Inspiration

Coming from this building was the most angelic sound. You'll never believe the stories of the men we met inside. It is hard to communicate with words the gravity of the people we have met nearly everyday with traveling through Bangladesh and India. People who do not have a choice to live their faith out loud, but must.

JKPS is a ministry with roots deep in church planting, but that has expanded hugely into the areas of social justice in Kolkata. From recovery homes, they are looking at the whole problem and working to solve each nuance. Many children of prostitutes live inside of the brothels and are quickly scarred from the sites and sounds. They in turn grow to perpetuate the problem their parents have fallen into. On this particular campus, a boys house is being built to pull these young men out, give them an education and mentorship and a future.

Inside were around 12 young men training to become pastors around Kolkata. Their stories blow me away. One man comes from a Hindu village, and has come to know Christ. Out of his entire family, he is the only one who is a believer - including his wife.

Imagine that pressure for a moment. Your entire support structure stands against your new faith in the cross of Christ. Added to that stress is the recently developed mental illness of his son. The people in the village are blaming his faith, yet that is not the God we serve.

As we gathered around him and prayed, it struck me what an inspiration this man was to us. As we blessed him, he was in turn blessing us by his incredible faith. This is the family of God, encouraging, blessing and challenging one another. We journey together across oceans towards the Kingdom of God, furthering it in our own ways.

I was able to share with these men the story of the fiery furnace, a message that the Lord gave me as I spoke. A message of hope in a foreign land, of God's faithfulness when all others have turned their backs. A story of three young men with convictions strong enough to go to their deaths.

It had never been more relevant to me than in that moment. There is a real possibility that some of these men may become martyrs for their faith. Is that a reason to turn away in fear? Is it a reason to back down and fit in? Of course not!

Let these men be an inspiration to you and I. Don't forget that while we in North America struggle with not offending people around us, believers the world around are locked in battle with the evil one. They are going to places that have never heard the name of Christ while we choose to actively deny him. They are persecuted on every side, but not defeated. Crushed, but not abandoned.

Let it drive you to prayer, drive you to action. Let it humble you, and draw you to your knees. May God speak to you as you listen and reveal to you what He has in store for you for His Kingdom.

Because even if he doesn't save us, we will not bow our knee. Let our Holy defiance be a testimony to the one we worship.