The global food shortage is hitting persecuted Christians hard. In many countries, Open Doors field teams are now operating with a “FOOD FIRST” mission.
Displacement, drought, discrimination, rising food prices, and lack of resources have made persecuted Christians more vulnerable, insecure, and desperate—especially in remote areas where resources are few.
Open Doors is fighting to provide critical supplies to believers on the brink of survival in countries like Burkina Faso, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Nigeria, and many others.
“Persecuted believers can’t … worship or serve one another if they’re too weak and starving.”
— Field Partner in Burkina Faso
“Food inflation in Sri Lanka has surged to 80 percent … The needs are urgent.”
—Field Partner in Sri Lanka
The following Scriptures remind us that we have been warned by Jesus that persecution, tribulation, and disasters on earth and in the cosmos will precede His second coming, to first rescue the Saints and to pour out His wrath on the unrepentant.
“There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.” Mark 13:8
“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be... See, I have told you beforehand.” Matthew 24:21, 25
DEMONS ARE COMING OUT! – SICK ARE HEALED! – AND I’VE NOW BAPTIZED THE FIRST ONE HERE IN JAIL! – UPDATE – SEVENTEENTH DAY IN BAKERS DETENTION CENTER BY TORBEN SONDERGAARD OF THE LAST REFORMATION – JULY 18TH –
What a life! It is like living the book of Acts with everything that is happening! Eighteen days ago, I got detained by the FBI and Homeland Security because they had heard falsely that I had been smuggling weapons from Mexico to America. After being put in handcuffs and full chains, I spent one day in Orange Jail, and then I was transported to Bakers Detention Center, spending ten life-transforming days in isolation. Read more about that in my last post, or see the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz_9JxEaUHU
UPDATE FROM BAKERS JAIL TORBEN SONDERGAARD, FOUNDER OF THE LAST REFORMATION JULY 14, 2022 – “YOU WILL BE HERE FOR MANY MONTHS AND THEN GET DEPORTED OUT OF AMERICA” – FIRST MEETING IN JAIL BEAUTIFUL UNFORGETTABLE EVENING!!
I was then moved to an open bay, and the first day was very, very hard. But now I’m seeing why I am here. God has sent me here to help “Apollos” with what was missing in his life like we read here in the book of Acts 18:24-26, “Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.”
Here we read how Aquila and Priscilla met Apollos who was preaching but with what was lacking in his faith. He only knew about the baptism of John, but they stepped in and helped, and he got baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, and he grew a lot and became a very strong disciple of Christ.
I was sent HERE for “Apollos”, which I will call him here. “Apollos” repented here in jail, and has been having meetings in a cell with 4-6 people. He loves Jesus, and he’s been sharing what he knows, but there were many things lacking in his life. He had not yet gotten baptized into Christ or received the Holy Spirit, so I’ve been spending a lot of time with him these last days, teaching the way more clearly, and what was lacking.
Two days ago, he got baptized in water and the Holy Spirit, and it was a really special, unforgettable moment! He confessed all his sins to me, things he had never said to anyone before, but he knew God had sent me here to him (which he often says to me, “God sent you for me! God sent you for me!”) therefore he trusted me enough to confess everything, even though he had just met me.
When I baptized him, it was with a cup of water over his face, as we don’t have any other opportunity to do anything in here, and he has been here for years, and he don’t know when he will come out. The Holy Spirit came over him and he spoke in tongues for the first time. It was really a beautiful moment! I will never forget this. We were praising God together in our cell, with water all over the floor. It was a big cup of water and it was full. “Baptism” is normally with full immersion, but when we don’t have any other things to do like this, I’m sure God can use what we have.
The day before, I prayed for his sister over the phone. She had, for many months, a very loud ringing in her ears 24/7, and it was very hard for her. The Holy Spirit came over her powerfully there over the telephone when I prayed, and she got set free and healed over the phone. She was crying, and when he spoke with her afterwards he was also crying, so God is really moving in him and his family.
