Not Quite Finished

Adam was a man who came to faith in a land where there are no public churches. Kate and I served in that land for 10 years. His sister-in-law led him to faith. Together they began to share their faith and soon started a group of believers meeting each week. Soon the family pressure on his sister-in-law grew wicked and she was threatened with death if she didn’t return to Islam. Arrangements were made to safely get her and her sons out of the country and Adam took all the heat for it.

This did not stop him from continuing on with his calling from God. Very soon phony legal charges were brought against him by the government and threats to his life increased. This did not stop Adam from growing Christ followers. His small group soon grew to 15, then to 30, then to 60. Each Friday they were meeting and studying the Bible in a mosque with Muslims all around them – yet not knowing they were studying God’s word. At one point in one of the cases against him the government ordered him to get 900 lashes. After his first 300 he told us, “why shouldn’t I suffer like Jesus”. His family got out of the country but he stayed claiming that this was his calling from God.

We do not know what’s happened to Adam since we left the country. We heard he had joined a group of believers in our city and they were meeting secretly, but that is the last we heard about him. God knows where he is and what he is doing to serve Him, and that is comfort. People here in the States, where freedom reigns, find it hard to imagine circumstances like these. But these situations are happening in numerous countries around the world. In fact, it’s very common in Arab countries where Muslim’s rule. 

Would you be willing to receive 300 lashes for your faith? Would you be willing to give up your iPhone, iPad, computer, for your faith? How many of you have paper Bibles that you read each day? What would you do if God’s core values, commands, and instructions were banned by your government? What if you were separated from your children for the sake of the gospel? Can you even envision these situations?….God can.

Would you pray for Adam. We don’t know where he is, or even if he is alive these days. But one thing is certain, wherever he is he is serving the Lord – even if he is in heaven.