Transcript

Dr. Jessica Peck prescribes Hope for Healthy Families on American Family Radio

Hello, and welcome to the doctor Nursemama show, prescribing Hope for Healthy Families here on American Family Radio. Here's your host, professor, pediatric nurse practitioner, and mom of four, Dr. Jessica Peck.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, hey there, friends, and welcome. Welcome to my favorite part of the afternoon, getting to spend time with you, prescribing Hope for Healthy Families. If you're thinking she sounds a little different today, we are having some connection issues. So I just ask your grace as we explore the joys of live radio. We have such an important message coming to you today. And I do believe in spiritual warfare, and I do believe that there are forces at work that don't want you to hear what we're going to share today. And so if you'll just join me in prayer against that and prayer that our connection will be loud and clear, because what we're talking about today is really, really important.

We're talking about praying for persecuted Christians. And today we are talking to Todd Nettleton

We're talking about praying for persecuted Christians. And have you ever wondered how someone could describe prison or persecution even as maybe a blessing? I wonder that all the time. And for many families in America, persecution for faith feels like something that's very far removed from daily life, and yet lately, somehow, it doesn't. It seems closer to home than it has in a while. And when we listen to the voices of believers who have suffered for Christ, we find tremendous lessons of courage. And we trust that. That, And those messages of trust that speak into our own struggles. Their faith under fire reminds us that God's presence is just as real in our everyday challenges, whether that's parenting or finances or health or whatever the case may be. And it is very real to a lot of Christians around the world who are on the front lines of persecution. And today we are talking to Todd Nettleton, who is author of a book called when faith is forbidden 40 days on the Front Lines with Persecuted Christians. And he is inviting us to walk alongside believers who have endured imprisonment, violence, and hardship, yet still call their suffering sweet and wonderful, which just sounds unbelievable. And Todd has spent more than 20 years traveling to more than 30 nations, sitting face to face with believers who have risked everything for the name of Christ. And today, he's helping us to understand not only their struggles, but their joy. Todd, welcome to the show. We're so grateful to have you here today.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, thank you very much. I've been looking forward to our conversation.

Todd Nettleton is the commissioner of a fantasy football league

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, Todd, we have a lot of really serious things to talk about, but I need to get one thing settled first, because I saw in your bio that you enjoy sports, which my family enjoys Sports very much, too. They actually have a group text message called the Sports Illiterate, which I am not a part of because I only speak baseball and a little bit of football. But I understand that you are the football commissioner in your group. Is that right?

Dr. Jessica Peck: I don't know that I've ever started an interview there before, but, yes, I am the commissioner of a fantasy football league. in fact, this is our 30th season, so it's a bunch of guys I went to college with, and, now we're far enough along that some of our sons are also in the league. And so, it is. It's a way that we stay in touch every fall, and I always look forward to it. And, so far, my season's going well, so hopefully that will continue.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, that's pretty good. The reason I'm asking is because the sports literate. My family just recently sent me a reel postulating a theory that if you want to look for the best guy in any friend group, it's the Football League Commission, it's the football commissioner for the fantasy Football League. Because they said, here's the theory behind that. They have to be good communicators, they have to be good planners. They have to be calm, managing conflict and heightened emotions, and they have to be responsible with money or assigning a winner. So I know that we have the best guy in the room talk. So that made me laugh as I saw that. But really.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, I should clarify that. M. There's no money on the line in our league. So just. Just so everyone knows, there's no money on the line in our league.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, I'm glad that we've got that clear. But, you know, even though there's no money on the line, there. There is so much on the line in the world for persecuted Christians.

Reading a book as a child really inspired you and inspired your future mission

And, Todd, you've been involved in this ministry for a lot of years, and my producer actually had heard you on another show talking about how reading a book really inspired you. Reading a book as a child really inspired you and inspired your future mission. Can you tell us about that?

