AS PAUL MADE HIS FINALAPPEAL TO HIS DEAR SON INTHE LORD,HE CALLS HIM TOBE STRONG,TO PERSEVERE,AND BE SET APART.

These words arelikely from an old Christian hymn because of the rhythmicform of the verses. Paul’s primary purpose is to give Timothythe reassurance of future victory, a reassurance we all need.His assurance of this victory comes from the very nature of God, His faithfulness. Even when we are faithless, Godcannot deny His own nature; He remains faithful.

ON MY RECENT TRIP TO SEASIA I WAS CONSTANTLYREMINDED WHAT IT MEANS TOSUFFER FOR THE GOSPEL.

As I read the carefully laid out instructions to Timothy Iwonder; how many times would they have sung that hymn?How often did they embrace one another in tears at the sightof a fellow believer? How often did they simply pray for oneanother? Timothy already knew of God’s faithfulness and hisnature, Paul was not instructing him, but offering reassuranceas a dearly loved brother.With all the resistance that would come their way, there is nodoubt these men did their tasks by the grace of God. Whenwe read about them it is easy to forget they are human - withneeds, responsibilities, families, and feelings of pain andrejection. Fellowship and prayer are vital for the Christian,especially when living in such a hostile world.I have made many trips to Vietnam to bring Bibles to thepersecuted Church. However, on a recent trip we wereblessed to carry over 1,700 Hmong Bibles. I wish you couldsee the faces of the pastors and students as they expressedtheir gratitude. One of the pastors thanked us for taking therisk, time and money to help them. I assured them that it wasour pleasure. In reality, they are the ones taking the risk. Asfast as we unloaded the goods, they boxed them to take upnorth to a hostile environment. If they were caught theywould endure prison or worse. This level of persecution issomething we Americans have not experienced—yet.

THESE PILLARS OF THE FAITHNEVER CEASE TO AMAZE ME.

They are bold, uncompromising soldiers of the cross. Theyhave little in the way of wealth; however they understand thepriorities of God, mainly His Church. I’m not talking about abuilding, but rather His people, His work—plantingchurches, encouraging one another, praying together andreaching the lost. They remind me of Paul. They are steadfast,bold and yet human in every way, relying on one another forencouragement, prayer and maybe just singing an old hymntogether. Their commitment inspires me, and I find myself refreshed when I am around them.In 2 Timothy 1:15-18 Paul finds encouragement andrefreshment from a man we seldom give much thought to,

“If we died with him,we will also live with him;if weendure we will also reign with him.If we disown him,hewill also disown us;if we are faithless,he will remainfaithful,for he cannot disown himself.”2 Timothy 2:11-13

HERE IS A TRUSTWORTHY SAYING:

Onesiphorus. In Paul’s final hours, just before his execution,when all of Asia had abandoned him, a man of unusualcharacter and grit appears. Onesiphorous searches long andhard to find Paul, simply to bring refreshment. He realizes theimportance of being beside his brother. I’m reminded of ourLord in His final hours. How alone he must have felt in theGarden, carrying the burden of what he knew was to come,and when he needed the disciples most, they slept.The former is a reminder what we should do, and the latter,what not to do. God made us to fellowship, to encourage andpray for each other, and to bear one another’s burdens.Persecution sometimes refines us in this area by drawingbelievers close together. Those we serve in persecutedcountries know how much they need each other. It is God’splan. We know when we pick up our cross and follow Christthere will be persecution; that is a promise. Persecution doesnot excuse us from our God given responsibility to be thechurch.While in Vietnam, the Lord brought two other pastors to me.One came to me with tears in his eyes and pleaded with me,“Could you please come and pray for our people?” It wasthen that God revealed something profound to me, that Ihave taken for granted. Living in America we becomecomfortable, complacent, and independent—partly becausewe are taught to be independent from our youth. We fail torealize that while we strive to be independent, we often fail tooffer fellowship, prayer and refreshment to those we love.These are people that need us, and we need them too!

TO THIS DAY HIS WORDS ARERIVETED IN MY MIND,“COULDYOU PLEASE COME AND PRAYFOR OUR PEOPLE?”

People need and desireour fellowship. Bringing Bibles, food, clothing, seeds andother supplies is important, however prayer is more vital as itallows us to commune with God and follow His example tofellowship with His people. Prayer is so vital to these precioussouls, because they have seen God answer the prayers of thesaints. They depend on one another in every way. I wish wecould grasp that idea in the American church. Perhaps thesehumble, poor, persecuted saints we serve around the globecould teach us something about being the church.

I WAS REMINDED HOWPRAYER WORKS BY A PRAYERWARRIOR IN OUR LOCALCHURCH.

Cheri has traveled with us before and hasbeen a refreshment to many, myself included. She shared astory out of the book of Esther about obedience, prayer andtrust. Haman was promoted and used his position to bringdeath and destruction, and elevated himself so all the kingsofficials would bow before him. Mordecai, as a Jew, couldnot bow. When Haman found out he took out his anger onthe Jewish people. It was Haman’s wish to slaughter all the Jewish people, but the Jews took the opportunity to pray andfast, seeking the Lord for deliverance.

I HAVE SEEN A SIMILAR EVILAND HATE COMING FROM THEMILITARY OF BURMA.

People are beingviciously raped, tortured and killed. The story in Esthercauses me to wonder what would happen if God’s peoplewere to pray? When I mean pray, I mean millions of believerspraying, fasting, and listening to God’s call for action. Whatwould God do? We know Haman found himself hangingfrom the gallow he had built for Mordecai, God’s peoplewere delivered and no one was killed. God does not give us aspirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind, we arenot to hold hatred in our heart, but are to forgive as Christhas forgiven us.I saw an example of this when visiting children in refugeecamps. After hearing their stories, all 12 of us in the groupprayed for them. These dear children have lost everything.Their parents were killed, their homes destroyed, and manywitnessed the rape, torture and killing of their family. Yet,through all the pain and tears, they harbor no hatred towards