The following post is written by an East-West short-term mission trip participant.
When our plane landed, our team knew what was coming next.
This was the part of the trip I was most anxious about … making it through customs and baggage claim without raising suspicion in a restricted access nation.
We filed out of the plane and acted like we didn’t know each other, all the while praying our team through the seemingly endless lines and the stares of government officials and their security dogs. I’d never been so terrified of a pet in my life.
Finally, everyone’s luggage was accounted for and we piled into a van to head to our ministry location for the week.
But the watchful eyes didn’t stop at the airport.
As we evangelized in villages, paused for lunch, ate dinner at local restaurants and retired for the day at the hotel, we were in a constant state of unease. I often wondered who was observing our actions and eavesdropping on our conversations.
By the grace of God, our ministry was unhindered and we shared the gospel with over 600 people in five days and many of them trusted in Christ that week.
I understood the concept of “restricted access” intellectually prior to this trip, but I’ve now briefly experienced life as a believer in a place where religious activity is controlled by the government. I’ve also learned that this is the reality for 75-percent of the global population that lives in places with severe religious restrictions.
These people are told what they can believe and how they can practice it.
God has used the combination of my experience overseas and statistics like this to reveal to me that I too often take the freedom we have in the United States for granted, but not anymore.
I have the command to share my faith and the freedom to do so. In the words of a persecuted believer whose story is shared in The Insanity of God by Nik Ripken, "Don't ever give up in freedom what we would never give up in persecution!”
My call—and yours—is to be a gospel witness in freedom and in persecution.