More on missions

"We are going to attend to a house church in China. Everyone follow me."

About thirty of us were led into a very small room that was made smaller by being divided in half. One of the missionaries our church supports, went on to explain:

"People who come to church, come at great risk to themselves and they often walk for hours to get there so the services may last for hours and hours. In the amount of space we are in, they would fit 75 more people (don't ask me how) If you are living a sold out life for Christ you will be arrested eventually and tortured. They have training sessions for Christians on how to endure torture. Gatherings of more than five people require a permit from the police. During the service, they can't make any noise lest they attract the attention of their neighbors. The words to the songs they 'sing' are mouthed. Because of their lack of Bibles, they often hand copy a page ..." BANG BANG (Zach and I jumped)
"Police! Open up! Everyone who is a Christian, face the wall!!!" (we all turned and faced the closest wall) Men searched for Bibles and (pretended to) beat up one of the members of our church. Then we were told that we were all under arrest. It was very moving... We all left 'China' impacted by the risks they take to worship the Lord.

This was my favorite part of the Missions Fair at our church last week. I'll share some more tomorrow...

~Becky