Hamilton Elim Church
21 July 2024 - Missions Month: Open Doors
This July we are in our Mission Month, focusing on what God is doing around the globe.
Today, we have guest speaker Ryan Pollard from Open Doors, serving the persecuted, strengthening the church. 1 IN 7 CHRISTIANS WORLDWIDE suffer high to extreme levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith in Jesus. More than 365 MILLION CHRISTIANS suffer high to extreme levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith in Jesus.
- Duration:
- 35m
- Broadcast on:
- 21 Jul 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
Good morning, good morning, good morning. Great to be here this morning, such a privilege, such a great church, and I really enjoyed the first service. And it's great to meet you all this morning. My name's Ryan from Open Doors, as Ann said. And I just wanna thank you Pastor Ann for the privilege, the opportunity to be able to come and to bring God's word, as well as share a little bit about the ministry of Open Doors with you this morning. And as I said in the morning service, my wife is actually the spiritual one between the two of us. And so she sent me this along this morning with a special word of encouragement. Would anyone like a word of encouragement this morning? And so she knew nothing, she didn't know exactly where I was going, she just knew I was going to some church in the Tron. And so she kind of had this word, she's got this prophetic gift on her life. And so I just wanna speak this out. And so I opened your spirit. She said, "I saw a ladder and reminded me of the scripture "in Genesis 28.12." It says, "And he dream." And remember this was Jacob in the scripture and the story. "And behold, a ladder set up on earth "and the top reached to heaven, heaven to earth." And my wife says, "I felt that God wanted to encourage you "as a church that you are a gateway to the presence of God "for many who are yet to enter the kingdom yet." Come on, do you receive that this morning church? She said, "Often times it may feel like "you're not making a difference. "However, there is an establishment of a ladder "and access point for your community to access "and encounter with him through your witness." Don't underestimate the power of your witness in this community. You are a gateway and provide an open heaven atmosphere for God to interact with his kids. Well done. Do you receive that word this morning? Come on, come on, gateway for the presence of God. I'm already sensing, you know, now since the presence of God here this morning, it's wonderful. And so thank you for hosting the presence of God so well. Just quickly a little bit about me. I drove over this morning from why he beat out on the East Coast, where I live with my beautiful wife. Come on, amen, brother. Yeah, I live with my wife and my three amazing teenage kids. There they are up on screen for you. And so there's my wife who brought the word for you this morning. And I was just sharing in this, first, I was very proud of my 16 year old boy, Dan. He just got us restricted this week. That's right, big moment in a family. When one of your kids gets their restricted license. And so I was very proud because for the first act he did of independence, when he could drive the car without dad sitting in the other seat, was he went down to bow in town hill to spend time with God. And then also did my high row good. And his second trip was to his girlfriend's place in Todonga. So, you know, the boys got priorities, which is great. But there's my family. And as a pastor, I always had an incredible value for this ministry of open doors. But now I can say hand on heart from the inside, that I'm even more convinced of the value of this important ministry that I get to share with you this morning. How many of you have heard of open doors? Just a quick show of hands. Yeah, a few hands, great, excellent open doors. We're a global Christian charity that exists to serve the persecuted, to strengthen the church all over the world. Founded by brother Andrew in 1955. He's the author of the book, God Smuggler. Anyone read that one before? Yeah, great book, I recommend it. And now we're represented, open doors represented in over 17 nations around the globe, standing with persecuted believers in places like Afghanistan, Nigeria, China, India, places where Christians like you and me are persecuted and discriminated against just for following Jesus. And when God called me to this ministry, he gave me a vision, like I said, I'm not the spiritual one between my wife and I, but I do get the occasional vision. And in this vision, God showed me a multitude of believers in heaven who had clearly suffered for their faith on earth. And I was overwhelmed as I was looking at this multitude, and then one of them locked eyes with me and he said, yes, and we'd do it all again for him. And when he said that, they all lifted their heads. And so I naturally lifted my head and had this encounter with the glory of God. And then Jesus spoke to my heart and he said, Ryan, will you wash the feet of my persecuted church and bring their message of my matchless worth? So that's what I'm here to do this morning. That vision marked my life. And my prayer for you this morning is that as I share stories about the persecuted church that you also will be marked for Jesus. Are you up for that church? Yeah, a