I recently read the story of Brother Yun (also referred to as “The Heavenly Man”) and was deeply moved by it.
- His wife was forcibly sterilized.
- He was beaten until his legs were broken, needles rammed under his fingernails, running from dogs, being urinated on, surviving a 75 day fast, etc.
- He was put in prison several times, once so long that his son didn’t know who he was.
- They were ostracized.
- His mother was marched through the streets as a “Christian separatist”.
- He was an enemy of the state.
You know, the normal stuff…If I sound like I am being sarcastic, I am!
This is a man who endures the hardships that we associate with the dark ages instead of the information age, yet here is this man, as recently as 2001 fighting for his life because he insists on preaching the Gospel.
He recalls a story of hearing about 9/11. He was on an airplane on his way to
WHERE WERE YOU?
How did he, a poor Chinese preacher, get there? The Lord told him in a dream that he should run or he would be killed. He didn’t have any money or a passport or any resources at all.
At a secret prayer meeting, a man walked up to him and said, “The Lord just told me to give you my passport.” They look nothing alike, mind you.
Then Yun had a dream that he should not speak while going through customs. He thought that was odd, but he was obedient to it.
It turned out that the Chinese had voice-recognition software, and if he had spoken they would have captured him. And neither the Chinese nor the German customs agents stopped him from using this other man’s passport.
He made it on the plane to
This put some perspective in my mind. It made me wonder, where was I on 9/11?
I was in my office, watching the event unfold on internet television. Our boss then sent us all home.
I think I went surfing and watched movies the rest of the day. That week I went to work, prayed and read my Bible to myself like normal, and ate 3 square meals a day.
And here was Yun fighting for his life from people persecuting him for not denouncing Jesus!!
What is wrong with this picture:
- Christians throughout the rest of the world are persecuted by governments, Muslims, Hindus, and non-believers alike for preaching the Gospel.
- Christians in
IS THAT MESSED UP, PEOPLE?
I do not believe that we all have to be poor and wretched beings, but can we do anything? How can we actually get involved and help?
What courageous thing could we do to help believers throughout the world?
How can we get caught doing something brave like Yun had done over and over?
Then, a good friend of mine had a brilliant idea.
iGOSPEL
What if Christians put together a video and .MP3 version of the Gospel, along with study materials, a digital version of the Bible and loaded up onto a thumb-drive (jump drive, whatever) or an iPod shuffle.
We could then distribute them to known Christian leaders in closed countries like
What if, instead, we did something crazy? What if we just mailed them to the people in China?
We could make friends with them through services like Skype and internet games like Second Life, World of Warcraft, etc, and then mail them these gifts.
The digital age has brought to us the power to deliver the word of the Gospel to all the nations, right on our little laptops.
It would be possible to start up a charity that collects old MP3 players and iPods, load them with the basic package or more, and then ship them all over the world with donations or their own funds and tithe money.
(Now don’t get uppity! Your church has enough pews and pretty enough carpet. Puhlease!)
If someone like Yun is facing what he is facing in the modern age, don’t you think we could do something about it; something to help the effort?
If you have your own ideas for Extreme Christianity Now!, do this:
- Put your name on our list at ChristianCrunch.com, and
- E-mail me your concepts at ideas@christianextreme.com.
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