“Apollos” is just CHANGED, and it’s so beautiful! Yesterday we had a gathering in my cell, and there were nine people there. I was preaching the Gospel, and “Apollos” was translating, since many here don’t understand English. I shared about my life and what God has done in my life, and then I shared the Gospel very radically with no compromise, using chess pieces. We train people in our school how to share the Gospel using cups, and we call it “Cups and Cookies,” and we also have something called the Gospel Cards. See the link here: https://youtu.be/sNme1cRSODI
But now I’ve found another good way, using pieces in a chess game, and it’s actually really, really powerful! So, I was sharing the Gospel, and then I prayed for several people who got healed. “Apollos” was one of them! For many years, he’d had a problem with his back. I also prayed for the young man I’ve been working with. The other night, he had a demon come into him in the night time when he was laying in bed. He woke up and was suddenly paralyzed. He couldn’t move anything in his body. He could not say anything in the beginning and he felt a demonic presence all over the room. In the end, he was able to say, “Jesus,” and it slowly disappeared. Yes, there are MANY demons in here. I prayed for him, and the Holy Spirit came, and he fell down between the toilet and the wall, and there on the jail floor, from up above the toilet seat, I cast out a demon from him, and everyone was in shock, not having seen anything like this before.
We ended up praying and prophesying over several of the people who were there, and it was just a beautiful moment! It was like being out in the freedom doing the work of our Father. I totally forgot at the moment where I was. I was truly FREE, and I was just serving my Lord Jesus Christ, and it was beautiful, and I was truly THANKFUL for God sending me here and allowing me to experience this!
In the next days, we will sit down with them, one by one, and I already know there are more now who are getting ready to follow Christ. God sent me here for “Apollos” and the men here, and when I’m gone, “Apollos” can continue the work that has started here. I’ve spent many hours with him the last few days, disciplining him and teaching him the way, and he has grown a lot! He is ready. He was already ready. He just needed someone to disciple him!
Yes, there are MANY beautiful things I can testify to that God has been doing here the last days, in my life, and in other people’s lives, over the last days and weeks. But I also feel that the time has come to an end, that I have done what I needed to do here; I HOPE so. I know I could be wrong, but I truly hope that the time has come that I can come out of this place. My lawyer is right now working on a bond so I can come out soon, and I cannot tell you how much I’m praying and hoping that this would work, that God would open a door so I’m able to come out soon! I truly miss my wife incredibly much, and my girls, and my family and friends.
So much has happened, and I would, in many ways, not have been the same without all that has happened in the last eighteen days, even though it has been one of the hardest times in my life. But God has truly been working in my life. He has truly pruned me as a branch in Him so that I can bear even more fruit (John 15). He has taken me aside for me to slow down and spend many hours with Him and in His Word. All these things I will take with me when I leave this place. Yes, I am not the same as I was eighteen days ago, and I have no intention to let it go or to let any of what I’ve experienced here be wasted! I pray that the pruning which has happened in my life will bear much fruit, as He says in His Word!
Make me proud, and serve our Lord Jesus Christ with EVERYTHING He has given you! REMEMBER, this earth and everything in it will one day soon disappear, but those who do the will of the Father will receive the reward and live forever and ever!
Please pray for the people in here and for “Apollos”. Pray that the work will keep growing to more and more people. Pray for my lawyer, judges, and all of those who are working on the bond and asylum. Please pray that I will soon be free to see my family again. Please pray for churches out there that in so many ways is lacking this life Jesus has for them, and the true Gospel!
God bless you all!
Torben Sondergaard, Prisoner for our Lord and Savior, but FREE in Christ!
An Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) group has been separated from the organisation because it includes Christian content in its meetings. Leaders of the group which meets in a church in Yeovil were told that prayer and talking about Jesus made new members feel uncomfortable. It’s now been removed from the AA online directory following a vote by local bosses. Minutes from a meeting of the Somerset Intergroup, which oversees AA groups in the region, describe the church-held group as a “Christian based meeting, lovely meeting but not along AA guidelines”.Concerns were also raised over an announcement in one of the recovery group sessions that the only way to recovery is through Jesus. The Somerset Intergroup claimed that, while there was nothing wrong with discussions about Jesus, they didn’t belong in an AA meeting.
