Sharing His Testimony
Peter Paul asked the prison leader if he could speak to the other prisoners, and when permission was granted, he stood up and shared his testimony of God’s work in his life. He preached about giving glory to God in every circumstance. “Wherever we are,” he told his fellow inmates, “we should give glory to God – when we are facing trials and temptations, when we are having all the good things, also – all the time, we should give glory to God.” After his message, several inmates sought him out and asked to pray with him. Voice of Martyrs (VOM) co-workers were able to hire a lawyer to represent Peter Paul and provided funds to bail him out of jail.
Life After Jail
So, it was that after almost a week in jail, he was released on a Saturday night. We sat down with him and Nirmala over steaming cups of tea on Sunday morning. Their two beautiful children were still sleepy-eyed and not quite awake. They had no place to go because during the week Peter Paul was in jail, their landlord decided his family was too much trouble and that, as long as they lived in his house, it was possible the mob would come back to ransack it again, or even burn it down. He didn’t want to risk his property, so he evicted Nirmala and the children while Peter Paul was in jail. Though Peter Paul was out on bail, the charges against him were still pending, and there was a significant chance that he would go back to jail.
As he and Nirmala sat with us and sipped tea, the clothes they wore were the total of everything they owned in the world – the family’s earthly possessions had been destroyed and they had no home to go back to; they weren’t sure where they would sleep that night; and, yet, when we asked Peter Paul how we could pray for them, he didn’t even ask for prayer for himself. He asked that we pray for his parents. “Their faith,” he said, “had been deeply shaken by seeing their son arrested and taken to jail. Could we pray that God would comfort and strengthen them?” His other request was for his ministry. He asked us to pray that he would be able to continue as an evangelist – the very work that had just cost him a week in jail, his home, and the destruction of all he owned.
“Persecution is not an accident,” he said, “it is the expectation.”
For it has been granted to you not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for Him. Philippians 1:29
Date: 20th January 2024
Martyr: Peter Paul
Location: India
Source: When Faith is Forbidden: 40 Days on the Frontlines with Persecuted Christians
Author: Todd Nettleton
Suffering Saturday 074
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