The Night Commuters
Today is the National Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. To be honest, the word "persecution" has always bothered me; it seems so extreme to say the church in some country is being persecuted. Unfortunately, most people probably feel the same way. It just seems so distant, so terrible to think about, so plain unreal. That sounds like what everyone thought when they heard that Nazis had been systematically mass murdering Jews for years. They couldn't believe it.
Anyway, my thinking is slowly changing and I'm beginning to see that persecution is very real; people are willing to die because they have a sure hope in Christ...or to lose their jobs, or be mocked, or any of the daily little persecutions that can be hard to bear, too. I'm sure these people are fearful sometimes, but yet they remain unshaken. And what completely amazes me is that others see that and they come to Christ - persecution is just unable to stop the church from growing. Truly the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.
My dad led prayer at church this morning, reminding us particularly of the war going on in Northern Uganda against the LRA; the Lord's Resistance Army, who has kidnapped some 20,000 children, forcing them to become soldiers or sex slaves. I highly recommend this article about Uganda's child soldiers in World magazine, if you have time to read it. The article also takes about the "night commuters," kids who flee to towns like Gulu, Uganda every night so they can sleep in relative safety from capture by the LRA. Then they return to their villages and go to school the next day. Check out this Northern Uganda conflict blog for more info. (It's written by a women who worked with refugees in Gulu, I think, and now is working in Chad, which sounds like a very difficult job but one there's a real need for.)
Maybe some of you have heard of the Gulu Walk - people around the world simulated the night commuters' walk to raise awareness of what's happening in Uganda. I knew about it, thought "oh, that's nice, but it would be a lot of trouble to participate and I just don't do things like that." Aiyaiyai. I'm really part of the reason things take so long to change, because I talk myself out of doing anything to help. Maybe not a Gulu Walk, but there's always something you can do, even if it's only praying and contributing to aid organizations, or talking to your friends so that word gets around about what's going on. Change comes "slowly by slowly," as they say in Uganda...
Okay, one last thing. My dad prayed that many of these LRA soldiers would be able to desert (it's not easy to leave), and that they would also be saved, their sins forgiven by one who willing took their punishment on himself instead. (Imagine the guilt you'd feel after having murdered so many people, seen horrible things and been too afraid for yourself to stop them.) But us being able to forgive them, too, isn't easy. Last year, my first trip to Uganda, there was little a shootout when "the enemy," the Pokot, came to steal some donkeys. (Thankfully no one was hurt, but AK-47s are VERY loud and it was pretty scary.) As I lay awake for a little while afterwards, I was praying that the enemy would just fall in a ditch or something as they ran, so they couldn't harm anyone else that night...or ever again. Although I believe there's also a place for that, can we forget the mercy we've been shown ourselves? I don't shoot people, but didn't God pay the same incredible price in blood for me? Maybe Christians who are being persecuted are much better than me (actually, I'm pretty sure that they often are!), but it's still human nature to love your friends and hate and despise your enemies.
Anyway, as we pray for those who are suffering, maybe pray too that they would be able to love their enemies; even as Christ did.
Anyway, my thinking is slowly changing and I'm beginning to see that persecution is very real; people are willing to die because they have a sure hope in Christ...or to lose their jobs, or be mocked, or any of the daily little persecutions that can be hard to bear, too. I'm sure these people are fearful sometimes, but yet they remain unshaken. And what completely amazes me is that others see that and they come to Christ - persecution is just unable to stop the church from growing. Truly the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.
My dad led prayer at church this morning, reminding us particularly of the war going on in Northern Uganda against the LRA; the Lord's Resistance Army, who has kidnapped some 20,000 children, forcing them to become soldiers or sex slaves. I highly recommend this article about Uganda's child soldiers in World magazine, if you have time to read it. The article also takes about the "night commuters," kids who flee to towns like Gulu, Uganda every night so they can sleep in relative safety from capture by the LRA. Then they return to their villages and go to school the next day. Check out this Northern Uganda conflict blog for more info. (It's written by a women who worked with refugees in Gulu, I think, and now is working in Chad, which sounds like a very difficult job but one there's a real need for.)
Maybe some of you have heard of the Gulu Walk - people around the world simulated the night commuters' walk to raise awareness of what's happening in Uganda. I knew about it, thought "oh, that's nice, but it would be a lot of trouble to participate and I just don't do things like that." Aiyaiyai. I'm really part of the reason things take so long to change, because I talk myself out of doing anything to help. Maybe not a Gulu Walk, but there's always something you can do, even if it's only praying and contributing to aid organizations, or talking to your friends so that word gets around about what's going on. Change comes "slowly by slowly," as they say in Uganda...
Okay, one last thing. My dad prayed that many of these LRA soldiers would be able to desert (it's not easy to leave), and that they would also be saved, their sins forgiven by one who willing took their punishment on himself instead. (Imagine the guilt you'd feel after having murdered so many people, seen horrible things and been too afraid for yourself to stop them.) But us being able to forgive them, too, isn't easy. Last year, my first trip to Uganda, there was little a shootout when "the enemy," the Pokot, came to steal some donkeys. (Thankfully no one was hurt, but AK-47s are VERY loud and it was pretty scary.) As I lay awake for a little while afterwards, I was praying that the enemy would just fall in a ditch or something as they ran, so they couldn't harm anyone else that night...or ever again. Although I believe there's also a place for that, can we forget the mercy we've been shown ourselves? I don't shoot people, but didn't God pay the same incredible price in blood for me? Maybe Christians who are being persecuted are much better than me (actually, I'm pretty sure that they often are!), but it's still human nature to love your friends and hate and despise your enemies.
Anyway, as we pray for those who are suffering, maybe pray too that they would be able to love their enemies; even as Christ did.
posted by Amanda at
12:01 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks for your thoughts on this Amanda. Truly, I think one of the most radical things Jesus said (and he said a lot of them) was "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." It is SO contrary to our sinful nature. Yet Christ died for his enemies, and we are to be like him. He is making us like him!
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Melodee, at 7:23 AM
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