Behind Barriers

The enemy would want to inhibit us in our pursuit of making Christ known, and prayer is very important in seeing the power of God break through barriers.  In Ephesians 6, Paul encourages
believers to pray for him...
19 ...that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

I think that can be a prayer request for all of us.  We could all stand to be bolder in our faith, couldn't we?  Paul had his share of barriers - he had the weight of physical chains that limited his movement, and even this great pillar of the Church, whom God called upon to write a sizable portion of the New Testament, was asking for prayer for boldness - twice within two verses.  We can rely on the power of the Holy Spirit and be sensitive to His leadership as we are committed to doing the will of God.

+++++

When we encounter barriers to sharing God's love and truth, we can continue to trust, keep praying,
and be determined to make His glory known. Colossians 4 states:
2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;
3 meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains,
4 that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.

Earlier this week, I talked about apps that help keep students connected with one another; and we realize in these challenging times, that we need one another in the body of Christ.  Technology can help us to remember our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Several months ago, a Chinese app called WeDevote had the momentous occasion of 10 million installs, according to WORLD Magazine.  In 2010, Levi Fan and two other Christians had the idea for the app.  According to the story: "Chinese users who downloaded YouVersion...found the program crashing due to the Chinese government blocking the app’s server." There were other Bible apps available, but they were "poorly designed. They also used content taken from other sources without permission and lacked quality control."

In 2012, Fan was asked to lead the development team for WeDevote, and the app debuted in 2013. Thousands began to download the app.  But, trouble came a couple of years later, when the Chinese government called him in and let him know they had been monitoring him personally.  The article states:

Authorities told Fan to shut down WeDevote or else they would charge the company with creating an illegal app because it didn’t have a registration number. Most Chinese apps aren’t registered, but Fan knew WeDevote was likely being pressured because of its Christian content. So his team decided to shut down the app and close the Beijing company.

But they were prepared for this situation: Several months earlier, they had set up another company in Hong Kong. They were able to transfer WeDevote ownership to the Hong Kong company and put the app back online.

Fast-forward to this July, when, shortly after the 10 millionth download, "authorities cut off access to its website and scrubbed it from all domestic Android stores."  It's still in the Apple App Store, but most of the people of China use Android phones.  As WORLD notes:

The app is a much-needed resource for Chinese Christians. Nearly all of WeDevote’s users are from mainland China, where government officials recently made it more difficult to purchase physical copies of the Bible. Officially, the Bible in China may be sold only at government-sanctioned Three-Self churches.

The article relates that Fan is working on workarounds to enable people to receive the app, which has already surprised people regarding its availability.  He told WORLD: “Under China’s tightening environment, outsiders thought there was no way we can create this app and survive...But we were able to do it.”

Levi sees the opportunities of the app, even for the future; he says: “It’s hard to imagine, you look at the environment and it feels like you can’t do anything, but actually there are great opportunities,” and, “I believe the internet is like this as well.”

So, let's consider a few concepts here.  First of all, Christians will run up against barriers in our lives and we are certainly engaged in spiritual warfare.  But, we can be emboldened by the knowledge that 

God's Word will penetrate barriers.  The WeDevote app has garnered an amazing following in China, even though there have been attempts to derail it.  We know God's Word will not return void, and God is committed to getting His Word into the hearts of people.  Certainly, His power is evident here.

We can also consider the admonition of the apostle Paul to pray for open doors for the gospel.  We are hearing stories of God at work in countries around the world, and He is moving even in the midst of areas where Christians are being persecuted.  We can continue to anticipate how the Lord will make Himself known.

And, we can always remember that when we encounter barriers in our lives, we can continue to press forward.  The enemy will work to inhibit our message, but we can continue to trust God to go before us and to bring victory, so that He may be glorified and His message can be communicated.  The barricades may tempt us to turn back, but He will give us the strength to stand strong and advance His message.