Dr. Jessica Peck: Yeah. One of the. One of the great blessings I have, in my spiritual walk and in my life is growing up in a Christian family. And, my. My dad was a pastor when I first was growing up. And then when I was 12 years old, we moved to the mission field. We served for four years in Papua New Guinea. but even before that, one of the things that, you know, my dad would often read to my brother and I before bed. And, so in the course of reading, he picked book books where the hero of the book was a missionary. And I very clearly remember reading Bruchko about Bruce Olson and a book called Lords of the Earth by Don Richardson that tells the story of a missionary actually on the other side of the island that Papua New guinea is on, a, missionary named Stanley Albert Dale. I still remember his name. And, if you have read that book, you know the story that ultimately Stanley Albert Dale gave his life, to reach the tribal people on that island. And those stories impacted me. I don't think I could even know at the time how much they would impact me. But just planting that seed that giving your life for Christ is a heroic thing to do, that makes you a hero. If you, go somewhere far away, if you do things that God calls you to do, that makes you a hero. And, you know, we've already talked. I'm a football fan, so, so I love heroes who can score touchdowns and throw passes. And that's great. And, and my boys have some of those heroes. but I wanted to make sure they had heroes who were also spiritual heroes that, gave, gave their lives, gave something for the cause of Christ. And so, interestingly, I read to my sons when they were at about that same age, I read Lords of the Earth to them and I read Bruchco to them also. So, tried to pass on that tradition. But, you know, who would have known when I was 8 or 9 or 10 years old and my dad was reading those stories to us that now, my job, my career, is to tell the stories of heroes of the faith around the world.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, Todd, I just believe that God used your dad to write that mission on your heart even before you knew. And what you're describing is very countercultural. You know, when we think about parents protecting their kids today, as parents, a lot of times we have the heart that we want to protect them from the bad things that are happening in the world, and we want to give them information that's scary in a developmentally appropriate way. And you don't really think of a, you know, a feel good bedtime story as a story of a Christian martyr. But the thing that strikes me about that is that really you were given from a very early age a heavenly perspective and a really powerful way to not fear death and to see that life is in the eternity. Is that the way that it came across to you?

Todd Nettleton: Yeah, I think that's very true. Just understanding that this world is not all there is. there's something More important, and if we give our life in this world, or if we sacrifice, not even our life, but if we sacrifice our comfort, if we sacrifice maybe our schedule, our plans, that's worth it, because this is not reality. The real world is what's to come. And so, I think it absolutely planted that sort of idea and that sort of seed in my life. And, you know, the interesting thing is now I've had the chance to meet and interview, people who buried their spouse because their spouse gave their life for Christ. I've had the chance to interview people who were in prison. I'll never forget last year I got the chance to interview Jeffrey Woodke, who was kidnapped in Africa. served as a gospel worker there for 20 years. He was kidnapped by a terrorist group. And for five and a half years, he was chained to a tree most of the time. Like, it was horrible conditions that he was in. and to be able to sit down with him and hear that story, and it was a hard story to hear. but one of the things he said, he said, I decided, and I think that's such an important word. I decided I was not going to hate the people who were holding me captive. Even though they were terrible to me, even though they chained me to a tree. I decided I was not going to hate them. And he said, he chose to forgive them. And he said, I would even tell them, I forgive you. I forgive you for that. He said, I would verbalize that forgiveness. Not because I felt like it, not because I had warm, fuzzy feeling. But I decided that I wasn't going to hate them and I was going to forgive them. Them. and so to have conversations with people like I read about as a kid, m. Is really just a holy privilege.

Dr. Jessica Peck: That is so powerful because I think that's the message that we need to be giving our kids. It's really easy for us to get comfortable in the comforts that we have here in America and for kids to really get involved in what we call their first world problems. But when you start reading about the persecution and hearing the stories of persecution and hear those stories of extraordinary forgiveness, you know, we've seen in the news some stories of injustice that happens and families that go to the sentencing and they express anger and that desire for vengeance and that desire for justice, and the whole world goes, yes, yes, I understand that what happened was so egregious and so horrible. You know, vengeance should happen. But it is those moments of extraordinary forgiveness that really are much more perplexing and much more powerful. You know, I'm reminded of hearing the story of Corrie Ten Boom, who was, of course, you know, in a concentration camp during World War II, and her powerful story of forgiveness of her captor. I'm sure you have stories. You shared so many stories in the book. And just recently, seeing Erica Kirk, in an extraordinary moment, forgive the man who killed her husband. How. How have you seen that? I know you've seen that in story after story. How should that transform the way that we are living here in America?

Todd Nettleton: You know, one of the things that. That I think we don't always think about as it relates to forgiveness is what an incredible witness that is to the people who are watching. and sometimes that's the persecutors. That's the people who cause the pain. They're the people you need to forgive. But when you can do that, when you can genuinely forgive, and as Christ called us to love our enemies, when you can forgive and love your enemies, that is such a witness for the gospel. Because from a human perspective, that does not even make sense. There is no way you could love the people who killed your spouse, House. That doesn't even make sense to me. So the only way it can be real is if the gospel is true, if God really is real, and if he has empowered you to forgive and empowered you to love your enemies. and so we don't always recognize what an impact, what a witness that is for Christ. When our brothers and sisters who are suffering for the gospel, forgive, and they love their enemies and their enemies are looking on and they're saying, how did you do that? How did you respond that way? Well, I can only respond that way through the power of the gospel, through the power of Christ. And it is such a testimony.

