curlymae29
11-14-2003, 12:23 AM
Persecuted Christians Remembered Nov. 9-17
By Greg Musselman
Courtesy Voice of the Martyrs, Canada
For CWNews
November 7, 2003
November 9 begins the worldwide observance of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. The time of prayer will last through November 17. It's a time for Christians worldwide to lift up their voices on behalf of those who suffer for their faith.
CBN.com – November 9 begins the worldwide observance of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. The time of prayer will last through November 17.
It's a time for Christians worldwide to lift up their voices on behalf of those who suffer for their faith.
This is the story of three people who have paid a high price for following Christ.
Nvou Dada, a Nigerian Christian, has a beautiful smile.
But behind that smile is a great deal of pain. After her husband had been injured by a machete, and her father-in-law killed in a previous attack on their village, militant Muslims, some of whom she knew from the area, returned. They forced their way into the house, she says because she had refused to become a Muslim.
At the time of the attack, Nvou was seven months pregnant. She said, "They shot me in the hand, in the stomach and when I tried to escape, they shot me in the leg and I fell down."
Up until that point, Nvou had been carrying her two-year-old son on her back.
She said, "I don't know when my child fell off my back. After shooting me, they set the house on fire, so while crawling out of the house I got a burned hand and the child was burned in the fire."
Nvou was taken to the hospital in critical condition, she would later learn that her unborn baby died from the gunshot wound.
She said, "I've handed everything over to God, and pray that God will take care of me. Despite all that's happened, I will continue to work for God, and even if I'm killed, it will mean I was killed in the name of God."
Ibed, a Palestinian Christian, converted from Islam to Christianity in 1995. He was drawn by the love of Christians he had met, and challenged by a teaching very different from what he had learned in his Muslim village.
Ibed began to love everyone as he shared his new faith with family and friends. In the weeks following his conversion he was arrested nearly a dozen times-and eventually was jailed, beaten and tortured. They hung him up in the air and forced him to go without sleep for days.
He said, "They tried to sit me down on the leg of a chair. They tried to sit me down on a bottle. It was hard. I cannot describe it. And it makes me - like -cry - when I remember that situation. But I feel that this suffer[ing] is a privilege from the Lord, because I suffer for Him."
Ibed was told that if he didn't renounce his Christian faith, the sentence would be death. Ibed cannot return to his home and family. For two years, a relative of Ibed's, another believer, has hidden him in this bomb shelter. He sleeps on the concrete floor, knowing if he is caught by the wrong people, he would be killed.
Nelly Trevillo Tovar and her husband Cornelio had been married 22 years. They were walking home after a Saturday evening service, when suddenly two men from a terrorist group leaped from the shadows. Gunfire rang out in the night.
She said, "I said, 'God why is this happening!? Please don't let this happen!'"
But Pastor Cornelio died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.
She said, "I lifted my eyes and my hands to heaven and I said 'I want Your will'. This is when the Lord helped me to know when it is necessary for one seed to fall into the ground in order for the Gospel to be spread. My husband had the spirit of a martyr, and I know he was ready to give his life for the Gospel."
Before this, Pastor Cornelio and Nelly spent several days each week evangelizing in rural areas. Many farmers and farm workers were led to Christ as a result of their efforts, and because of their witness, souls joined the church rather than the terrorist group that later killed Pastor Cornelio.
Churches worldwide are holding Special Prayer Services for the Persecuted Church from Nov. 9 through Nov. 17.
For more information about the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, visit their web site.
http://www.persecution.com/
Visit the Voice of the Martyrs Web site.
By Greg Musselman
Courtesy Voice of the Martyrs, Canada
For CWNews
November 7, 2003
November 9 begins the worldwide observance of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. The time of prayer will last through November 17. It's a time for Christians worldwide to lift up their voices on behalf of those who suffer for their faith.
CBN.com – November 9 begins the worldwide observance of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. The time of prayer will last through November 17.
It's a time for Christians worldwide to lift up their voices on behalf of those who suffer for their faith.
This is the story of three people who have paid a high price for following Christ.
Nvou Dada, a Nigerian Christian, has a beautiful smile.
But behind that smile is a great deal of pain. After her husband had been injured by a machete, and her father-in-law killed in a previous attack on their village, militant Muslims, some of whom she knew from the area, returned. They forced their way into the house, she says because she had refused to become a Muslim.
At the time of the attack, Nvou was seven months pregnant. She said, "They shot me in the hand, in the stomach and when I tried to escape, they shot me in the leg and I fell down."
Up until that point, Nvou had been carrying her two-year-old son on her back.
She said, "I don't know when my child fell off my back. After shooting me, they set the house on fire, so while crawling out of the house I got a burned hand and the child was burned in the fire."
Nvou was taken to the hospital in critical condition, she would later learn that her unborn baby died from the gunshot wound.
She said, "I've handed everything over to God, and pray that God will take care of me. Despite all that's happened, I will continue to work for God, and even if I'm killed, it will mean I was killed in the name of God."
Ibed, a Palestinian Christian, converted from Islam to Christianity in 1995. He was drawn by the love of Christians he had met, and challenged by a teaching very different from what he had learned in his Muslim village.
Ibed began to love everyone as he shared his new faith with family and friends. In the weeks following his conversion he was arrested nearly a dozen times-and eventually was jailed, beaten and tortured. They hung him up in the air and forced him to go without sleep for days.
He said, "They tried to sit me down on the leg of a chair. They tried to sit me down on a bottle. It was hard. I cannot describe it. And it makes me - like -cry - when I remember that situation. But I feel that this suffer[ing] is a privilege from the Lord, because I suffer for Him."
Ibed was told that if he didn't renounce his Christian faith, the sentence would be death. Ibed cannot return to his home and family. For two years, a relative of Ibed's, another believer, has hidden him in this bomb shelter. He sleeps on the concrete floor, knowing if he is caught by the wrong people, he would be killed.
Nelly Trevillo Tovar and her husband Cornelio had been married 22 years. They were walking home after a Saturday evening service, when suddenly two men from a terrorist group leaped from the shadows. Gunfire rang out in the night.
She said, "I said, 'God why is this happening!? Please don't let this happen!'"
But Pastor Cornelio died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.
She said, "I lifted my eyes and my hands to heaven and I said 'I want Your will'. This is when the Lord helped me to know when it is necessary for one seed to fall into the ground in order for the Gospel to be spread. My husband had the spirit of a martyr, and I know he was ready to give his life for the Gospel."
Before this, Pastor Cornelio and Nelly spent several days each week evangelizing in rural areas. Many farmers and farm workers were led to Christ as a result of their efforts, and because of their witness, souls joined the church rather than the terrorist group that later killed Pastor Cornelio.
Churches worldwide are holding Special Prayer Services for the Persecuted Church from Nov. 9 through Nov. 17.
For more information about the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, visit their web site.
http://www.persecution.com/
Visit the Voice of the Martyrs Web site.