Shouting down the corridor. A bang on the door. The sound of someone being sick. A rude awakening. Especially at 4am.
Imagine though being woken up on campus by a lot worse.
Back in October, Nigerian student Elkanah Sardauna woke up to see an angry mob, waving machetes and guns, storm into his room. They dragged him out of bed, and shouted: ‘What’s your name?’ He remembers the scene vividly: "They threw me to the ground, and shouted ‘Allahu Akbar.’ I cried out to Jesus, face to the ground. They demanded that I stop calling on Jesus, but I persisted. The next moment I was shot in the hand, and then slashed with a knife at the back of my neck. They must have thought I was dead because they left.”
“It was only God who saved me when they came to our room. We were four sharing the room and all of us were Christians. My three roommates were killed before my eyes. They got to me last.”
That night 30 students were killed. Elkanah was one of the lucky ones.
We know it can be hard to be a Christian. We live with various forms of hostility; at times our reputation, our popularity are at stake because of the distinctive lifestyle choices we make, or try to make. But sometimes being a Christian can cost a lot more...
Millions of persecuted Christians put their family, their freedom and their lives on the line every day simply because they follow Jesus. They know the risk. The cost. And yet they make the choice to keep going.
At Open Doors we are a movement responding to the cry of the persecuted church, a group of walking billboards unashamedly standing up for those who are persecuted simply because they follow Jesus. We refuse to turn a blind eye to the plight of the persecuted church, and we’ve been doing this for nearly 60 years, since Brother Andrew first stepped out smuggling Bibles and practical aid in his clapped out VW Beetle.
At the start of this year, we’re asking students and young adults to join us in praying with the persecuted church. No border. No prison. No door (no university even!) is closed to us when we pray. Be inspired by the courage, shown by persecuted Christians like Elkanah, to keep living for Jesus whatever the cost.
Get together with a bunch of mates or your small group. Grab a Chinese, watch the incredible story of the Chinese church and pray for change... Pray for many God encounters in some of the most extreme dangerous places on earth to be a Christian. Help change the world over a takeaway.
Guest Blogger Emma Worrall from Open Doors brings us this sobering story and a brilliant way we can respond.
