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Iran and the United States: Bita and Tabita
Spotlight
How can kids inform others about persecuted Christians? Send an e-mail, perform a skit, make a bumper sticker, start a scrapbook, design a church bulletin insert, share a Kids of Courage newsletter, pass out prayer reminders, make a poster, or write a poem!

Bita Packs Her Bags
Three-year-old Bita began packing her suitcase. "I’m going to see Daddy," she said. Bita lives in Iran. She does not understand that her father is in prison for following Jesus and sharing his faith with Muslims. The government of Iran wants Muslims to stay Muslims.

Bita could not visit her father. "Will he come home for my birthday?" she asked her mother. But Bita’s father will probably not be coming home any time soon.
Waiting for Moses
Twelve-year-old Sajid makes bricks in Pakistan. He and his mother, Miriam; brother, Aaron; and sister, Naomi, are the only Christians working at a brick factory. Their boss and the other workers are Muslims. Sajid’s father died when Sajid was 10.

Sajid’s family works six days a week. The boss pays them only $4.15 for every 1,000 bricks they make. Then he takes almost half of the money away from them for “expenses and debts.”

Sajid went to school for four years before his father died. Then he had to go to work to help his family. He is the only member of his family who can read. At church, he reads the Bible to the congregation. He loves to worship God, and he hopes to be a pastor someday.

Extra Work for Jesus
But Sajid does not always get to go to church. His boss, Mr. Ali, wants Sajid and his family to become Muslims. He promises them money if they will stop being Christians. Whenever they refuse to become Muslims, he gives them extra work and even makes them work on Sunday.
Uygurs in China: “State Secrets”
Alimujiang Yimiti is a Christian from Xinjiang, China. Yimiti and his family are Uygurs (WEE-gurz). Uygurs are a group of people who live mainly in northwest China.

Most Uygurs are Muslims. Yimiti decided to follow Jesus several years ago. His wife is also a Christian. They teach their two sons, who are 9 and 3, all about Jesus.

Yimiti also told other Uygurs about Jesus. But government rules do not allow, “preaching Christianity among people of Uygur ethnicity.” So government officials took away Yimiti’s job.

Secrets
In 2008, police arrested Yimiti and put him in jail. Officials said Yimiti was in jail because he told government secrets to someone from another country.

Yimiti does not know what government secret he is accused of telling. His lawyer said, “The court even refused to tell Alimujiang what the state secret is. If he told the secret, then it is not a secret to him anymore, so why would they not tell him?”

Christians in China believe that Yimiti was really arrested for his faith in God and for sharing his faith with others, not telling state secrets.
Arrested for Praying
Bhaskar is a Christian in India. He wasn’t always a Christian. But a few years ago, he decided to give his life to Jesus.

Around Christmastime, a friend of Bhaskar’s got sick and had to stay in the hospital. Bhaskar went to the hospital to visit his friend and to pray for him. A few days later, he returned to the hospital and prayed for his friend again.

A radical Hindu at the hospital knew about Bhaskar’s visits. Many Hindus are peaceful, but many radical Hindus persecute Christians and use violence against those who disagree with them.

The Hindu man beat up Bhaskar because of the hospital visits and prayers. The police came. They arrested Bhaskar instead of his attackers!
In Prison for Doing Good
 “The most evil feeling in the world is hate. … Christ alone can help us overcome these feelings. With his help, we are able to forgive and love.” — Mr. Choi, a Korean Christian who went to prison for helping refugees from North Korea
 
Mr. Choi is a Christian from South Korea. He, his wife, and his two daughters lived in China, where Mr. Choi was a missionary. 
 
In China, he met North Koreans who had escaped from miserable conditions in their country.  People in North Korea have little freedom, and many are very poor. “I wanted to minister to them,” Mr. Choi said.
 
Mr. Choi began talking with North Koreans as he helped them with their problems. “As we did things together, I led by Christ’s example,” he said. “I wanted to see them gain independence as Christians so they would be strong if they ever found themselves back in North Korea.”
 
Cuba: God Does Not Need Eye Contact
When Tom White was a boy, his mother gave him a book called Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. The book told the stories of people who had been killed for their Christian faith. As Tom grew older, he learned more about Christians who risk their lives to share the truth about Jesus.

He believed God wanted him to do more than just learn what others were doing. “I decided to commit myself fulltime to active duty,” he said.

Tom decided to drop Christian pamphlets out of a small airplane while flying over Cuba. Cuba is a communist country, and the government at that time did not allow anyone to share the gospel there.

Tom’s airplane accidentally crashed in Cuba, and Cuban officials took Tom and the pilot to prison.