1971 Bill Wilson died. His last words to AA members were, “God bless you and Alcoholics Anonymous forever.
John Palmer, a leader of the group, said: “AA was founded by Christians to transform lives. Over the years I have seen Christianity marginalised from the organisation. It is sad to see, and I think AA is having less of an impact on people’s lives as a result. “Of course, you don’t have to be a Christian to be part of an AA group, but if you cannot say the Lord’s Prayer in a church without being treated like this, what are we coming to? “We were shocked when we found out about the action being taken against us, but we are determined to carry on.” Campaign group Christian Concern is now taking action to get the group reinstated within Alcoholics Anonymous. Chief executive Andrea Williams said: “The message of the gospel is of a saviour who came to bring hope to every one of us. The power of the gospel is what inspired the setting up of AA following the radical transformation alcoholics experienced after encountering Jesus Christ.
Is now saying the Lord’s Prayer in a church offensive and not appropriate? “It is sad, but not surprising in our world of cancel culture, to hear from this group that the gospel message is no longer appropriate for AA and must be kept ‘separate.’ “We call on the AA to reinstate this group to the online directory and to recognise the crucial role Christian faith plays in transforming lives.”
Source:Premier Christian News
Separating and punishing Christians so that they cannot attract new members for sharing the gospel message of hope is disturbing and ludicrous but Biblical prophecy tells us that this is just one of the signs we are approaching the end of this age. Jesus soon coming return is in view and we need to be prepared for the increasing tribulation that God allows Christians to experience to refine His church.
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:9-13
March 6th, 2022 China (International Christian Concern) – A Christian woman in China, named Zhou Jinxia was detained for her repeated attempt to share the good news of Jesus Christ with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan.
Using placards filled with Gospel messages, Zhou regularly stands outside a gated area in Beijing where top Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials reside. Last month, she did so to greet President Xi when he returned from the Winter Olympics, leading to her arrest for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” Authorities ordered Zhou to return to her hometown of Dalian, where her beef with the government began.
In 2009, local authorities seized and demolished Zhou’s house in Dalian without her consent, later turning it into a city square. According to the group China Aid, Zhou and her family members have spent years seeking justice, only to be detained and lose their jobs.
Religious liberty magazine Bitter Winter explains that Zhou “took seriously [President] Xi’s statements he would fight corruption.” So after his 2013 inauguration, she repeatedly wrote to him about her unjust eviction. Because Xi never replied, Zhou “concluded that no solution to China’s problem would be possible unless [the president and his wife] would receive Jesus in their hearts.”
The Dalian native was sent back to Liaoning province by the police after her action in Beijing. She was subsequently detained. On Feb. 20, Zhou went to Zhongnanhai in Beijing, the central headquarters for the Communist Party of China and the State Council of China, holding up a sign asking Xi Jinping to believe in Jesus.
The police in charge arrested her before Dalian police brought her back to Dalian. She was criminally detained and charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” on February 21. Her family received the notice of her criminal detention from Dalian’s Public Security Bureau’s Xigang Branch on March 1.
According to China Aid, in recent years, Zhou has attempted to share the good news with her Chinese leader more than 50 times. As early as March 2015, Zhou was detained for ten days for her evangelism activities. In March 2016 and March 2018, she was detained again for the same charge.
Beginning October 2020, Zhou has resided in Fengtai district’s Xiaobailou village in Beijing. She actively shares the gospel and is involved in her church. On June 27, 2021, she was driven away by local leaders and police, while her amenities of daily life were confiscated. As someone whose house was forcibly demolished by the government, Zhou is not unfamiliar with the injustice in China.
We need to pray for Zhou Jinxia and the many like her in China and other countries where Christians are persecuted. Moreover, we should ask God to give us the courage to be like her in the face of intense persecution that we will see intensify across the globe in these prophesied “last days” before Jesus returns.
