Indonesian Churches Burned. Indian Pastor Brutally Attacked. Iranian Church Leaders Arrested. Uzbekistan Baptists Fined. China Church Leader Imprisoned. Moroccan Christians Arrested.

When our associate pastor announced last Sunday that some of us might live next door to some of these people in Heaven, I thought, “I don’t even come close to qualifying for that neighborhood.”

A guest speaker with Voice of the Martyrs told about a Christian pastor in a Muslim country who has a “bus ministry.” Not the kind where you pick people up and bring them to church, but the kind where you ride the bus and minister to its passengers. This particular pastor has been thrown off the bus and beaten many times for simply sitting on the front seat and reading the Bible out loud. Shrugging it off as the normal Christian life, he said that the offended Muslims only beat him up about half the time when they threw him off the bus. He said that when he is thrown out the front door of the bus he just runs around to the back door and gets back on. If he is thrown out the back door, he just waits and gets on the next bus.

While this story has a slight bit of humor, most situations are deadly serious. They don’t call their organization Voice of the Martyrs for nothing. In fact, this non-profit organization dedicated to assisting the persecuted church worldwide was founded in 1967 by Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, who was imprisoned 14 years in Communist Romania for his faith in Christ. To this day, Christians are dying for their faith worldwide. Learn more about Voice of the Martyrs at: http://www.persecution.com. Even though we might never meet these brave persecuted Christians while we’re here on this earth, it is exciting to know that one day those of us who believe in Christ will meet them in Heaven.