Something I have been really struggling with lately is trying to discern everything that happened at Urbana. Urbana is a missions conference that takes place in St. Louis, MO only every three years through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA/Canada and IFES. This conference gave me a whole new perspective for Christianity and how to more individualize my faith. This conference literally changed my life and a lot of views I had before on a lot of topics.. if that makes any sense at all. It might start to as I continue to discern God's voice through all of the things I learned. I am going to start writing daily about my experience at Urbana starting with short topics. So, here it goes. The first topic I am going to talk about is persecution.
These past few weeks have felt empty and hard but then I am reminded of my time at Urbana where I learned about the persecuted church. Something I never thought about before. The persecuted church. Now, when I first heard of this term, persecuted church, I didn't really know what it was referring to. I'm afraid it is as horrible as it sounds, my friends. Persecuted according to google is defined by "subject (someone) to hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of their race or political or religious beliefs." When I refer to persecuted church I mean a church who is subject to hostility and ill-treatment because of their religious beliefs. My heart cries for churches that are persecuted against for wanting to believe in the same things I am free to believe here in the United States. Man, to think of individuals who are persecuted against for their faith breaks my heart. At Urbana 2015, I learned so much about the persecuted church and the persecutor. It is extremely crucial for me and those who believe in Jesus Christ to pray and pray hard for those who have no voice in the Church. I never realized how important it was to pray for those who are persecuted against. I never really thought about the persecuted church before. I realized how important it is to pray for those who are persecuted against so they may see redemption and come out of persecution. But something I didn't think I would have ever learned was how to love the persecutor. After my experience at Urbana, I found myself thinking about all of the individuals who are persecuted against and how it leads us to hate the persecutor. A lot of people hate the persecutor but someone who doesn't, is Jesus, who loves all. Even the most horrific of individuals have redemptive qualities, don't cha think? We spent one of the nights during Urbana not only praying for the persecuted Christians but also the persecutors, that they may find salvation in Jesus Christ. As I wept that night thinking of all the people who have been tortured and killed for standing up for the name of Jesus, I wept even harder knowing that the persecutors need so badly to feel the love of Jesus. These individuals are what have drawn me to pray deeply and wholeheartedly for both the persecuted and the persecutor. So my friends, I challenge you this week to pray and pray hard for the persecuted churches across the world who are struck down for believing in the truth of Jesus but I also challenge you to love the persecutor. The persecutor who denies Jesus' truth and has hate in their hearts. Pray that their hearts may soften with the love of Christ. One of the most powerful things we can do is pray. There is so much power in prayer.
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June 2017
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