Chinese believers face torture and possible death sentence

The following is one story from the March 14th news & prayer update from Voice of the Martyrswww.persecution.comPlease be aware that this story makes specific refrences to different methods of torture.Prayers for March 14, 2006From The Voice of the Martyrs CHINA (China Aid Association)The first trial of the 17 top leaders from a Chinese religious group ended March 3rd, after three-and-a-half days. Inhumane torture, including sexual abuse, was revealed by some defendants during the court trial. CAA learned from a government source that only one relative of each of the 17 defendants was allowed to attend the hearing. One defendant, Mr. Xu, immediately revoked his so-called "confession papers" as soon as the court finished reading the prosecutors interrogation records. He said the listed confessions were signed under enormous torture, when "I would rather die than live." He was hung in the air for five hours after sleep deprivation for five days and nights. Some self-claimed "torture experts" tied his fingers, toes and genitals with wire and then connected the wire to electricity. One defendant was hung in the air with a very thick blanket and then electrified after he got extremely wet. Mr. Xu's daughter, Ms. Xu Baiyin, described her father as "calm and peaceful." "In his final remark, he urged everyone in the court to believe in Jesus; otherwise, they will one day face eternal judgments in heaven. He also urged his children to continue to follow Christ without fear." Government sources have said Xu and at least three co-defendants will be sentenced to death. Give thanks to God for these faithful followers of Jesus who are trusting in His power to sustain them. Pray that as Christians around the world petition the Chinese government and lift these believers in fervent prayer, God will have mercy on them, not only sparing their lives, but also releasing them from further prison time. Pray their witness of calm peace will move the hearts of all who watched them during this trial and authorities will come to know the One who is seeking them before it is too late.

makes you wonder are we of the same substance and Faith as these brethren here who suffered so? Lord try us that we may know what manner of Christian we are, real or fake.AMEN

I would encourage everyone to read hebrews 11 again, Leonard Ravenhill read it everyday with tears. "accepting not deliverance" are we going to follow in the steps of these dear saints that have gone through suffering for the kingdom of God. This life is so short and eternity awaits.who in their right mind would endure such horrors for the sake of His glory excpet those who have His Spirit? we live in a world in which appearances matter so much so many give off the perception of being Christians and yet are not. The fire which is coming will expose us for what we are. i pray that our substance be not foiund to be lacking.

Just....man....Praise God for their lives.Puts myself to shame. It is so easy to stand up, preach, and talk to everyone after the service. So pampered compared to these saints.....may God be with them always and may His name be glorified through their obedience.

such trials and even more will be upon us like a flood. then we will know which ones are for God wholly and which are not. Let us not be found among the ranks of the latter.

The Chinese brethren have encouraged my heart so many times. There's a very compelling video I've mentioned several times that should be seen and it's sold on the VOM website. It's available for free at Chinese followers of Jesus. The Seeds of Blood has testimonies of many who have been severely persecuted and the thing that struck me was the incredible joy that had in the midst of suffering.There's a work of the Spirit that can be done in no way other than suffering. Once we're sold out to Jesus, persecution will come. If we're not undergoing persecution, then are we really sold out to Jesus? (2 Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.) That's a question we should bring before the Lord and it's one he's more than willing to answer.

Greetings beloved of the Lord.If we're not undergoing persecution, then are we really sold out to Jesus? I think that is a fair and honest question to ask ourselves. I think of this also...be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fearI think of that verse and have to recognise that, no one ever asks me this question. It could be that the scripture has in mind the situation where a believer is being threatened with death?I want to check out that video, thanks.God be with us brothers, and try us, and prove us according to his wisdom and time.

From the video's websitehow did the number of Chinese Christians increase from 700,000 in 1949 to approximate 70 million today despite communist control?Wow.Praise......God. Absolutely wonderfull.

This is where the rubber meets the road....As Paul Ravenhill told me one time 'here in America we're missing it'. And that we are!! We try to decide what to eat each day with our refrigerators full of food ....and nothing we have sounds good so we order out :-( Missing it?? I wonder if we see the target?

