Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. – Luke 9:23
My Senior year of high school my Discipleship group spent one weekend in the bush helping a community of believers build a church. We spent the night Friday in tents near the church site and began work Saturday morning. The community had spent the previous week making the mud bricks that would form the walls of the church. Our job was helping to carry bricks from the river ¼ of a mile away to the site and then begin building the church. It was an unforgettable experience. I can still see the joy on their faces as it was being built—the prospect of being able to worship more comfortably when it was raining or hot (They had been meeting under a tree.) That mud brick building with a thatched roof was probably no bigger than my current office.
I’ve been thinking about that church this week as I have been writing and thinking about the International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians this Sunday. My church has dedicated two beautiful places of worship this year. I am grateful for these. I don’t want to take them for granted, but I do sometimes. The contrast between what we have and that mud and brick church I helped build is great. Greater still is the contrast between the freedom that we have to worship and places all over the world where Christians are being persecuted. There are churches without pastors because theirs has been arrested. There are Christians in prisons in conditions most of us would cringe at just thinking about. There are brothers and sisters in Christ who have been completely cut off from the family they had because of their faith, and yes, there are Christians being martyred because they refuse to deny Christ.
In this month of Thanksgiving, let’s thank God for the blessings He has given us. This week, and month as we are thankful, let us remember our brothers and sisters all over the world who face extreme circumstances as they have chosen to take up their cross and follow Jesus.
I remember the absolute joy of worshiping with those folks in the evening, after a long day of work. We danced around a big fire, singing in languages we didn't know and clapping in cool rhythms. Seeing the gratitude of people in developing countries is life-changing. Thanks for writing about it!