Faithfulness and Joy Amid OppressionSample

 Pastor Fassal’s Story of Faithfulness and Joy in Pakistan

Our Pakistani Christian brothers and sisters are treated as second-class citizens in their nation, yet they serve Christ and share His love with joy and perseverance. While they may be persecuted and devalued in Pakistan, they know they will be welcomed into heaven by the Creator of the universe!

It gives me great joy to introduce you — through this video and the five devotions in this reading plan — to some of our brave and faithful Pakistani Christian family members. Their perseverance, supernatural joy and peace encourage us as we face our own daily challenges. Will we choose to stand on God’s Word and be encouraged by His eternal promises? If we do, God will surely bless our hearts with His joy and peace, which is more powerful than the worst the fallen world has to offer.  

The Apostle Paul said that the suffering of this world is “light” and “momentary” compared with the glory we will experience in the eternity our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has secured for us, a glory that Paul describes as “beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Our eternal hope in Christ is a firm anchor that holds us securely in the storms of life. 

The suffering and oppression we face in this world is real; I see its painful results every day as part of my organization’s work serving persecuted Christians. We do not live in denial of this world’s suffering, such as that described in the video above. Rather, we trust God and find that His peace transcends and overcomes the pain. We find His strength to love and forgive. And we experience the truly unexpected: the miracle of joy amid suffering.    

Cole Richards

President, The Voice of the Martyrs 

 The video at the top of this page is available for download and free use at persecution.com/IDOP.