few of you, come on. The rest of you up for that this morning, Amy. Well, on that note, let's pray. Father, just thank you for your presence here. We just acknowledge your spirit moving in our midst. And thank you, you have lavished your love upon us and calling us your children. It's your love that defines who we are. And Lord, we block out every other voice. We choose to listen to your voice who defines us. And Jesus, you said that we're two or more gathered in your name, that there you are in the midst. So we just acknowledge your presence. And we thank you that you're with us always. And Lord, thank you, you're also with our brothers and sisters overseas who are doing it tough. And Lord, today we remember them when we pray that you would encourage them and strengthen them. And God that today also you would encourage and strengthen this church in our hearts as we hear their stories and their testimony in Jesus' mighty name. Everyone said, amen. The 25th of this year, the 25th of February, sorry, this year, in a West African nation called Burkina Faso, a church together, just like we have this morning to worship Jesus. And around 8 AM, their worship was interrupted by the sound of motorbikes getting louder and louder. And before the church knew it, armed gunmen had burst through the doors of the church and started opening fire. I can't imagine what it would have been like to be in that room that day. The gunmen left as fast as they came, but not before gunning down 15 believers in cold blood. One of our open doors workers was immediately on the scene because that's what we do in open doors. We get alongside the persecuted believers to encourage them to bless them, to counsel them, to strengthen them. And this morning, our open doors field worker did something she gathered up the footwear of those who had been killed. And she took a photo and here is that photo. So it's not very high quality, but it hit me like a ton of bricks when I first saw this picture. You see, there's some pink jambles in there. They could belong to my 12 year old daughter. These were ordinary believers just like you and I. And as powerful as that photo is, what's even more powerful is that they asked you and me to pray to praise for them. They said, firstly, will you pray for those who have lost loved ones and are grieving? Understandable, right? Come on, will you pray for them? But then they said, will you pray for those who attacked us, the extremists who attacked us, that they would encounter the love of Jesus and be changed. Isn't that amazing? These believers truly bring to life the words of Jesus where he says to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Unfortunately, these kinds of attacks are not uncommon, especially around Sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, persecution is only heating up in the nations at the moment. Right now, one in seven Christians around the globe experiences severe persecution. That is a staggering 365 million believers who live daily under the threat of things such as abuse, imprisonment, torture and even death simply for following Jesus. In fact, in the last 12 months, there's been an increase of five million believers who now experience severe persecution who didn't the year before. And in fact, in the last 12 months, there's been a sevenfold increase in attacks on churches as well in the nations. And this is why open doors exist. For the purpose of serving the persecuted and strengthening churches just like this one with their testimony, helping people all over the world to follow Jesus, no matter the cost. Can I get an amen this morning? And because persecution looks different in every country, our work also looks different in every country. If believers need Bibles, we still smuggle Bibles into their country. Did you know it's still illegal to own a Bible in 54 countries around the world today? Or if the believers are being persecuted, we disciple them through persecution preparedness raining. If the persecution is becoming too much, we partner with locals to establish trauma care centers. And if they lack missional resources, we help them to equip them to build centers of hope to shine a light into their community. And if they're going through crises, famine, these kinds of things, then we walk hand in hand with the persecuted through emergency relief. These are just some as open doors, stand with the persecuted church. And later on, I want to give you the opportunity to also stand with our persecuted brothers and sisters through your prayers and as well through your giving. But in my role, I get to shed light on what some of our persecuted brothers and sisters are going through. And on one hand, it's pretty confronting and heavy at times. You can understand, right? But on the other hand, it is truly inspiring and hope filled as we witness their courageous faith, their bold witness, and their absolute love for Jesus, even in the darkest places. And we can take heartchurch that Jesus is still building his church even right at the gates of hell. In fact, the church has always been at her best. And there's persecution, it's just an historic fact. Persecuted pastor recently told me in Southeast Asia, he put it this way, he said, "The church is like bamboo. The more you cut it down, the more it grows." It makes me think of people like he who were in North