Noi and the Police
Published on December 29th, 2014
Noi is the leader of a group of house churches in Laos. The churches are in areas where groups of tribal people live. The authorities do not want tribal people to follow Jesus.
The chief in Noi’s village has tried many times to stop the Christians in the village from meeting together. He questioned Noi about the church five times last year. Every time, Noi explained that the believers learn how to stop sinning at their meetings. When people stop sinning it is good for the village!
“If we teach people about Jesus, they become good people,” Noi told the chief. “We have to meet every week to learn what God is saying.”
The police continued to check on the Christians and their church services. Last Easter, two policemen came to watch the church. If non-Christian spies came to spy on your church, what would you say to them? At Noi’s church, the church members invited the policemen to sit in seats at the front of the church because those are the seats of honor!
The policemen heard the Christians talk about how sin keeps us from God, and how Jesus saves people from sin. They began to feel guilty about their own sins.
“Wow, this Jesus is really tough on sin,” one of them said after the service. The Christians invited the policemen to stay for a meal after the service. But the police, still concerned about their sins, turned down the invitation.
Noi knows he will probably be questioned and watched many more times by the authorities. But he continues to lead the churches in his area.
(Source: December 2014 The Voice of the Martyrs magazine)
To Talk About
- John 16:8–9 says, “[Jesus said], ‘And when [the Holy Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me….’” What do the verses mean? How might the verses apply to the policemen who visited the church service?
- If the village chief and the police were not always watching the Christians, they might never hear the truth about Jesus. Can you think of other situations where Christians might be made to feel uncomfortable , but the result might be that more people come to Christ?