“For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.” Phil. 1:29

Amid the daily challenges and opportunities of working with partners in many different contexts around the globe, we are blessed by great examples of faith. Here are a few samples from last month:

1. Beatings and Boldness: We receive regular reports from Central Asia. Caught in the tragedy of uprooted lives, Muslim refugees and others are watching the KING of GLORY movie in their heart languages, asking for Bibles, and turning to Christ. Muslim-background believers are enduring arrests and beatings as they spread the gospel. Ten days ago, we received this:

“Pray for our Afghan evangelist who has been arrested and brutally beaten several times. He has recovered from his latest beatings and tomorrow will launch out on an evangelistic push into the mountains. KoG SD cards will go with him.”

We receive many similar testimonies.

2. A prayer of distress and hope was passed on to us today from some Afghan refugees in a neighboring country. The brother who sent it wrote that most of their children cannot attend school as they cannot afford the books, uniforms and bus fare to school. Here’s the prayer:

“Our dear Heavenly Father, we come to You through Jesus Christ our Savior and ask You to look upon all our needs. We refugees have no one apart from You who can meet our needs and help us in our distress. The entire world has shown us that we are not needed and are not important to anyone as refugees, but Lord, we are Your children, and we come to ask our loving Father to help us in our distress. Come quickly Jesus, take us so that we would be with You, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who has given us your eternal life, abundant life that will be without tears, hunger and death…”

3. The testimony of an Iranian (who uses the name Cyrus, lest he put relatives still in Iran in danger):

“I was born and raised as a Shia Muslim in Iran…. I always knew deep within that there was something more and that ‘Islam was not it.’” After leaving Iran to join his wife and daughter in North America, a Christian friend sent him the Farsi KING of GLORY movie. Cyrus watched it in one sitting. Weeks later he told his friend: “Something happened to me when I watched it. Jesus Christ came to live in me, and now I not only know who God is — I know who I am! … Ever since I came to know Christ, I have felt His presence daily and in difficult times. He has always been there for me. I went on to memorize verses from the Word of God, which has helped me immensely…”

Amid an intense month of many challenges in many realms for ROCK Resources and ROCKids, we close with this just in from Tanzania: “Next month, 19 girls are set to be the first graduates from Tumaini Jipya (New Hope) Secondary School. Whether or not they continue their education, please pray even now that they will continue to cherish the truths they have learned and, even without the protection and support of the school staff, choose to continue walking with the Lord.” Amen!