Todd Nettleton: How do you define persecution

Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, we talk about persecuted Christians. What do you think that means? How do you define persecution? Because I feel like we use that word too often in society. Just like we overuse the word love. Like we can love football or, you know, we're talking about loving God. We talk about being persecuted. I mean, that's a really common phrase for people to say. If things aren't going their way. You can say, my dad, my day is going badly. You know, I feel persecuted, or I feel personally persecuted. But that is much different than what we're seeing, Christians really suffering all over the world. How do you define persecution? When we're looking at Christians who truly are persecuted for their faith?

Todd Nettleton: You know, here at the Voice of the Martyrs, we think about persecution as somewhat of a scale. but what it boils down to is someone is forced to sacrifice something because of their faith in Christ, because they choose to be publicly identified or even privately identified with Jesus Christ. Yes, I am m a follower of Christ. Okay, that's going to cost you. And you know, persecution looks different in different parts of the world. I think of North Africa and the Muslim context. In North Africa, usually the first line of persecution is not the government, it's not the police, it's your family, it's your dad, it's your big brother. It's somebody who comes to you and says, listen, we are a Muslim family. And now you say you're not a Muslim anymore. Well, then you're not part of our family anymore. You can't live here. We're not going to help you. We're not going to do stuff for you. So that's certainly persecution. In China, it can mean getting arrested and going to jail. If you're involved in an unregistered church in, Iran, it often means arrest. It can also mean giving your life. And we certainly see brothers and sisters around the world who are willing to give their lives. And that certainly is persecution as well. And, you know, if someone is killed for their faith, we automatically think, oh, yeah, that's persecution. But, you know, maybe they lose their job, maybe nobody will rent them an apartment once they find out that they're followers of Jesus. That's also persecution. like I say, on the scale we would say that's less horrific or that's less painful, but it certainly is still persecution.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, Todd, we have a lot more to talk about. I'm talking to Todd Nettleton about Voice of the Martyrs and his book when faith is forbidden. 40 days on the front lines with persecuted Christians. It is extraordinary to look and talk it to meet a Chinese Christian woman who called six months in prison, a wonderful time in Iraqi pastor and his wife just eight days after assassin's bullets ripped through them. We are going to talk more about when faith is forbidden. 40 days on the front lines with persecuted Christians when we come back. Todd Nettleton, Voice of the Martyrs.

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Thank You by Highlands Worship: Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Every hour, every moment, I will sing. Thank you, Lord. Welcome back, friends. That is thank you by Highlands Worship. and today, what I am thankful for is the voice of the martyr. I'm thankful for Christians who are bold to share their faith even in the face of persecution. And I have a tough question for you and for me. If you were persecuted for your faith, would you run away? Would you hide it? Or would you find joy in the suffering? Stories from the persecuted church remind us that we are one body and one family in Christ. And when one party, part of the body suffers, we all feel it. But their testimony strengthen our perspective, teaching us to hold very tightly to what really matters. Teaching us to have an eternal perspective, teaching us to not hold too tightly to the things of this world. Not to store up treasures here on earth where moth and rust destroy, but to store up our treasures in heaven and to raise our kids with a faith that endures. Because even from a distance, these voices of the martyr, they help shape our choices. How we pray, how we speak, how we live, how we respond to hardship with hope instead of fear. I think this is a conversation that is definitely happening. I am, here it I am hearing people saying, I feel convicted to be more bold in my faith. And we are talking today to Todd Nettleton, author of when faith is forbidden 40 days on the Front Lines with Persecuted Christians. And from Iranian Christians who call persecution sweet to Chinese women who describe prison as a wonderful time, that is in quotes because that is just almost unbelievable. But these unbelievable testimonies defy our expectations and point us toward a deeper understanding of faith. And Todd Nettleton shares not only these extraordinary accounts, but also the patterns he's seen, the resilience, the hope, and the unshakable trust in Christ that unite persecuted Christians across the globe. And, Todd, in this book, you share 40 stories. 40. I mean, this is just a drop in the ocean of the persecution that has happened. But you have 40 of those stories here. What do you see across their stories that are common themes that helped them to persevere?

Todd Nettleton: You know, that's a great question. And the book, the book really came about as I would come home and I would be in my Bible study group, I would be in my Sunday school class, and I would share a story from a trip that I had been on. And, somebody would inevitably say, well, man, I wish I could go on a trip with you. and so that really is the genesis of the book, is, hey, okay, you can come on a trip with me. Let's take 40 days. Let's spend each day we'll meet a persecuted Christian. As you read through the pages of this book, as far as the qualities that are kind of, repeated in their stories, one of the big ones, honestly, is simply the matter of counting the cost beforehand.

