Remember Your Brother?

The news media has conditioned us to expect that only bad news is noteworthy, and having been inundated with such communication for decades we’ve not only believed it, but become virtually numb to it. Tsunami in the Indian Ocean, war in Iraq, genocide in Darfur, earthquake in China, floods, violence, terrorism, and persecution. But in our comfortable homes, cars, businesses, and churches, the images and reports with their vivid sights and sounds seem like another reality, worlds away from our otherwise comfortable existence and terrifically busy schedules.

I was interrupted from my typical trip to the internet cafe a few days ago by a disturbing email report from K.P. Yohannan, founder of Gospel for Asia, the church planting movement that devotes itself to sending native missionaries to establish congregations among the most unreached people on the planet. In his bulletin he described another piece of bad news, though not simply for the sake of giving information or making a buck on nearby advertisements.

“It is with tears I must report that the massive attacks against our Christian brothers and sisters in Orissa have become even more vicious over the past three days,” he began. And with the reminder of my own personal, spiritual relation to these precious people, my heart was moved from it’s desensitized position in my chest, beginning to throb a little more rapidly. As I read the short memo, I had to imagine what it would be like if the faithful pastors from the churches we’ve been ministering in were attacked in their homes, their churches burned to the ground, and their believers raped and massacred before their eyes. I considered how I would feel if Pastor Joash was slaughtered simply for following and preaching Jesus, or if his wife were chopped to death with a machete, and I had to pray.

I had been reading in Hebrews 13 just that day and found the verse that commanded, “Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also.” My wife whacked her baby toe against the coffee table yesterday and the pain instantly shot throughout her body, causing her to writhe in agony on the sofa for a number of minutes. Her entire being felt that shock wave from one of the smallest appendages on her petite frame. I believe we should respond to the tribulation of our relatives in a similar fashion: praying fervently for the pain relief of our Body.

Though these believers in India may not be literally in a prison cell, they are still my family members who are being illtreated, and the Master is imploring me to remember them as if I myself were hurting. I’ve fasted for a week at a time for the people of India and the work of Gospel for Asia in years past. It’s been dearer to my heart much longer ago, but I’m trying hard to wake up and pray. Please join me at this time.

Check out this page, watch the video, review the information, and begin to intercede for your siblings who are suffering for the name of Jesus.