Ahmed
“Will you consider printing Bibles in Iran?”
“Ahmed” considered the question carefully. It had only been two years since he had turned his back on the emptiness of Islam and placed his faith in Jesus Christ. The Islamic government in Iran had made many promises but delivered only hopelessness and hate.
Within a year of coming to know Christ, Ahmed had begun sharing the gospel and planting churches, an activity that he knew could land him in prison. Altho8ugh printing Bibles carried an even great risk, Ahmed agreed to do it.
After receiving the funds necessary to purchase the printing equipment, he began his first assignment of printing 100 New Testaments each week. Ahmed distributed the Bibles wherever they were requested throughout his country, knowing that God’s Word was the light Iranians so desperately needed.
Ahmed was arrested two years into his printing efforts, leaving the 14 churches he had planted without a shepherd.
Palani
He had only been a Christian a few days before beginning the Bible distributions that led to his arrest. Now, shackled and chained, “Palani” sat in a prison cell where the heat sometimes exceeded 100 degrees. But for Palani, going to prison was worth it.
Being introduced to Jesus had transformed his life. Palani had once wandered the streets of his village, caring for little more than his next drink. But when his brother, a pastor in Laos, invited him for a visit and shared the gospel with him, his life changed forever. After placing his faith in Christ, Palani stopped drinking and began telling others what Jesus had done for him. He also started praying for the sick in Jesus’ name. “I was astonished to see many people healed after I prayed for them,” he said.
When Palani returned to his village, he met with a local pastor and asked him how he could serve in the church. “Can you get Bibles from your brother?” the pastor asked. Palani did get the Bibles and immediately began giving them to fellow villagers. “This [Bible distribution and praying for the sick] was all new to me,” he said, “so I was excited.”
A village leader, unhappy about Palani’s new Christian faith and work, confronted him and told him he could no longer talk about God or distribute Bibles. “You’re a fraud and a drunkard,” he scolded, adding that Palani shouldn’t be persuading people to follow “a foreign religion.”
Palani didn’t stop talking about the Good News, however, and three days later the police arrested him at his home. In prison, police beat him and demanded to know where he got the Bibles. During the third interrogation, they offered to release him if he would deny his faith and tell them where all the Bibles were. He refused and was beaten more severely.
Palani saw three people die from stqa4rvation and poor medical care in the overcrowded prison. “Our legs would cross each other while sleeping at night,” he said.
After two months in prison, he was released. Now Palani’s prayer is to get more Bible training and to be used by God to advance His kingdom – even though he knows it could lead to another arrest.
Swami
The evangelist stood on a crowded city street in India with his load of New Testaments. The smell of exhaust fumes, raw sewage and spices filled the air. One by one, Swami handed out the small New Testaments, praying that those who received them would come to know the Savior revealed on their pages.
Swami’s efforts came to an abrupt halt, however, when members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) approached and began to question him. The RSS is a volunteer Hindu nationalist organization associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BIP), the political party of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Soon the questioning turned into a physical attack, as the RSS members hit Swami repeatedly on the head and back. They then dragged him to the police station, where they filed a report against him. He was held for questioning until that evening, when police allowed him to return home. After arriving at his home, Swami fell unconscious and was rushed to the hospital, where he went into a coma. A few days later, he suffered a stroke that affected one side of his body.
Whatever It Takes
For Ahmed, Palani and Swami, the Bible is worth prison and beatings.
While some countries still ban the Bible, requiring us to smuggle God’s Word in a variety of ways and in a variety of formats, other countries, such as India, Nigeria and China, allow in-country printing. Still, the in-country printing does not come close to meeting the growing need.
As we learn of our persecuted brothers and sisters like Ahmed, Palani and Swami, we are challenged to ask ourselves, “What’s a Bible worth to me?”
The Voice of the Martyrs, October 2017, page 12