American Christians often hear gospel message that following Jesus will make life better

Now, one of the challenges for us as American believers is the gospel message that many of us heard was, if you come to Jesus, he will make your life better here on earth. You come to Jesus and he will forgive your sins. And absolutely he will do that. But we also often hear a, you are going to, get better. You are probably going to drive a nicer car. You will get well. If you are sick, and your life here on earth is going to get better, the gospel message that our brothers and sisters in hostile areas and restricted nations hear is, usually your life is going to get worse here on earth. But you need to follow Jesus. He offers forgiveness. He offers eternity in heaven. You need to follow Jesus. So the challenge comes, inevitably. In all of our spiritual walks, there are challenges that come up. There are things that happen. And if we have heard the message that following Jesus is supposed to make your life easier, then when the challenge comes, we're like, wait a minute. This is not what I was expecting. What's happening? How did this happen? How could the Lord let this happen? If the gospel message you heard was, your life is going to get worse, but Jesus will be with you, Then when hardship comes, you say, oh, well, this is what they told me was going to happen. Like, I expected this. and it's a very different mindset. And that counting of the cost is, frankly, something American Christians need to think about, is like, we're not immune from persecution. We're not immune from people being against the gospel. but we typically think, well, No, I live in America, so that will never happen to me. We need to think. If it does happen to me, Jesus is worth it, and I'm going to stay the course. I'm going to continue to follow him.

Dr. Jessica Peck: You're so right. And that's what we're told. Deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow Jesus. That is. That is biblical and that's scriptural. And I think as Americans, we can look at successful Christians and we think that. We think, oh, yes, you know, before my life was like this and it was terrible. And you are. You're in bondage to sin and that freedom. Sometimes we see that success and we think, oh, yeah, I want that version. But there, like we were talking about before, Todd, there's something so powerful about seeing people suffer and yet still retain their joy. Because that is not a human response. That is not understandable. That is not. That is not in accordance with our human fleshly nature. It's just not.

Todd: Tell us about Iman, the Iranian believer who described persecution

And you have so many stories, but there's a couple that we'll highlight. Tell us about Iman, the Iranian believer who described persecution as. I mean, this is in quotes here in my notes, Todd, because it just seems unreal even to read out loud the sweetest time of his life. That is where we just say, okay, that doesn't make sense. The success story. We can understand that this doesn't make sense. So tell us about Iman.

Todd Nettleton: Yeah, Iman was really an amazing story, as I had the chance to interview him. He is an Iranian follower of Jesus. He's been in jail, because he's such an evangel. You know, as I sat down with Iman, the first thing he told me before we started talking, now, first thing, he wanted to pray. And he said, when I talk about what was going on in my life before I met Jesus, I don't want to give Satan even a toehold. So I'm hesitant even to talk about some of that stuff. So let's just pray that God will protect me from that. And we prayed together, and he said, okay, now I'm ready to tell my story. I've prayed for God's protection, even to mention the things that I used to do. And then as he began to tell me his story, he said, now, I want you to understand, I'm a really competitive person. And I was like, okay, well, that, you know, that's cool. I. I like sports, too. I'm pretty competitive. He's like, no, no, no, I'm a really competitive person. And. And he said, you know, when I was a drug addict. I, was a competitive drug. Like, I wanted to do more drugs than anyone else was doing. And he said, when I was a thief, I wanted to steal more than any other thieves were stealing. And if someone else tried to steal something and got caught, I wanted to go steal that something just to show that I was a better thief than them. And he said, when I was in the military, I told my commander, listen, you send me to the place where I can be martyred for Allah the first day, or I don't even want to waste my time. Like, I am a, competitive person. And I was like, oh, okay, okay, I get it now. I get it now. Wow. But. But what God has done. And Iman has an amazing story of being rescued from drug addiction. And, his family basically had turned against him, and God rescued him. He met Jesus in a powerful way, and God healed him from that addiction. And I'll never forget, he said he could feel Jesus in the room with him, but he felt unworthy to see Jesus, so he didn't want to open his eyes. He said, I kept my eyes closed because I was so broken and so terrible. I didn't deserve to see Jesus, so I didn't open my eyes. But Jesus healed him from that addiction and took away all the desire of that. And then God turned that competitive nature from I want to be the best drug addict to I want to be the best disciple that Jesus has ever had. I want to be the best evangelist that Jesus has ever had. In fact, Iman's attitude is, I am going to tell every single person I meet about Jesus. And so if I meet someone, I just assumed that the Holy Spirit has prepared them to hear the gospel, because I'm going to tell every person I meet. And so he told me stories of ministering to people in police stations after he got arrested, of ministering in jail after he was sent to jail. And literally after the judge said, listen, you can go home. He stayed in jail a few more days because he wanted to disciple these new believers. Until finally the guards are like, what are you still doing here? What is your problem? They said you could leave. What are you even here for? And finally he's like, okay, I'm drawing too much attention. I better go ahead and go home. but that's the power of God to change people's hearts, to change people's lives. And I love his story because that competitive nature was something God had given Iman. Now Iman was using it for all the wrong reasons and using it in terrible ways. But God had put that in him. And then when he came to Christ, God is now using that for the kingdom. He's using that to. To reach other people with the gospel.

