Hearts on Fire Eight Women in the Underground Church and their Stories of Costly Faith. 2015
Each of the eight stories from women of extreme circumstances were pioneers in their countries to be the beacon of hope for the lost needing redemption from Jesus Christ.
Adel: Her family in Indonesia was attacked by a neighboring village of Muslims because they were Christians. She survived many beatings, separations from her family and loss of her mother and a child. Through it all her faith in the Blood of Jesus kept her faith alive.
Purnima: In a Buddhist country, Bhutan, she was in constant fear of being arrested for being Christian. At age 13 she was kicked out of her home for saying that Jesus healed her. She was forced to leave Bhutan and cross into India where the authorities caught up with her and she war forced into a refugee camp. Her faith grew and they would have secret bible studies where she eventually got caught and went to prison for many years.
Aida: At age 19, she started following Christ in Leningrad, Russia when her brother was facing cancer who reignited her from their Christian upbringing. At 21, she had been arrested for distributing Christian literature that was slanderous to Russia. She had been part of a Baptist Church in the Soviet Union that was coming alive again and a revival. She defended herself in court against meeting in secret since they were being persecuted and giving information to a foreigner that slandered Russia. She was sentenced one year in prison to reeducate her.
Sabina: The Russians had taken over Romania and wanted to control the Romanian government and society. They had summoned clergy of all religions in Romania to get their approval of getting paid from the State. Sabrina's husband, Richard was a Lutheran minister known throughout the country and an official representative of the World Council of Churches. So he got up in front of the assembly and spoke the truth of God saying "When the children of God meet, angels also gather to hear the wisdom of God. So it is the duty of every believer, not to praise earthly men or leaders who come and go, but to praise God the Creator and Christ the Savior, who died for us on the cross." Then his right to speak was terminated. It wasn't long until he disappeared, later finding out he had been put in prison. Sabina found herself also being harassed until they falsely accused her of hiding weapons in her home. She also ended up in prison, getting regular beatings, forced to work in camps that were barely livable. When she was released, she was unable to get a work permit or ration cards. They were forcing her to divorce her husband and get remarried. Then some of his sermons surfaced from being copied and distributed. Not long after that Richard was arrested again and back in prison. Then miraculously, the Norwegian Missions paid his ransom as a political prisoner for 10,000. Sabrina and Richard made it to the United States and founded the Voiced of the Martyrs.
Other woman who also told their stories about the persecution they faced.
Tara: Pakistan
Ling: China
Gladys: India
Mai: Vietnam
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