While checking out the latest news from Facebook and Twitter this morning, I noticed all the news about Afghan Christian Said Musa.  Musa has been a Christian for eight years, and is now facing death for his conversion to Christianity from Islam.  According to the law in Afghanistan, converting from Islam to Christianity is punishable by death.  Musa was arrested after appearing in a video showing Afghan Christians being baptized by westerners.  So now, our brother in Christ, who has seen the light and shared it with the world around him, is in very real, very serious, and apparently very imminent danger of losing his life for his faith.  Somehow, after reading about all this, I couldn’t bring myself to do Spanish homework or work on a paper or anything else.  A couple of weeks ago, Musa was told that unless he converted back to Islam, he would hang until he died.

Did we miss the part in the Bible where Jesus said that we would be HATED for His name?  We think that those things don’t happen to us.  Said Musa is a 45 year old man, father of six children, with one child who cannot speak and has mental problems.  He has worked for the Red Cross most of his life.  What makes him different from me, from my roommate, my cousin, my friend?  He lives in a country that doesn’t tolerate faith in Jesus Christ.  My pastor once said that every day thousands of people are dying for the Gospel.  Why?  Because every day, hundreds of thousands of people die without the Gospel.  Because every day, millions and billions of people live their lives, unaware of the Gospel and of the condemnation that is on each and every one of those that doesn’t know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.  And we sit in our nice sofas, we sit and watch our HD TV’s and think that showing up to church on Sunday is enough.  We think that someone else will pray for those people, or financially support missions.  We think someone else will go.  That’s not good enough.  And that is NOT the Gospel.  Jesus called us to go to Jerusalem, our hometown and area, and to Judea, our country, and our surrounding areas.  But He also called us to Samaria, to the ends of the earth.  In case our churches have missed the memo…the ends of the earth is not 30 minutes down the road.  It’s thousands of miles away, in countries where there is a need for Jesus, a need for Scripture, for God.

I’m being led back to Virginia this summer to serve.  Not because I want to be known, or because I want all the glory, but because I know, and I believe that God has called me to serve at Camp Concord again, and because there is more to teach and to share with the people in the area.  One day, I will go out of this country to share the Gospel.  It may be to Afghanistan.  It may be to Africa or Asia or Europe.  I don’t know where, but I know I will.  And I know that I will face persecution, not just from those in the country, but from those here.  There will be people that tell me not to go.  Too bad.  I’m not asking permission.  I’m responding to the Gospel, because that is what God has called me and what His love COMPELS me to do.

Said Musa made the decision to be a witness for Christ in the country with the most severe persecution of Christians in the world, and in a country where less than 1% of people know Jesus.  Again, millions and millions of people that will die and spend eternity in hell.  He wrote this letter, in broken English, addressed to the international church, U.S. President Barack Obama, and leaders worldwide:

“To the international church of world and to the President Brother Barak Obama President of the United States and to the head of ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] in Afghanistan!

“My name is Said Musa 45 years old. I have been working since 15 years as a Physiotherapist in I-C-R-C [International Committee of the Red Cross] orthopaedic centre in Kabul, Afghanistan. About four and a half months before by security force of Afghanistan I [was] captured, due to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Saviour of the world. One person ____ he is spy of ____ [a] leader in Afghanistan. He told about me [to] the Government’s officials, ‘He’s believer, He’s head of church in ____’. He showed my house to the security force. Since that time I am in jail. The authority and prisoners in jail did many bad behaviour with me about my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. For example, they did sexual things with me, beat me by wood, by hands, by legs, put some things on my head, mocked me ‘He’s Jesus Christ’, spat on me, nobody let me for sleep night and day. Every person spat on me and beat me. Also the prosecutor wrote something wrong against me. He told from himself something wrong against me on my file.

“He is stimulating every day the prisoners against me, ‘He is also in jail due to spy for Iran country’, to reveal the church in Kabul. I’m in a very and very bad condition in the jail.

“I agree with long imprisonment about my faith even for long life. Because I’m the sinnest person in the world. Because sometimes they treated for died I refuse my faith due to died. Sometimes I tolerate the persecution but immediately I acknowledge my sin before Lord Jesus Christ: ‘Don’t refuse me before your holy angels and before your Father.’ Because I am very very weak and sinful man.

“Nobody could accept my defender before the court. If I say I am a Christian man he immediately spat on me and abuse me and mock me! I am alone between 400 handlers of terrible values in the jail like a sheep. Please, please, for the sake of Lord Jesus Christ help me. Please send a person who should supervise my document and my file, what I said in it. My prosecutor has told something wrong to the judge because he asked [for] money but I refused his request. Please, please you should transfer me from this jail to a jail that supervises the believers. I also agree with died on cross of my pride. I also agree with the sacrifice [of] my life in public, I will tell the faith in Lord Jesus Christ son of God and other believers will take courage and be strong in their faith. Hundred percent I am stable to my word. I have family of seven – one wife, three daughters and three sons. My big son [is] about eight years old. One of my daughters can’t speak, she has some mental problems.

“This is a request from me to all over the world, people please help me. I could not have any person to help. For [the] sake [of] Lord Jesus Christ please pray and immediately help me and rescue me from this jail. Otherwise, they will kill me, because I know they’re very very very cruel and hard hearted!

“Your destitute brother in the world.

“Please my English writing is not enough good. If I did some mistake please forgive me! From Kabul Provincial jail.”

It’s time to step up and move out of our comfort zone.  Whether that be going across the world and making disciples, or sitting down in the cafeteria with someone new, it’s time to move.  Stop thinking that we are ok where we’re at.  Until Christ returns, we should NEVER settle.  We should never be content in mediocrity and assuming that someone else will do the work that God has called us all to.  We are the body of Christ….it’s time to rise up, unite, and start acting like it.  It’s time to be a part of a revolution that will change this world forever.  I know for me it’s easy to get caught up in the everyday, but I am intentionally seeking ways to influence my community for Christ and to get plugged into missions and into my church.

Jesus is the only hope for this world.  If we don’t live our lives in a way that communicates that, and don’t verbally share it…this world is lost.

Romans 10:14–“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?

God bless,

Neal