Guys, have any of you ever had a missionary from the middle east speak at your church?

We had a missionary today and his story had been heavy on my mind all day.

His last place was in Libya,,, he was arrested and held for 2 days before he was released because they were scared because he was an American.

He had some Muslim people he was teaching the gospel to and they were arrested and tortured… said they were whipped with barb wire and acid poured on them.

One man completely disappeared and he thinks they might have killed him..
It really hit me in the feels when he started crying…


Usually we stream our services online,, but this one was not because of the sensitive operations that he does.
He’s going to Syria next month.
Syria is worse than Libya.
They recently overthrew their government , unknown right now if that’s a good thing or bad thing yet.
The whole Isis thing regrouping there is concerning.

We really have no concept on persecution here in America.. we are soft compared to other Christians in other places.

But it's a religion of peace.

Sharia Law commands Muslims to kill anyone who leaves Islam. It also permits you to do terrible things to non Muslims. I can reasonably say that preacher is very likely not a coward.

Islam should not be permitted to spread or to exist at all in the West.

Keith

Syria was much better before America/Israel screwed it up. I knew a pair of Brothers who were missionaries to Syria while Bashar al-Assad was president, Christianity was accepted then, house churches common. You weren't supposed to try and convert Muslims but it was more a slap on the wrist if you were caught. After Deposing Bashar al-Assad the country went to ISIS and is no longer safe, many of the Christians were killed, their daughters raped and killed or forcibly "converted" and sold into what amounts to sex slavery. All that for what? So a neighboring country could slightly expand it's borders, disgraceful.

This is exactly why without question the USA is the greatest country on earth! It’s unbelievable the idiots here in this country that want to destroy it . The guy that spoke at your service will one day disappear also if he keeps putting himself in situations he has no control over .

We've had a few missionaries speak. I figure if you go over there as a missionary you might as well accept that your end could be pretty soon.

I would think that he knows this and accepts it… faith over fear

Had an Uncle and Aunt that were missionaries in Honduras in the 80s at the height of the goings on next door in Nicaragua and El Salvador. At one point they were working the border areas assisting local pastors set and prepare for a time they would have to stand alone against the Sandinistas. Uncle Ted and Aunt Ann were on a day to day basis at that time and kept a bag packed at all times ready to leave on a moments notice.

I will guess you don't know the boundaries that God established for the Israelites. They have some more expansion coming and promised by God.

they do not accept christ.Iguess for you that does not matter.

I guess they don't want some other religion polluting their population, just like we don't want Sharia law here!

How many times have we went and over threw a middle Eastern dictator for give the People " democracy" and it actually worked ? Seriously , if you just look at the history and the make up of how a lot do these countries societies work ... A semi benevolent dictator is about the best you could hope for . Because other wise everyone is just gonna vote for there sect or tribe to they can get what's good for THEM not the whole..then in fighting occurs, well it probably already had been for centuries,

Lotta these place need to have a bit of a crazy guy who doesn't really care abou and will kill off either group when they get a lil too much.

Also if you look into it ......many times right when these oil Rick counties go to nationalize their resources...THEY NEED DEMOCRACY!

Wish we'd drop the ba sometimes and just be honest and say we're coming to take your stuff and you can get down or lay down . Make it easy and you'll get benefits, don't and you'll be in the stone age via a proxy war and a terrorist group we helped build or something

It would seem that going places to spread Christianity when the liklihood of dieing there is high would not be sensible!

That pastor may be no coward, or is acting out a little to gain sympathy and donations, or is just that dumb to think he can change anything in that region...dead doesn't help anyone...sorry but I'm that cynical....

Sounds like he didn't do a whole lot of good there.

"whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me"

"He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him"

You think the people who've rejected God and are killing or enabling the killing of Christians are the people of God?

It was Israeli drones that were used to kill and displace Christians by Azerbaijan, Israel knew those arms would be used against Armenian Christians and sold them anyways. Gods people are being persecuted and your justifying horrific actions of those who reject God because of Geography.

I thought ALL people were God's people...

Absolutely not! None of us have been, or are, God's people since the fall. We are all condemned, were it not for His
prevenient grace that called us to Him none of us could even call upon God.

I read about a guy who was killed for his preaching; he was a missionary of sorts. The ones who killed him thought it would be the end of him; turns out it was just the beginning. Tortured terribly before they killed him, he rose from the dead and left with a message of "go into all the world & preach the gospel." All but one of his 11 closest followers would become martyrs.
Missionaries in dangerous places know the place is dangerous before they go. They don't go because its safe, they go because its their calling to try and reach the lost who are on their way to eternal fire.

Liberalism is such a nasty virus; too bad there's not a vaccine.

I have listened to lots of missionaries visiting the churches I’ve been part of over my lifetime. Some missionaries had extreme challenges like you mention, others not too much resistance and seemed to be fairly well accepted. Just depended on where they were doing their work of course.
One thing that always struck me is as soon as the missionary was done speaking at our church, there would be a “special collection” just to specifically support that missionary’s cause. I didn’t always contribute. Hard for me to give to something abroad like that when our own little church right here could have used a little extra from me. So I typically refrained from donating to the missionary cause and just put a little extra in my own church’s donations. It was a little closer to my heart.
Jim