YouTube Labels John MacArthur’s Sermon Hate Speech After He Said God Made Us ‘Male and Female’
We should not be surprised when this happens, God has given us many prophecies of what we can expect before Jesus pours out His wrath upon an unrepentant, lawless world and He returns to put things right and usher in His Millennial Kingdom. We are in those prophesied “end times”.
Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, CA, preached a sermon Sunday about biblical sexuality, which as CBN’s Faithwire reported was part of an effort by pastors across North America to protest a new Canadian law that took effect Jan. 8 after being pushed through Parliament with little debate.
The concern is that Canada’s Bill C-4 is broadly worded and could, in effect, ban biblical teachings on sexual ethics, and might even limit personal communications on the subject. Preachers are protesting the law at the pulpits, with 4,000 pastors affirming their opposition as well as willingness to speak out against it, Fox News reported.
According to Liberty Coalition Canada, the bill’s wording is broad enough to allow for “the criminal prosecution of Christians who would speak biblical truth into the lives of those in bondage to sexual sins like homosexuality and transgenderism.”
Standing in the pulpit on Sunday, MacArthur said, “There is no such thing as transgender. You are either XX or XY, that’s it. God made man male and female. That is determined genetically, that is physiology, that is science, that is reality.”
“On the one hand, the reality of that lie and deception is so damaging, so destructive, so isolating, so corrupting that it needs to be confronted, but on the other hand, that confrontation can’t exaggerate what already exists, which is a sense of feeling isolated in relationships,” he said.
But YouTube removed MacArthur’s sermon from its platform and told conservative commentator Todd Starnes that MacArthur’s video presentation was “hate speech.”
“Our team has reviewed your content, and, unfortunately, we think it violates our hate speech policy,” YouTube said, according to Starnes. “We’ve removed the following content from YouTube: ‘There is no such thing as transgender. You are either XX or XY. That’s it. – Pastor John MacArthur.’”
Critics worry the law will perpetuate religious persecution and could even govern private conversations.
“Americans should be preparing for a time when pastors and religious leaders will face persecution for teaching the Word of God,” Starnes warned.
Watch this short video given by an Afghan believer as the Taliban take over his homeland. Sorry, the video has already been taken off Youtube (censorship?). The message below it is still relevant.
Please pray for the Afghan Church to have strength and endurance so they may continue to lead Bible studies, prayer meetings, and are proactively evangelizing during the very events you are seeing in the news. Pray for them to be hidden supernaturally by the hand of the Lord just like in John 8:59 when Jesus disappeared into the crowd.
The Afghan Church and Global Catalytic Ministries (Frontiers Alliance) believe that the best days are before us, and we will witness the greatest movement of salvation among Muslims from the ashes of this catastrophe. It is already happening in Iran.
Pray for those fleeing to the hills to be protected (Psalm 73, Psalm 91)
Pray for miraculous protection for women and children being forcibly taken and those that have already been taken for their protection, salvation, and deliverance. (2 Thessalonians 3:1-5)
Pray that the Afghan Church steps into her identity in Christ and walks in unity with the Holy Spirit. (Ezekiel 37, Romans 15:5-6)
In the days ahead we will need to take these words of Jesus’ seriously:
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” Mark 8:34b-35
Agabus (one of several prophets who came from Jerusalem to Syrian Antioch where Paul was ministering) prophesied that, if Paul went to Jerusalem, he would be bound by the Jews there and handed over to the Gentiles. Paul’s followers pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. Paul’s response;
“Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”Acts 21:13-14
What a challenge this is to us. Even today, while we enjoy relative safety in our country, many brothers and sisters in Christ in countries under anti-Christian regimes are making the same decision as Paul, and they and their families are suffering intense persecution and deprivation as a result.
Who can forget this image?
God has used the sacrifice of these twenty Coptic Christians and one Ghanaian for His purposes. The relatives of the Coptic Christian recently shared their pride in the men’s refusal to deny Jesus and how the tragic deaths of their loved ones has strengthened the faith of the local community.
