Not Ice Cream

Sarah is 14 years old and her sister Grace is 8 (Sarah and Grace are not their real names). Every Sunday, Sarah, Grace, and their dad rode a bus for a long time to go to a church service. Others from their church went too, bringing Bibles, good food, and musical instruments for worship.

At the service, Sarah and Grace sang and prayed like many Christians do at church, but the place where they met was quite unusual. Sarah and Grace had church in a jail.

In America, many kids hear about Jesus and go to Sunday School to learn about God. But in Indonesia where Sarah and Grace live, many people, especially Muslims, don’t know Jesus. Some officials get upset if Christians tell Muslims about Him. Sometimes they even put the Christians in jail. That is exactly what happened to three Sunday School teachers in Indonesia.

The teachers, Eti, Rebekka, and Ratna, used to teach Sunday school, telling kids about Jesus. They called the class “Happy Sunday,” because many kids were happy to come and learn about God.

Some adults who don’t know Jesus were not happy that some of the kids who learned about God were Muslim. They arrested Eti, Rebekka, and Ratna, and brought them to a courtroom where many angry people yelled at them for telling Muslim kids about Jesus. The officials sentenced the three women to jail.

In jail, the three friends still followed God. They prayed and read their Bibles and told other people in prison about Jesus.

Sundays in jail were special days because the teachers had church! Sarah and Grace and others from their church went to the jail to worship with them. Although Sarah and Grace’s dad had to pay the prison guards money so they could visit, they all got to worship together. Afterwards, they would have a supper that they called a “Love Feast.” (See the photo above of one of the worship services in jail.)

One Indonesian Christian who was in the courtroom when the Muslims were yelling at the Sunday school teachers thought maybe the women were too bold. Perhaps if they did not talk about Jesus, they would not have to go to jail and life would be easier.

But the teachers wanted to make Jesus happy, even if jail was hard. “If we as Christians are not extreme in our faith, then we’d be like ice cream,” Rebekka’s husband said. The Indonesian Sunday school teachers choose to follow Jesus rather than have weak faith that melts like ice cream when trouble heats up.

Would you like to encourage Christian prisoners like the Indonesian Sunday School teachers? Visit www.prisoneralert.com for updates on prisoners who are in jail for their faith in Christ and instructions about how to send them encouragement.

Related Articles / Media

The Voice of the Martyrs

Statement of Faith

We believe the Bible to be the inspired, authoritative Word of God who is eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His personal return in power and glory.

We believe that for salvation of lost and sinful men, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.

We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life. We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost. We believe in the spiritual unity of believers of Christ.

We believe in the message of the persecuted churches, a message which has been brought to the West by the founders of the mission, Pastor Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand.

We have witnessed that the blood of the martyrs is the seed which makes the churches grow; and therefore, the mention of martyrs must be brought into the teachings and practices of the church. We believe that Christians who serve and love Christ, and are persecuted for this, should be helped. We believe the Bible teaches that we should love even our enemies. How much more so should we love our brethren who are persecuted for their faith in all parts of the world? Hebrews 13:3 states, "Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them, and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body."

Privacy statement:

www.persecution.com
www.kidsofcourage.com

Thank you for visiting The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) web sites. VOM remains very committed to protecting all user information on www.persecution.com and related sites. The Voice of the Martyrs will not sell, lease or rent personal information acquired within our web site. No personal information will be gathered without your knowledge and permission. The Voice of the Martyrs will continue to protect all personal information to the best of our ability. All financial transaction shall be processed secure with SSL encryption.

This web site may be linked to other web sites as well as other web sites linked to Persecution.com. The Voice of the Martyrs has no control over non-"VOM" web sites and the users shall be subject to the privacy policy of that site.

The Voice of the Martyrs may request information from its users to protect site content and monitor activities within the site. Users will also be given the opportunity to provide further information to help The Voice of the Martyrs better help those they serve. As stated above, this information will remain private and shall never be sold, leased or rented to another organization.

If you have any questions concerning The Voice of the Martyrs privacy policy please contact webmaster@persecution.com

Spotlight

Related Articles / Media

The Voice of the Martyrs

Statement of Faith

Privacy statement: