Real faith

Persecution. It comes in many forms. For many of us who live in Western cultures (what does that even really mean….Europe is considered Western but it’s east of the US, north of Africa….Western from what is the question….anyway…) persecution for faith boils down to words, criticism of belief, and arguments. But for so many other people it comes in the form of violence. It makes me sick, physically ill at times to think about people that are being physically persecuted for their faith, no matter what it is.

We thought we were fortunate here in Senegal to only see emotional persecution and minor physical (like not feeding someone) persecution. We’ve seen people steal from believers, lie to their faces, call them names and shun them. But we’d not seen physical violence. Until yesterday.

It was supposed to be a normal trip to the village but when we arrived we knew something was different. A young believer we work with, who is smarter than anyone I’ve met here, more intuitive and who has a natural understanding of some really hard spiritual topics, came up and we could immediately see that something was wrong. He had rope burns on his arms and the gaping wound that was almost completely healed on his leg from two months ago was open and bleeding. It turns out that his brothers had tied him up and tried to drag him around. He fought back and ended up not be drug, but still received wounds. They hit his leg and reopened his almost healed wound. They were mad that he was a follower of Jesus and they thought he was being disrespectful to their father.

A little back-story….”Cassius” has worked for his dad for several years, saving up money so that he could go to Europe and make the real cash. He trusted his dad with his money but after he accepted Christ, his dad refused to give him his money. We’re talking quite a sum of money. Then “Cassius” bought some oil that he was going to send up to Dakar and sell. He put it at the shop and the next day it was gone with no explanation. When he went to his dad to ask about where his oil was, his brother got angry.  Through all of this, “Cassius” has remained faithful, forgiving and respectful of his father and brothers. He’s turned his cheek, figured out ways to get other money, and continued to work every day for his dad.  His brothers sleep in the hut that “Cassius” owns and he refuses to kick them out.

We left “Cassius” last night in the village after begging him to come with us. He said he’d come into town today. When he showed up today, he had new injuries. They tied him up again and beat him telling him to renounce Christ. But he refused. He probably has a broken rib. When we asked him to stay tonight in town, he said that he needed to go back to show them that he wasn’t afraid. To show them that they could physically hurt him, but he would not turn away from Christ.

This response amazes me, makes me wonder. We all say that we would stand for Christ no matter what, but do we actually mean that? If I was tied up, beaten within inches of our lives, would be still cling to Christ? Or would I give him up to stop the pain? Would I continue to socialize with the people that did this to me? Would I continue to allow them to live in my house and feed them with my money? How long could I turn the other cheek? Would I be capable of this kind of real faith?

“Cassius” went back to his village a few hours ago and I’m afraid for him. I’m afraid that we won’t see him again. He says that they can’t kill him because the village doesn’t agree with how his family is treating him, but that won’t prevent them from trying to get as close as they can.  Please pray with me today. Pray for protection for “Cassius” tonight. Pray that his family’s hearts are softened. Pray that they don’t harm him tonight, but if they do that he continues to have the peace of Christ overwhelm him. Pray for his strength, for his endurance, and for Christ’s love to engulf him. Pray that he continues to seek out God and that he hears clear direction on where to go next. And pray for us, that we can be the fellow followers that we need to be, to support him without creating dependency, to love the people that are doing this to him and to continue to seek God’s direction as this is all new to us.

But more than anything pray that “Cassius’” family will come to know the Christ that has changed his life so that as a family they can worship God together.