GHORAHI, NEPAL – Around the entire globe, the followers of Jesus Christ increasingly suffer persecution from non-believers. The sources of persecution may come from authorities at constitutional, legislative, or municipal levels, from radical followers of other religious groups, or from the creep of sin that is making societies and cultures more anti-Christ.

Christians may decry the mistreatment of other believers on other continents and in regions and countries opposed to the message of the Gospel.

But, John Pudaite, president of Bibles for the World, recently encouraged believers to take heart as we pray for the persecuted elsewhere even as tensions mount against Christians in North America.

In acknowledging that Bibles for the World has distributed 2.5 million copies of the Gospel of John in Nepal over the past seven years, Pudaite prompted praise for the work the Lord is doing there. He said,

Lest we forget, the Lord told us that we would experience trouble in this world. In John 16:33, Jesus warned His disciples that “In this world, you will have trouble.” But he preceded that revelation by saying that, by knowing this in advance, we would have peace. And, He immediately followed with, “Take heart! I have overcome the world.”

The Apostle Paul used the same word for trouble when he addressed the believers in Rome, assuring them that neither trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger or sword can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ. (See Romans8:35-36)

Again, Paul, who was persecuted everywhere he went, including being stoned and left for dead, called our troubles “light and momentary.” He added that they are “achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (1 Corinthians 4:17) This statement came after he had explained that he and his entourage had experienced “troubles . . . in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.” (2 Corinthians 1:8)

He added that “We do not lose heart. Though, outwardly, we are wasting away, yet, inwardly, we are being renewed day by day.” (1 Corinthians 4:16)

Recognizing a Biblical approach to our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering for spreading the Gospel, Pudaite has requested special prayer for ministry partners in Nepal for the days ahead as Bibles for the World prepares to send another 500,000 more Gospels of John to them. Pray that God would

• Continue to direct and guide them
• Give them wisdom, insight, and strength
• Bless their efforts to spread the Gospel and build the Body of Christ

May we be ready to say, along with the believers in Nepal . . .

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