Mission’s Mobilization FROM the Persecuted Church

11 Feb Mission’s Mobilization FROM the Persecuted Church

Recently, Storyline participated in a gathering in Ukraine for missionaries to meet with one another, pray, and talk about the current realities they are experiencing. The most incredible stories came from those who live in countries where the Christian church is persecuted by majority Muslim governments. The underground persecuted church in these locations are sending short-term mission’s teams to persecuted people in other countries.

There are dear brothers and sisters in Christ living in Central Asian countries where the church is underground, hidden from the Muslim government’s view, yet are acting on the missional impulse to be a sent people.

One story was from a young man who went to China on a business trip and realized that some of the people he was meeting on the streets were from his own ‘people group,’ the Ugyhurs.  Although national borders separate them they spoke the same language, wore the same traditional clothing, and had a shared history.

After returning home from his business trip he decided he needed to return to China, not for the purpose of business, but for the purpose of missions. He gathered a few other believers from the underground church and went back to China several times to continue engaging in conversation with the Ugyhur people. That was three years ago.

He and his family now live in China and are continuing efforts to share Christ with Ugyhers. It is a very difficult environment where many of the people he has been meeting with have been detained by the Chinese authorities and put into re-education camps. Some speculate over a million ethnic Uyghurs have been placed in guarded Chinese camps with no access to the outside world, including their own families.

The pressure being put on the Uyghurs in China is more about national security than religious persecution. The Chinese government has reacted to Muslim extremism happening globally and is trying to protect itself from Muslim minority people groups, like the Uyghurs, who live in China. The re-education camps are supposedly a place where Uyghur people are being trained in skills and trades for economic development. There are almost no stories of Uyghers leaving the Chinese re-education camps to better understand what is taking place inside of them.

There are three things to take away from this recent mission’s conference. First, it was being held in Ukraine. Ukrainians are the ones who are gathering the Christian church to encourage, challenge, and mobilize for frontier mission’s work. Second, the persecuted church is taking action beyond its borders to share Christ in places where it has access. This is the bold reality of the church at the frontiers. Third, places where there is injustice and struggle are being given the opportunity to hear about the love of God who sees them in their distress. Jesus is breaking through in unimaginable ways to fulfill his promise that he is with his church to the very end of the time.

Pray for dear brothers and sisters in harms way for the sake of Christ. It is not easy. It is not safe. It is the work of the church.