Manuel was an effective evangelist among the mountain
Quechua people in
Peru. One day some
Shining Path guerrillas intercepted him on the trail and ordered him to stop going to the mountains; stop handing out
Bibles, cassettes and other
Christian materials; and stop
preaching about Jesus. They threatened his life.
Some weeks later Manuel’s dead body was found on the trail. His feet, hands and tongue had been cut off. With a knife they carved on his torso the message in Spanish, “We told you to stop!” The chopped body parts completed the message, “...visiting the villages; distributing Bibles; preaching about Jesus!”
There was a memorial service for Manuel attended by many believers. An evangelist preached the memorial service message and challenged young people to come forward and take Manuel’s place. Ten young people made the commitment. An elder standing at the side asked, “But young people. What if the same thing happens to you as happened to Manuel?”
One of the youths cried out, “If we die, a thousand will spring up and take our place!”
This from China --
"…in the provinces, believers are still fined, imprisoned, and tortured; local regulations still prohibit unofficial church gatherings", One lady was held for 110 days in captivity. She was hung upside down and beaten with electrical cords. Others with her were beaten with wire from the waist down.
Their crime was meeting with an evangelist. Their testimony was, "...that
God's presence was so tangible during the torture that, in fact, she felt joyful. 'Because of these afflictions, we loved the souls of China more...and we prayed for those who were torturing us... We go out ready to preach the gospel, ready to go to jail, and ready to die for Jesus' sake." (
CHRISTIANITY TODAY, May 16, 1994, pp. 33-34).
"It is interesting to note that the underground church in China is apolitical! They pray for their leaders but maintain a careful independence...more than a few believers [in America] trade in their Christian birthright for a mess of earthy pottage. We must continually ask ourselves: Is our first aim to change our government or to see lives in and out of government changed for Christ?”
Ibid.