Dr. Jessica Peck: That is absolutely incredible. And another story in the book is Sister Tong. And she is a woman who lived in China six months in prison that she called again in quotes, a wonderful time. Can you tell us her story?

Todd Nettleton: Yeah, Sister Tang. this was fairly early on in my time at Voice of the Martyrs. And my encounter with Sister Tang in China was really mind altering for me. Literally, heart altering, mind altering. Because we had the chance to sit down with Sister Tang just. Just a few weeks after she was released from prison. And, she was the host of a house church meeting. She had a house church that met in her home. And at that time, the. The Chinese police were raiding house churches. They would take everybody's picture. They would write down all your id, but they. But the homeowner, the person who was hosting the meeting, they went to jail. And so Sister Tang was arrested. She went to jail for six months. She came out, and we were in China just a couple weeks after she had been released. And they said, hey, we have this lady. She's just come out of prison. Would you like to interview her? Yes, of course I would like to interview her. Let's go. And so we sat down with Sister Tong, and I'm interviewing her through a translator. And my thought process is, I'm going to write a story about Sister Tong for the Voice of the Martyrs Free Monthly magazine. And so if you're going to write a story, the first thing you need to think about is the setting. Okay. You know, in. In writer's world, we would say it was a dark and stormy night. So that's the setting. So the setting for Sister Tang's story is going to be prison. And so I, you know, I say, sister Tang, tell me about the prison. And the translator translates the question. And Sister Tang gets what I can only call a heavenly smile on her face. And she says something in Chinese. And the translator says, oh, yes, that was a wonderful time.

Todd Nettleton: And I gotta admit, I looked at the translator. I'm like, okay, we're m missing. Like, this is not working out well. Are you sure that she understood the. Like, I was asking about prison. And he's like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, she understood. And I'm like, all right, you're sure? Like, like she just said it was a wonderful time. No one would describe a Chinese prison as a wonderful time. Well, what's going on, no, no. She understood the question. Yeah. And I'm like, okay, Sister Tong, you. You better explain yourself. What.

Todd Nettleton: What happened? How could you call prison a wonderful time? And Sister Tung went on to share. She said, you know, Jesus was with me in that prison cell. I got to experience his presence in a way that I never have before. He was so close to me. He was so real. He so personally ministered to my heart. And the other thing she said, she said, you know, there were ladies in the cell with me, and when I got there, they didn't know Jesus, but they do now because I got to be the one to share Christ with them. And so now they're walking with Jesus. And so the thing I brought home from that trip is, you know, if Jesus is with me and if Jesus gives me a ministry to do, then that's. That's the recipe for a wonderful time. Right? God is with us. God has work for us to do. Okay? It's a wonderful time. If that's true, and if we. If. If I borrow sort of Sister Tong's classes to look at the situations that I'm in, is it possible that a, hospital room could be a wonderful time? Because God is with me, and God gives me a ministry to do. Is it possible an emergency room? Is it possible an unemployment line? Is it possible a courtroom, you know, wherever you are that maybe you don't want to be? Is it possible that could be a wonderful time? If we look at it the way Sister Tang did and said, hey, if God with me, yes. He says he's with me always. Is God giving me a ministry to do? Well, maybe, but I better open my eyes. I better ask him, hey, Lord, what are you wanting me to do in this situation? But once we start to look at our lives that way, hey, is this a wonderful time? Could it be a wonderful time? like I say, meeting Sister Tong, it really changed. It changed the way I pray. It changed the way I look at situations around me. I don't want to just say, lord, get me out of here, which is kind of my natural response. Lord, this is hard. Get me out of here. I want to say, lord, what are you trying to teach me? Who do you want me to talk to? Who do you want me to minister to? and sort of borrow. Like I say, sort of borrow Sister Tong's glasses to look at the situations around me.

Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, I think this is a really important paradigm shift, Todd, because I think some people would look at the title of your book, would look at your ministry, would look at the voice of the martyrs. Would look at this book called when faith is forbidden. 40 days on the front lines with persecuted Christians and immediately you kind of have sort of fear that comes in your heart, you have this uneasiness. And we want to put that a little bit away and keep that a safe distance away. Because you think, oh, I don't want to read that. That's scary, that's dark, that's depressing. But what you have been describing here is anything but. It is not scary, it is not dark, it is not depressing, it is inspiring. And really it inspires me because I think in, those situations and just like you're describing, if people can have faith on the front lines in an Iranian prison, in a Chinese prison, at the face of great physical hardship, emotional hardship, relational hardship, social hardship, just everything stripped away to the point of pain or even death, how can we not have a wonderful time? Like you said, whether it's a hospital room or an unemployment line or wherever else it is. And that's why we need to be sharing these stories. And I think that here in America, especially as parents, I'm a parent, you know, I look at my kids and I think, okay, where are you going to go to college or what job are you going to get? What's your family going to be? Do you have financial security? Think about all of those things. And those things are important. But man, I think we are really missing the opportunity and missing the mark to raise our kids view to an eternal perspective. And in a world where scary news comes constantly, especially for younger generations, I think we're missing that opportunity. And when we come back, we'll have lots more to talk about with Todd Nettleton. I really encourage you to go check out the organization, the Voice of the Martyrs. We'll be right back after this break.

Discover the story of the culture warrior Don Wildmon

During the Christmas season of 1976, I sat down one night to watch television. One man saw the battle coming. If we lose this cultural war, we're going to have a hedonistic, humanistic society. And he chose to stand and fight. If you will not respect our beliefs, then you will respect our money and. We'Ll spend it with somebody else. Reverend Wildmon. Reverend Wildmon. The Reverend Donald Wildmon. Discover the story of the culture warrior Don Wildmon and how he went head to head with Hollywood playboy, the homosexual agenda and the Disney empire. Things were changing and many people just sort of acclimated to it. and Don Wildmon didn't. They thought, I think that they could just crush him. The movement Don started paved the way for Christians to boldly stand for truth and righteousness in a hostile culture. Watch Culture Warrior today for free visit culturewarrior.movie and I'll praise you in this storm? And I will lift my hands you.

Praise You In This Storm by Casting Crowns: Are who you are no matter where I am. And every tear I cry you hold in your hand. You never left my side and though my heart is torn I will praise you in this storm.

Dr. Jessica Peck: That is Praise You In This Storm by casting crowns. And we're talking about Christians that have done that, who have been in the storm of persecution. All over, we are seeing news around the world of persecuted Christians. We've talked about some persecuted Christians in Iran. We've talked about them in China. We've seen the news in Nigeria. We see persecuted Christians all over the world. And the question for us to answer today is, when one part of the body of Christ suffers, how are we going to respond? And while we, especially those of us living here in America, may never face those same kinds of trials, their stories really give us a gift that courage is contagious. And the joy we found in Christ despite suffering challenges us to trust him more deeply in our own lives. And from their front lines, where they are, where they are facing persecution in the most real way you can possibly imagine, to the seeming comfort of our living rooms, really, their voices are offering us hope and perspective and a renewed commitment to stand firm in faith no matter the cost. Persecution is not only in the past, this is not only our history. It is happening now in some of the most dangerous corners of the world. And while these stories are hard to hear, they really are so inspiring and so hopeful and asking us, how should we, as, fellows, believers respond? I'm talking today to Todd Nettleton, voice of the martyrs, author of the book when faith is forbidden. 40 days on the Front Lines with Persecuted Christians. It's so inspiring. He is informing us, he is calling us to take action in prayer to support Christians around the world financially and with solidarity with our own spiritual family.

Todd: Our natural response to hearing stories of persecuted Christians is fear

So, Todd, before the break, we were talking about how this natural response to hearing these stories of persecuted Christians is just abject fear. It really does just make us so afraid. And we think, oh, what if that happens here? What do I do that? And then we think, I don't want to think about that. How would you count? Help us counter that fear that we have and that tendency to push those stories a little more distant for our comfort?

Todd Nettleton: You know, I think the counter to that is that the lived experience of our persecuted brothers and sisters, and that's not just in the last, you know, 12 months. If you look back, I often think of the story in the book of Acts of the Apostles. They were taken before the Jewish council. They were questioned, they were pressured, they were beaten. And then it says they left the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ. And it is a cause for rejoicing. When you understand that persecution for the name of Christ is actually an honor, it's actually a compliment to us that God would entrust us with that privilege. And when I picture and I. I'll never forget one of my very early trips for vom, we, again, it was a trip to China. And we were going to interview this pastor who had been arrested like 12 times in the six months before we were there. And the authorities had taken him to. They were arrested in the night before his church met. They would hold him all day the next day until the church services were over, and then they would let him go for another week. And, you know, I'm picturing, as we're getting on the plane, I'm picturing in my mind this. This depressed, discouraged pastor. Look at. Oh, man, they're being so mean to him. They won't let him. Pastor, they won't let him preach in his church. And, it's good. This is my American mentality. It's good that I can come from America because we'll probably be able to cheer him up. We'll probably be able to encourage him. And then we got there, and he wasn't the slightest bit discouraged. In fact, he was quite excited. Look how fast my church is growing. Look what God is doing in our part of the country. Isn't this fantastic? And. And it was like, but wait, they're arresting you. Like, every Monday night, they're arresting you? yeah, yeah, yeah. But look at what God is doing. And so I think when we have that experience and when we understand that our brothers and sisters still experience that same joy that the apostles experienced in Acts, then we are less fearful because we don't see this as, well. I'm going to be depressed. I'm going to be downtrodden. We see this as God must be going to do something pretty amazing if the enemy is attacking us this fiercely.

Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, Todd, that's so absolutely inspiring. I've had a similar experience where I was in another country and meeting with a Christian who had been persecuted and thinking the same thing you did. Like, oh, I'm going to go and, you know, pray for him and. And offer encouragement and he and his family had been saving for a long time to be able to feed us a meal and had gone to a construction site and borrowed some buckets, some five gallon buckets that they could turn upside down. And here we are sitting, having a very simple meal in this home with no elect electricity, no walls, no doors. And they are just radiating joy, radiating gratitude, and just asking, you know, how can we pray for you? Like, oh, we have everything we need. And then they were singing worship songs, like saying, with the lyrics saying, we have so much, like, how could we even ask for more? Because we have everything that we need. And when you strip away those kinds of constructs of security that we have, it's, an extremely humbling experience. But again, I think so important for families to grasp these days as parents, especially of young children. You know, you're a father, you're a grandfather now. You think about our kids in the world and we want to protect them, we want to give them the best, but the best thing that we could possibly give them is a mindset and a heart for eternity. How has your ministry really shifted your perspective to that? What can we learn as families to not hold on to things so tightly?

Todd Nettleton: Such a great question. I think one of the things that I have learned from our persecuted brothers and sisters is, is a love for God's Word. And I think that's something as a parent, as a grandparent now, I want to instill that. I want to pass that on to the next generation. Like, God's word is so important that if you go a day without it, that's a day that you miss. Like, you need God's Word every single day. You need to be memorizing it, you need to be reading it, you need to be thinking about it, you need to be meditating on it. and so that's something, because God's word is what strengthens us to go through those hard times, to go through those trials. And, you know, I was just. Over the weekend we had our Voice of the Martyrs National Conference and Peter Yasek, one of my co workers who was arrested in Sudan and ended up spending about 14 months in prison there, for the first four months, he didn't have a Bible. and he talked about after four months in prison when finally the people from the Czech Embassy came to visit him in prison and they brought him a Bible. and he said it was so amazing to hold God's Word in his hand. And literally he stood by the window of his cell because that was the Only place that had enough light to read. And so he stood basically 12 hours a day when the sun was up. And he read through the whole Bible. And just in a matter of a few weeks, he read through the whole body, Bible, start to finish, because he was so hungry for God's word. I think that's something that we want to pass on to our children. The other thing is just some reminders that this world is temporary. Eternity is eternal. And even though this world seems big and, you know, a year in the life of a child seems like forever, this world is still short compared to eternity. And we just need to factor that into our equation. We need to look more at eternity and less at this world and make sure we're living for eternity and not living for this world.

Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, Todd, I'm hearing this conversation. Everywhere I'm going, people are talking about this. People are talking about their conviction to share their faith, to not be quiet anymore, because all around us, as we're worried about making people uncomfortable, people are dying and their souls are in jeopardy. And that sounds so dramatic, but that is the reality. That is what we see in the world today. And so tell us more about Voice of the Martyrs and the resources that you have and how we can learn more to be bold in our faith and also support persecut Christians who are all around the world.

