Missions in persecution

Nik Ripken

https://www.nikripken.com/

Nik and his wife Ruth are mission veterans of 34 years with the International Mission Board, SBC, having served in Malawi, South Africa, Kenya, Somalia, Germany, Ethiopia and the Middle East.

Nik was at a camp of refugees and he asked them if they knew his friend Jesus. Right away there was a crowd scaring him and eventually they said Jesus was at the other camp. 

He ran out of the camp and took a taxi to the airport and flew home. 

You get scars that only heaven can heal. 

Islam was hunting Christians and a lot of friends got shot and their bodies were disposed into the latrine or ocean. The funerals were held without the bodies there. Somalis were hunting them. 

16 year old son died of asthma. We vowed not to waste our pain. We learned how to witness to them. Jesus said I'm sending you sheep among the wolves. I was raised to be a sheep among sheep. 

This says the Lord. There are non negotiables. 

Matthew 10 Jesus pushes the reset button. You will be flogged on my account. The spirit will speak through you. Persecution is normal. We think we need to walk through it. 

30 pastors in FSU are not writing about persecution. It's normal for them. 

An evangelist told a bunch of muslims that they would burn in hell if they didn't accept Jesus. Evangelists are scary. 

You are as likely to be in jail in Muslim countries for being a Christian as for being a criminal. 

Why are we not on our faces asking God what to do? We don't need CNN to tell us what to think. God has defined what to do. 

Persecution is normal. If you have someone who is afraid of suffering for Jesus you need to deal with that. 

The number one cause of persecution is people coming to Christ. Where there is a great harvest there is persecution. Why are we not suffering persecution? There is no such thing as a free church or not. 

Pray for the persecuted Christians. They share Christ on a daily basis. They have given their lives to Jesus and they are giving him away. 

We are not persecuted because we are keeping Jesus to ourselves. Satan wants to keep you quiet. Then you are supporting the persecutors. 

We tend to witness to younger people. We need to witness to our peers. 

We must follow Jesus even when it costs our lives. Their suffering gives them purpose. 

3. Our obedience. We need to say blessed be the name of the Lord.