempts to overthrow another government, it would seem that the government is violating God's law to not rebel against authorities.

That passage from Romans seems to refer to individual vs. authority, not government vs. government. Besides, there are plenty of actions one group can take to influence another short of "overthrow".