Korea, born in North Korea, which is the most dangerous place, by the way, to live as a Christian. Every year, open doors publishes the world watch list. This is a compilation put together by a team of expert researchers that compiles the top 50 nations where it's most dangerous to live as a Christian. And you can take one of these off my table at the end of the service. It's my gift to you, please, go home with one of these. To see the top 50 nations where it's most dangerous to be a Christian. And North Korea has topped that list for the last 20 years. If you are discovered to be a Christian in North Korea, you're likely to either be killed on the spot or sent away to a concentration camp, or what they like to call a re-education camp. And this is what happened to Hiwu. She was subjected to 12 hours a day of hard labor and abused daily by the guards and given only a cup of rotten corn, three cups of rotten corn to live on a day. Now, you could probably forgive Hiwu for feeling a little bit discouraged, true. You could maybe even forgive her for questioning the goodness of God because, I mean, she was there for being a Christian. I don't know how I would have responded in one of these North Korean concentration camps, but this is how Hiwu responded. She could not keep the love of Jesus to herself. And she began to share her faith at great risk, mind you, with other prisoners. And after a while, another lady came to Christ. Then another, then another until there were six women, plus Hiwu, worshiping Jesus. In fact, they would gather in the only place the guards wouldn't dare to go. They would gather in the toilet block where they would encourage each other and pray for each other and worship Jesus, starting a secret church right in the heart of a North Korean prison camp. Come on, you cannot keep God's church down, amen? And having personally met, you know, persecuted believers from Saudi, from Iraq, from Myanmar, from Southeast Asia, I am more and more convinced that we can learn so much from the persecuted church. There is so much that we can learn here in the West and as Kiwis from our persecuted brothers and sisters. And today, I actually wanna look at what our persecuted brothers and sisters can teach us about worshiping God in the difficult places, in the darkness. And I wanna play you a video about a woman who testimony named Helen and she learned the power of praising God in the dark as she was in prison for her faith and imprisoned in a shipping container for 32 months. Here is her story. (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) Hi, it's Helen. I'm safe now. Who can preach the gospel? The answer is simple. Anyone who is not afraid to die. I was in that shipping container for 32 months. In the heat of desert day, the walls would burn our skin. In the night, we shook from the cold. I remember the story of Paul and Silas. Like them, I began to sing. The guards tried to stop me, but I keep singing and they keep preaching the good news to anyone who would listen. They tried everything. They torture me who is a tool meant to kill me. Their goal was for me to deny my faith. Stop saying, Jesus. All I could answer was, I cannot. I accept Him unto death. But your prayers carried me through. I would tell the other prisoners. People are praying for us. I can feel it. The name of Jesus is medicine. And the world desperately needed. Our brothers and sisters are still in prison. While we eat, they have no food. While we are free, they are in chains. We can do more. Keep on praying. Keep on supporting. Keep on singing. Your sister in Christ, Helen. Yeah. Isn't it so powerful every time I see that, it moves me. Helen says, keep on singing. How many of you know it's easier to worship God in the light? When everything's going well, when life is good, when you have your health, it's easy to praise Him. But how much more powerful is our worship when we're going through something difficult? When we're in the darkness and we don't know which way we're going. When we're going through, maybe a painful trial. Maybe that's you here this morning. Maybe you're walking through something difficult. I pray this message encourages you today. One day we'll get to see Him face-to-face in glory. Who's looking forward to that day? I think we won't be able to help but to bow down and to worship Him in His majesty. But it's only this side of heaven that we get to bring Him our broken praise and praise Him in the dark like Helen. And when I hear stories from persecuted believers, when they are rejected by their families, when they lose their houses, when their businesses are burnt to the ground, there's an estimated 70,000 believers in these North Korean prison camps. When I see these persecuted believers go through such trials and yet they come out the other side so joyful and strong in God because they've learned to praise Him in the dark. And I want to look at Psalm 84 through the lens of persecuted believers. Just a few verses from verse 4 to 7 that reads like this. "Blessed are those who dwell in your house. They are ever praising you. Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the valley of Baka, which means weeping, they make it a place of springs. Autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion. I wonder if any of you have ever been through a valley of weeping before?" That would be most of us, right? I want to introduce you this morning to Ayesha. Next slide, please. Ayesha lives in a Muslim-majority country in the Middle East. I cannot tell you the name of the country for security reasons. But she was married to a Muslim man, Mahmud. And he owned a shop. And just down the road from his shop was a Christian medical clinic. And he despised the fact that this medical clinic even existed. But he had to walk past that clinic every day on his way to work to his shop. And as he walked past the medical clinic, he would heal abuse at the workers there. He would say, "Get out of our country. We don't need you. We don't want to hear you Christians." And he would complain at the mosque at the existence of this Christian medical clinic. That was until the day he got diagnosed with a terminal illness. And the whole Muslim community stepped away from him and his family for fear that they would catch what he had. But the workers at the medical clinic that he had been verbally abusing came and cared for him and loved on him and Ayesha and made them meals and became their friends. And when the Muslim community would no longer even go to his shop, the Christians would buy things from his shop. And just before my mood passed on, he and Ayesha surrendered their lives to Jesus. Is that awesome? Now Ayesha, after the passing of her husband, could not keep her newfound faith to herself. She was sharing the love of Jesus with everybody. Even her friends and her family could not silence her until she got the attention of the authorities. And now in this nation, they don't normally arrest women, but they arrested Ayesha and brought her into the police station. And they threatened her with every imaginable punishment. They beat her. They continued to threaten her till late in the night. And when she wouldn't surrender her faith, they didn't even throw her in a jail cell. They threw her in the dark damp cellar underneath the police station. And she sat there in the darkness on the dirt floor. She could hear rats and insects scuttling around about her. And she sat there discouraged, frustrated, exhausted. And she actually opened her mouth to complain to God, to tell him I've had enough. But what came out was a song of praise. And as she began to praise God, she immediately felt the presence of God begin to fill that cellar under the police station. Because how many of you know that when we praise Him in the dark, His presence rushes to meet us. That is what happened for Ayesha. His presence came to meet her. In fact, we just read in Psalm 84, "As they pass through the valley of Becca of weeping, they make it a place of springs. The autumn rains also cover it with pools." How many of you know that praise transforms the place of weeping into a place of refreshing presence from God? When we choose to praise Him instead of complaining. And maybe now it's easy to complain. I'm an expert at complaining. I've got complaining down. It's easy to complain when things aren't going your way, when you meet trials of many kinds. But to choose praise opens the door for His presence to come in. I remember one time when I lost my job, I was made redundant. We had two small kids and a mortgage to pay. I had no idea how we're going to do it. And I went home to tell my wife, but she had taken the kids out and I found myself at home alone, sitting on the couch feeling sorry for myself. Anybody else been there? And as my mind was whirling, I think, "What are we going to do?" This little whisper came to me that said, "Wish at me." And I could have easily have ignored it. How many of you know it can be very easy to ignore God's voice? But He just persistently whispered, "Wish at me." I thought, "This isn't the time. God, don't you know what's going on? Wish at me. Wish at me." And I'm glad that I didn't ignore that voice. And I paced up and down, bringing the most pathetic songs of praise in my house, what? Warming up and down our hallway, praising Him. But as I did, the presence of God began to rush towards me. And I sensed that something had changed, something had broken, something had lifted. And from that moment, I knew it was going to be okay. My wife came home and I was smiling. She's like, "What's the good news, honey? I've lost my job." [chuckles] But, Henry, if you know what we choose to praise Him in the dark, His presence rashes to meet us. He's the God who's with us. And Ayesha surprised and strengthened just by the sound of her own voice singing. She stood to her feet, and she just began to sing out even louder until her song filled the whole police station above her. [chuckles] And if you know when we worship in the dark, His strength rises within us. Again, Psalm 84, it says, "They go from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion." If we want to skip through a couple of slides there. "They go from strength to strength." How many of you know it's not our strength? It's His strength. We get to tap into unseen resources when we choose praise over complaining. When we choose to lift Him up and set our eyes on Him, our focus on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Strength begins to rise within us. And this is where it gets really good. Later on that evening, not just any police officer, but the chief of police released Ayesha from that cellar. And not only did he release her, but he invited