Sunglasses Can’t Stop Prayers
A Cuban officer, Captain Santos, questioned Tom often during his time in prison. Captain Santos did not believe in God. He questioned Tom for many hours, sometimes threatening him if he did not answer the way the captain wanted.

“How can I fight this?” Tom wondered.  “This could go on forever.” God helped Tom feel sorry for his questioner. Captain Santos did not know God. “God, help Captain Santos,” Tom prayed silently.
Pakistan: Punishment Turns to Blessing

As a Muslim youth in Pakistan, Rafiq joined the Pakistani army. The army sent him to a city far from his home. A Christian invited Rafiq to a church in the city. Rafiq heard what the Bible says about sin and salvation, and he gave his heart to Jesus!

He was so excited about his new life! He began to tell everyone about Jesus, even the Muslims in the army.  One day, a Muslim army officer warned Rafiq to stop talking about Jesus. But Rafiq could not stop sharing the love of Jesus with others.

The officer decided to punish him. He told Rafiq he was going to send him to another place where the army work was very hard.

Sad to Leave
Rafiq did not want to leave his new church family. “Will you pray that I will not have to go away?” he asked the people at the church.

“No,” they answered. “We can’t pray for that. For two years we have been praying that God would send more Christians to the place where the army is sending you. Maybe you are one of the Christians he is sending.”


Rafiq did not understand. He felt sad and disappointed. He left the city with an unhappy heart.
Ten Bold Believers Stories from 2009
The following stories are about kids and families who bravely continue to serve God in the face of difficulties and danger. Please pray for them and for others around the world who face similar struggles.

1. Turkey: I Want to Belong to Jesus
Asli is a Christian girl in Turkey. During the summer, she invited her friend Yildiz to go to a Christian camp with her. Like most kids in Turkey, Yildiz grew up in a Muslim family. But happily, her father said she could go to the camp.

Yildiz heard the good news of Jesus for the first time at camp. Every evening, she called her father and said, “Dad, I want to belong to the Lord Jesus.”

“No way,” her father answered. But Yildiz kept calling, and finally her father reluctantly agreed. Yildiz was very happy. When she went home, she told everyone that following Jesus was the most important thing in her life. Pray that Yildiz will grow in her faith, even if others give her a hard time about it. Muslims in Turkey who become Christians often face persecution from their friends, relatives, teachers, and bosses. Pray that Asli’s parents will come to know Jesus, too.

2. Vietnam: A Letter from Dad
Rebecca and Samuel live in Vietnam, where the government controls all religious activities. Like dozens of other Christian children in Vietnam, they are separated from their father because he is in prison for his Christian activities. The children rarely see their father because the prison is far away from their home. Rachel and Samuel were thankful for this letter they received from their dad in prison:
Government Accidentally Spreads the Gospel
One day, Pastor K’Be’s children were watching TV in Vietnam where they lived. Their father’s picture appeared on the screen! They were excited!

The TV announcer said their father was a “criminal.” The report said he was guilty of “crimes” against the government of Vietnam. Their excitement disappeared.

The government wants to control Christian activity. They do not want Christians to have activities outside of churches that are registered with the government. Pastor K’Be preached at church meetings that took place in people’s homes.

Not Ashamed
The government put his picture on TV to shame him. The Bible tells us that the apostle Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16, NIV). Pastor K’Be wasn’t ashamed either. The government also wanted to warn people who saw the TV report to stay away from Pastor K’Be. But it only made people more curious. They looked for answers about what Pastor K’Be believed, and they found out about Jesus. “The government is helping to spread the gospel,” said Pastor K’Be.
The Philippines: Learning to Forgive
“Then God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry…?’ And he said, ‘It is right for me to be angry, even to death!’” (Jonah 4:9.)

Gracia Burnham was angry. A gang of violent Muslims had kidnapped her. Gracia did not even like to go camping. But the group forced Gracia and her husband Martin to live with them in the jungle. The jungle had no beds, bathrooms, stores, or air conditioning.

Gracia and Martin were missionaries in the Philippines. Before the men kidnapped them, Gracia homeschooled their three kids: Mindy, Zach, and Jeff. Martin, a pilot, flew mail and supplies to other missionaries in hard-to-reach places.

The men who kidnapped the Burnhams belonged to a group that wanted Muslims to have more power in the Philippines. They had the mistaken idea that they could get power by hurting innocent people. The kidnappers took Martin, Gracia, and other innocent people into the jungle. Friends and relatives took care of Mindy, Zach, and Jeff.
 
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