4 But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses,
5 in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings;
6 by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love,
7 by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left...
Last week on The Meeting House, Dr. Hormoz Shariat of Iran Alive Ministries discussed the viewpoint of the mullahs, the religious leaders in Iran, who believe in worldwide jihad - a war against opponents of the Islamic faith. It's what motivates Muslim extremists all over the world, from Hamas and Hezbollah, to ISIS and it's new outgrowth, ISIS-K, to Boko Haram in Nigeria, and other organizations that share the same bloodthirsty aims.
And, there are Christians who face the threats of violence and oppression. Plus, Christian missionaries are called and sent to go into ravaged areas to do ministry.
Don and Jenya Foster lead Love Your Neighbor Africa. A recent report on the Assist News website tells the story of their ministry in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they "manage an orphanage with Mbuti Pygmy people who have been displaced by rebels from their homeland. The orphans experience severe mistreatment and ostracism by the people they encounter in surrounding villages and towns. Many of these are children whose parents were killed by rebels, as well as by Muslim terrorists striving for a jihad state in the Congo."It's definitely a challenging space in which to do ministry. The story notes that:
Don said that Muslims recently cut off the heads of five Christians “in full worship in a church in a city near us last week. These Muslims are on a jihad of killing Christians in order to form a Muslim state within eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. They massacre innocent men, women, and children somewhere every week or so.
It is reported that Muslim extremists are paying $250 per murder they commit. They are kidnapping and abusing children.
The story spotlights the instance of a woman who was a witch, to whom Jenya ministered in prison. Her name was Confiance, and she has experienced incredible change through Jesus. The article states:
Don, Jenya and Confiance (the former witch) are working in adverse circumstances with violent conflict all around them in many areas of the Congo, as well as starvation, poverty, political upheaval, stealing and terrorism.
The former witch was sent to Uganda (which has its own political upheaval) by Don and Jenya to the Discipleship Making Movement (DMM) School but now has returned to the dangerous Democratic Republic of the Congo to convert and disciple many, including those in the prison where she was once held.
Assist News notes that: "The Discipleship Making Movement itself has recorded 100 million people coming to Christ throughout the world since its beginning, an amazing milestone. To reach 100 million relatively new disciples is very encouraging and helps balance the atrocious world news which we hear all the time."
Don and Jenya started a DMM group in 2022 and since then, around 1200 people have become involved in well over a hundred groups. At the time that Don spoke with the Assist writer:
Don said “we baptized 17 today in the men’s prison where we have 55 discipleship groups which include 17 former Muslims and 20 former Jehovah witnesses. Disciples are making and baptizing even more disciples as we had 20 baptized in November, 43 baptized in December and 50 baptized in January. Many of our new disciples were in court today. Hopefully we will baptize 60 or so more disciples this month (February). We may just leave a baptismal unit in the prison so disciples can baptize (new) disciples at any time instead of waiting for us to come each week.
It can be very easy to become discouraged in light of what is occurring in our world today - but we can know that God is working in the midst of pain, in the middle of conflict, in the heat of battle, amidst present danger. Frank Peretti spoke of Thide Present Darkness and examined the dynamics of spiritual warfare. But, just as Frank wrote about, the Bible tells us that light overcomes darkness and Jesus has overcome the world.
Danger can produce fear - fear can result in hampered decision-making. But, Paul tells us in 2nd Timothy 1 that we have, in addition to power and love, a "sound mind." That sound-mindedness that gives us the capacity to experience the wisdom of God which can help us to function in His ways even in the midst of godlessness and lawlessness. In the face of Christians being beheaded for their faith, Don and Jenya Foster are keeping their minds focused on the Lord - and seeing incredible results.
So, when the bad news of the world threatens to mute our peace and joy, the good news is that Jesus is with us and we can be encouraged and give God praise for how He is changing lives, how He is being glorified in and through His people.
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