her over to his home. Because he said, "Ayesha, my wife and my daughters, they're afraid of everything." But you, you're not afraid of anything. Of course, we know she was, but she had tapped into some unseen resources. And so he said to her, "Will you come to my home and tell my family the reason why you're not afraid of anything? Oh, and will you sing that song? Isn't that awesome? Come on, doesn't it remind you of a little story that Hal and I referred to about Paul and Silas at midnight in the darkest time when they lifted their voice in that presence so all the other prisoners could hear. And the presence of God rushed to meet them so much so there was an earthquake and all the chains fell off. And even Paul's captor eventually came to Christ and his whole family. Because how many know when we choose to praise Him in the dark? God's power goes before us. God's power goes before us. When we choose praise, His presence rushes to meet us, His strength rises within us, and His power goes to work in your situation. Oscar Romero, Archbishop of El Salvador and Marta, said, "This Christianity discerns that beyond the night the dawn already glows." Reminds me of a story of a young boy who lived in the city suburbs who went to stay with his grandfather for the weekend. And one morning over breakfast he said, "Granddad, why do the birds sing even when it's still dark outside?" And his grandfather said, "Oh, that's easy. It's because the birds know that the sun is about to rise." How many of you know we can praise Him even in the darkness because we know darkness will not have the last say? Darkness will not have the last say. You might be walking through a dark valley right now in some area of your life. Let me encourage you, darkness will not have the last say. We have a hope that goes even beyond the grave. Can someone say amen to that? So I want to encourage you this morning, do not let the devil steal your song. We know Jesus told us that the devils come to watch, steal, kill, destroy. He wants to steal your song. How many of you know grief can steal your song? Disappointment can steal your song. Yeah, see those hands. Fear can steal your song. But I just believe that just like for Ayesha, God wants to put a new song in your heart. Are you open to that today? That God will put a song that you might just want to come. Everything inside of you might just want to complain and winge to God about what's going on in your situation. But God wants to put a new song in your heart. And that can change everything. See Ayesha, she brings to life the words of Psalm 14 where it says, "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire. He set my feet on the rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth for him of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him." And so today if you're ready to put your trust in him, if you're saying, "Hey Ryan, I'm actually going through something." It might not look like persecution, but still we go through relational challenges. We go through financial challenges. We go through all kinds of trials. And if you're saying, "Ryan, this morning, I'm going through something difficult. I want to pray for you." And how I want to do that, I just want to encourage you to put your hand on your heart, just where you're sitting. Just begin to focus your heart on Jesus. Maybe just begin to close your eyes as we pray and put your hand on your heart to say, "God Jesus, here I am. He sees you. He's here. He is the God who is with us. He is the God who cares about every detail in your life. I want to pray. Father, I thank you for each of these dear ones here this morning. Thank you that you love each of us intimately. And Lord, even though sometimes we go through challenges that we don't understand and we don't know what you're doing and we can wonder if you're even there at times. Thank you, God, that you are closer, Lord than of any friend. Lord, like Pastor said earlier, Pastor Ant said earlier, "Lord, you are the friend that sticks closer than a brother." And so God, I pray for these ones that are going through little painful trials right now. And God, we just invite your presence. God, I pray that you would release a new song within their heart. God with a devil has stolen their song. Lord, through discouragement, through disappointment, Lord, through challenge and trial. God, I pray that you would put a song on the inside of them again. Lord, the hope would begin to rise. That new strength would begin to rise within them. That your presence, even right now in this moment, would just begin to rush towards them. That even right now as we lift our eyes from everything that's going on, from the clouds, Lord, that are clouding out the sunshine of your love. God, I pray, Lord, that your presence would just begin to break forth like a new day in our hearts. And that even if our circumstances might still be the same when we walk out of here today, that something would have changed on the inside. Holy Spirit, come. Lord, minister to our hearts. Release that new song and give us the courage to praise you, even through the darkness. In Jesus' name, everyone said. Amen. Right now, there are millions of believers who are living in great darkness and persecution right now. And you and I, we have the ability to stand with them, to help them in two important ways, through our prayers