bro J-BirdI think if we would take some stands as a church we wouldn'nt have to see it get that far in our generation. I really don't want to have to endure that kind of torture just so others can see if I'm real or not. I KNOW I'm real. I don't want my kids to go through that either. Lets take PREVENTIVE measures. Thats why our forefathers gave their blood, so we would'nt have to endure these kind of torments.the thing is though the vast majority or people aren't real and we need that fire to come through and consume those that aren't real so we can set about the Lord's business. your flesh was talking when you said that you didn't want to go through the fire. What does your inner man say. i say this because the nature of the flesh is such that it doesn't want to endure anything strenuous. my flesh says the same thing believe me but my spirit man says "bring the fire!" and that voice is getting louder and louder and i'm finding i feel a greater desire to endure what is to come and look forward to it. i'm no masochist or anything twisted like that but ultimately the Lord is glorified in our trials and tribulation. It is not by the strength of our outer man (flesh) by which we endure trial but by the Lord's own Holy Spirit. This fire reveals GOd's ultimate triumph over the the principalities and power of the air who use violence and all manner of things to further their cause. they let it all loose on the cross and the preceding events.if we are unafraid to endure the pain and death which they will surely bring upon us then what more can they scare us with? nothing, the game is over, Christ wins.i look forward to it because Christ suffered for our sake and if He suffered so then why should we think ourselves or hope ourselves to be exempt from such? The Lord has shown me we're past the stage of dogding this bullet, we have been too busy to repent proactively so now we will get a lashing from God and those that will will surely repent reactively. check this latter portion of Hebrews 1132 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40 God having provided F40 some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.if the Lord has it in His plan that i must suffer (He has shown me HE does) or that my daughter would suffer for His name's sake then let the Lord's will not my own be done. She is His child first. Christ told us that no servant is greater than his master and if even He suffered, we too can expect the same and worse. our forefathers didn't die so we wouldn't have to endure suffering but they died for the Faith as an example to us of the cost of the Faith, persecution even unto death. The first time the Lord laid suffering on me i told Him what i thought of that idea. He didn't respond. i had been under the impression (hence my being repulsed by the whole idea) that He expected me to suffer of my own strength ( i was wrong, dead wrong and had to repent of that) but in time by His grace i realized the truth. It is not by my might that these things will be endured, but the the Lord's own Holy Spirit who will so empower us as to endure. when that dawned on me i had 2 words, BRING IT!bless the Lord that it is His grace that allows us to endure coz you know there is no way we're about to freely give up our beautiful, supple bodies to suffering for His sake...

brethren the Lord also showed me this thing i feel led to share. if God in heaven thought the matter of our salvation to be of such gravity and magnitude that it required the blood of Jesus, who is without sin and Himself is God, then you best believe that we should be aware of this and take the matter of our salvation with equal seriousness even unto the shedding of our own blood for His glory's sake. if Christ suffered who are we to think we don't need to?

IRONMAN....I'm with you...the fact is we dont want to suffer! We will spend 1-18 hours a week or more typing on the forum debating, but have we spent 1-18 hours in the streets for Jesus??? OR have we spent 1-18 hours interceeding for the lost?? We wont suffer behind a computer. We will excercise 4-7 hours a week. We watch tv 1-20 hours a week. Please dont come back and post a justification for the hours mentioned. The question is HOW BADLY TO WE WANT TO BE LIKE JESUS!!!?

Aw, don't worry guys. We just need to send them a copy of "Your Best Life Now". Joel can make everything feel better.

Greetings beloved of the Lord.I was wondering if there isn't another issue of importance here that we may not realise - the issue of compassion for those who are suffering now, especially for those who are called by His name.According to The American heritage Dictionary compassion isDeep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it.I was reading a story today about a believer that lost his arm after being attacked after he refused to stop selling Christian literature. It was sort of strange but as I read and re-read this story from time to time I noticed that my arm was hurting - especially when I would look at the picture of him, missing his arm.Now, those feelings may have been nothing, just some sort of pyschological response, but could it be a hint of what we all need if we are going to drink our share of the cup of suffering that God has for us? Don't we all need to be more aware of the suffering of our brothers and sisters in chains and under oppression before we are going to be willing to suffer with them, to come along side them and help them bear the load?And not just them, but even the lost? Beloved, we need compassion.Ohh brothers, what if we truely had hearts full of compassion for our less fortunate brethren, wouldn't we want to share our abundance with them? Wouldn't we want to pray with them and for them? we might even want to sacrifice meals on their behalf.Certainly this would hold true for those who do not know Christ! How much more would our hearts yearn to see thier life-starved souls nourished by Him Who is eternal life! Ohh the thought, that we can taste of His precious gifts and not want to lavish them upon all we see! Do we lack compassion? The children of Him Who through His own passion has made us rich forever?Ohh brothers, may God enlarge our hearts!

Aw, don't worry guys. We just need to send them a copy of "Your Best Life Now". Joel can make everything feel better.Very good ;-)

bro BrentwIRONMAN....I'm with you...the fact is we dont want to suffer! We will spend 1-18 hours a week or more typing on the forum debating, but have we spent 1-18 hours in the streets for Jesus??? OR have we spent 1-18 hours interceeding for the lost?? We wont suffer behind a computer. We will excercise 4-7 hours a week. We watch tv 1-20 hours a week. Please dont come back and post a justification for the hours mentioned. The question is HOW BADLY TO WE WANT TO BE LIKE JESUS!!!? indeed how badly do we want to be like Him? the time is indeed fast-coming when we'll have to walk the walk and put it all on the line.may our courage not be found lacking.AMEN.