Todd Nettleton: Well, Voice of the Martyrs website is persecution.com so it's an easy one. persecution.com. and if you're interested in my book, it's persecution.com/forbidden The book title is When Faith is Forbidden. So persecution.com/forbidden Here's the challenge I would like to issue to those who are listening today. And maybe this is the first time you've really thought about, our persecuted brothers and sisters. You've thought about what it could cost in other places to follow Jesus. Ah. What I want to ask you to do is three things. Number one, I want to ask you to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world. And that's not my request. That's their request. When we go, when we sit down with them and we say, hey, how can we help you? The first thing they say is, pray for us. so number one, I want you to commit to prayer. I'm going to pray for persecuted Christians. Then number two sort of ties into that, because number two is educate yourself so that you can pray more effectively instead of just praying God bless persecuted Christians, which is a great place to start as you learn more. Then you're saying, okay, today I'm praying for Christians in Iran today. I'm praying for Christians in China because I know they're persecuted there. I'm praying for Christians in northern Nigeria. I'm praying for Pastor Wang Yi, who is serving a nine year prison sentence in China right now. So, number one, commit to pray. Number two, educate yourself so that you can pray more specifically and more effectively. And that's where Voice of the Martyrs comes in. We have a global prayer guide that lists out the countries where Christians are persecuted. Gives you a little bit of information about what is it like to follow Jesus there. How hard is it to get a Bible? What happens to people who follow Jesus? We have an app for your phone that literally you can set a reminder every day and it will pull up a new prayer request and you can pray every day at the same time. And your phone will actually remind you to do that. Our free monthly magazine goes out every month. We will send that to you for free. We want you to have that. So, number one, commit to pray. Number two, educate yourself so that you can pray more effectively. And then number three is my favorite, because number three is whatever God says to do next, you need to obey. Because I believe as you're praying, as you're learning more about our persecuted brothers and sisters, God's going to put his thumb on something and he's going to say, okay, now I want you to do this. And maybe that's write letters to Christians in prison. maybe that's sponsor Bibles to be delivered into some of these countries. Voice of the Martyrs is delivering more than a million Bibles a year into hostile areas and restricted nations. Maybe it is get on an airplane and go to one of these places and visit the place and pray on the ground for brothers and sisters there. But again, when you start praying and then you start learning more, somewhere along the line, God's going to say, okay, now this is your next step. And then it's just a matter of saying, okay, Lord, if you tell me to do it, I'm going to do it.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Much easier said than done. Much easier said than done, Todd. But such a great, such, a great encouragement. And you actually shared that the first Sunday in November is a specific day to set aside for prayer. Is that right?

Todd Nettleton: Yeah, the International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians, the first Sunday in November. I always tell pastors and church leaders, though, hey, if you've already planned the first Sunday, pick the second Sunday, pick the last Sunday in October. Just make sure your church is praying for our persecuted brothers and sisters. That's that's another place where Voice of the Martyrs has resources that are free. They're on our website. We have a video that you can show in your service. We have actually even a sermon guide. If you're the pastor, if you're the teacher, and you want to tie this into your message that Sunday, Sunday, we can help with that. but International Day of Prayer for persecuted Christians coming up, the first Sunday in November.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Those are all, really good, tangible things that we can do. And that last one, really pray hard on, because God will call you. And it is really hard to say yes, but that's what we've been hearing. That's the conversation is, will you say yes when God gives you that conviction in your life? And I'm so grateful that you have said that, Todd. You have said you yes, and you have stepped into ministry with Voice of the Martyrs. And as we're leaving today, just give us a little preview of starting to educate ourselves. What does persecution look like around the world? What are things that we can expect to find as we start to learn more about that?

Todd Nettleton: You know, different places, different types of persecution. One of the places it's actually, if you can see me, if you're watching this, behind me is on the map is Africa. and across the continent of Africa, we are seeing attacks against churches. Sometimes hugely violent attacks, really repulsively violent attacks against Christians in Africa. you think of India. The government of India is a Hindu nationalist government. They want every Indian to be a Hindu. So if you're a pastor, if you're an evangelist, you are considered an enemy. And many pastors right now in India are in prison. so. So different places, different types of persecution, but all of them are asking us to pray. And, you know, the Bible says, remember those in prison as if you were in prison with them. So if we were the ones being persecuted, if we were the ones in prison, how would we want people to pray? That's our instruction about how to pray for these brothers and sisters.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Todd, what's one last word of encouragement that you would give to those who are listening to be bold in their.

Todd Nettleton: You know, when I sign my book for people, one of the things I typically write is, Jesus is worthy, whatever the cost, whatever the price, whatever you have to do to follow him, whatever you have to give up to follow him. Jesus is worthy. He's worthy of all of that and certainly eternity with Him. We won't even think twice about whatever we sacrificed here. When we see Jesus and when we're with him, for all eternal.

Dr. Jessica Peck: That is so encouraging. So again, the organization is Voice of the Martyrs. The book is called when faith is forbidden. 40 days on the Front Lines of Persecuted Christians. Todd, give us that website one more time.

Todd Nettleton: persecution.com it's an easy one to remember.

Dr. Jessica Peck: persecution.com persecution.com/forbidden about the book and really take that 40 day journey. Each stop on this 40 day journey includes inspiration and encouragement through the story of a persecuted believer. And you will find space for reflection and prayers as you grow to understand the realities of living under persecution, but also learning and being inspired and encouraged by the bold believers that you will meet. I hope that this has inspired you to be bold in your faith to help your family fix their heart and their mind on eternity. And as you do that, I pray to the Lord will bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you peace. Thanks so much for listening in today. Join me in praying for persecuted Christians all over the world and I'll see you right back here tomorrow for Ask Doctor, Nurse, Mom Friday.

Jeff Chamblee: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.