and through our financial giving. And this morning, I just want to simply put out the invite to partner with us, with open doors, to stand with our persecuted brothers and sisters, like Halen, like Ayesha, like Hiwu, like the believers in Bekina Faso. Because how many of you know we are one body? We're one body. It's not them and us, it's just us. And part of us are hurting. And in one Corinthians 12, 26, it says that when one part suffers, we, we all suffer. See, no Christians should have to suffer alone. Do you know what the number one request is from the persecuted church? Prayer. Will you pray for us? Then it asks for finances or resources, although they need them so desperately, they say, will you pray for us? Because how many of you know our prayers can go, where we cannot, to provide spiritual comfort and support to these believers? In fact, can I quote for you pastor Azimat from Uzbekistan? He says, please tell people who pray, we can feel their prayer. Sometimes when I'm in difficulty, I think this is the end, but suddenly I feel someone is taking care of me and I know someone is praying for me. They feel our prayers church. Number one request, will you pray for us? I want to encourage you to jump on our website, sign up for prayer updates. So come to your email inbox, once every three to four weeks, to get updated actual incidences that are happening right now. Pakistan is a dangerous hot box for Christians. Find out the stories, find out the names, find out the prayer points that you can be praying specifically for persecuted believers. Or I've got a QR code on my back table that will take you straight to that page. Take one of these world watch this off my back table to fuel your prayers as well for the persecuted church. But giving, well, that's a way for us to supercharge our prayers, isn't it? It's a way to back up our prayers with tangible support to tell the persecuted church we see you. We know what you're going through and we want to strengthen you. Because you know what? With all that they're going through, I look at what they're going through. I say, I want to run a mile. I want to get out of there. I want to go somewhere safe, but they say no. If we leave, the Christian witness will leave. We want to stay. And so open doors, we say, how can we help you stay? A bag of rice, here's a bag of rice. Some discipleship, here's some discipleship, some encouragement, some presence ministry. We have field workers who can put their arms around these people. We're not just giving from a distance firing bibles at them. We're hand in hand with persecuted church. But I also want to encourage you that. Hand in hand generosity starts at home. And if you consider this church to be your home church, make sure you're giving here first. But if you are giving to this church with an incredible missions heart, like we just saw earlier on screen, I already know you guys have an incredible missions heart and heart for the nations. And I just thank you for that. But if God prompts you this morning to begin praying or even giving, then I will encourage you with this that when we support the persecuted church, we are fulfilling the biblical mandate to be one body. Because if the church doesn't help the church, who will? Who will? When we support the persecuted church, we're also supporting global evangelism. Because how many of you know that where the church has been persecuted the most is where the church is also growing the most. Like in the church in Iran, has been the fastest growing church for the last number of years. These guys are doing the stuff. Today you can support the most persecuted believers in the nations. $20 would put a Bible in a persecuted believer's hands in their own language. $100 would put five Bibles in five persecuted believer's hands. Some of those persecuted believers could be pastors. You don't even have their own Bible. Imagine the difference it would make for a pastor trying to lead their flock through persecution. If they had their own Bible, they could feed themselves on and feed their people with, we have the ability to do that today. In fact, one morning I had a young boy come up and give me his pocket money. How many of you know God can use that pocket money to make a difference? Because it's not about the amount, it's about the heart, and it's about obeying what He prompts you to do. But if you do have the capacity to give, I want to encourage you also that right now we have critical need in the area of training pastors and also in establishing trauma care centers, especially in the Middle East right now. You can also give monthly to stand with the persecuted believers. If this is just a ministry that's on your heart and you want to give monthly to persecuted church through open doors, then you can do that. Simply use the QR code up here behind me, or you might see one of these on your seat. There's a QR code on the back. I've got a bunch of these on my back table as well. Just flash your phone camera over the QR code and it will lead you to a link to an eform. Just fill out that eform, put the church name in there, put your details in there. I think there's the ability to sign up for pre-updates in there as well. You can also choose to give monthly or one-off gift. Thank you very much for your generosity. If you feel that the Holy Spirit's leading you in this direction.