Stories of Faith - Episode 31

Culled from The God Chasers by Tommy Tenney

I read an account of a group of Chinese Christians who were caught holding a church service. The officials placed a horse trough in the middle of town and forced every man and woman in that congregation to urinate into it. Then they drowned the pastor in it, right in front of their eyes!

Do you know what happened? The church congregation doubled in two weeks, and it wasn't because of their nice sanctuary or dynamic worship team. These kinds of believers don't gauge their relationship with God by whether they received a salary raise this quarter, by how things are going with their bank account, or by how much "fun" they've had during church activities. They joined Paul by saying, "But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24). This is the confession of people in love and in intimate communion with their Maker.

Stories of Faith - Episode 30

One of our workers in the Underground Church was a young girl. The Communist police discovered that she secretly spread Gospels and taught children about Christ. They decided to arrest her. But to make the arrest as agonizing and painful as they could, they decided to delay her arrest a few weeks, until the day she was to be married. On her wedding day, the girl was dressed as a bride—the most wonderful, joyous day in a girl’s life! Suddenly, the door burst open and the secret police rushed in.

When the bride saw the secret police, she held out her arms toward them to be handcuffed. They roughly put the manacles on her wrists. She looked toward her beloved, then kissed the chains and said, “I thank my heavenly Bridegroom for this jewel He has presented to me on my marriage day. I thank Him that I am worthy to suffer for Him.” She was dragged off, with weeping Christians and a weeping bridegroom left be­hind. They knew what happens to young Chris­tian girls in the hands of Communist guards. Her bridegroom faithfully waited for her. After five years she was released—a destroyed, broken woman, looking thirty years older. She said it was the least she could do for her Christ. Such beautiful Christians are in the Underground Church.

Source: http://radioblast.net/en/articles/libri-suggeriti/richard-wurmbrand-tortured-for-christ