Three years after their relatives were murdered by ISIS in the infamous “A Message Signed With Blood to the Nation of the Cross” video, members of the Coptic community of Minya province, Upper Egypt, gathered for the inauguration of a new church, The Church of the Libyan Martyrs, dedicated to the memory of these men.
What a challenge this is to all of us. I am not sure how I would respond but I cling to the firm promise of Jesus that He will give me the courage when I need it.
“Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is GIVEN YOU AT THE TIME, for it is not you speaking, but the HOLY SPIRIT.”Mark 13:11
Many evangelicals in the USA have been anticipating some kind of confrontation with the changing social order. Crawford Griffen writes about it in his new book Survival and Resistance in Evangelical America – Christian Reconstruction in the Pacific Northwest. Over the last five years, he says, ” I’ve been writing about what might be one of the most significant trends among American evangelicals – a migration movement into the Pacific Northwest that has resulted in the formation of some very successful and increasingly influential intentional communities.
From small towns in northern Idaho, and elsewhere in the region, writers, artists and polemicists are publishing books with Penguin, Simon & Schuster and Random House, and broadcasting talk-shows on Amazon Prime. While offering different perspectives, they present a similar sense of crisis. The nation is no longer held together by common values, they explain. They argue that the teaching of evolution in public schools, the debates about abortion, gender and marriage, and the guidelines that shut down churches for reasons of public health are different fronts in a long war against Christianity. They recognize that the neutrality of the public square is an impossible ideal. They understand that politics is always about coercion. And so they proposed their solution. While, in the grand scheme of things, the believers who have migrated to the Pacific Northwest are not numerically significant – although they may number in the tens of thousands – they do project considerable soft power. Many of these believers live very visible lives. The community of several thousand members that has been established in Moscow, Idaho, for example, supports a publishing house, a music conservatory and an impressive liberal arts college. Led by Douglas Wilson, whose many publications include a book that he co-authored with Christopher Hitchens, this community sets out to make Moscow a Christian town.
Other migrants into the region prefer more secluded lives. They are attracted by the idea that this region could form an “American Redoubt,” as James Wesley Rawles has argued, a hold-out for those who want to resist the cultural powers that be. Rawles is the author of several novels and preparedness manuals, which are published by Penguin, and his website, survivalblog.com, attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every month. His work sets out a more ambitious agenda for survival and resistance, in which readers are encouraged to adopt evangelical piety while being ready, if necessary, for less spiritual forms of defensive combat. For obvious reasons, those who follow Rawles’ agenda prefer not to attract attention. But for all their differences, Wilson and Rawles agree that believers need to expect an extraordinary cultural crisis in the short to medium term, and prepare for the new world that will follow. While their tactics for dealing with opposition are sharply different, their vision of the future is much the same. Dark skies are on the horizon, but they predict huge numbers of Americans will be converted, the social and political life of the nation will be renewed, and the policy of a renewed republic will be built around the demands of biblical law. Their optimism is appealing but I don’t believe Biblical prophecies such as these two by Jesus supports this optimistic view.
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:9-13
“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.” Matthew 24:21-22
I believe the Bible reveals that those Christians that adopt a praying church as it was in the Book of Acts intent on making disciples in their own communities, loving their neighbours and honouring Jesus regardless of the cost, will have the most impact for the Kingdom in these last days. The power of the Holy Spirit will be once more evident in this Home Church environment.
Police in Finland are investigating the leader of an entire denomination for publishing a booklet that disapproves of homosexuality. The author of that booklet, Dr. Päivi Räsänen, which sets forth the Biblical teachings about sexuality, is also under investigation for the crime of “agitation against an ethnic group,” a statute which added “sexual orientation” to the list of protected classes. The maximum punishment is two years in prison.
Dr. Räsänen, who is very impressive for her integrity in the way she speaks up for Christian truth in the public square. (For example, she points out that the Finnish state church is obligated, by law, to base its teachings on the “Holy Scriptures,” and asks, how could it then be illegal to teach what the Holy Scriptures say?) Here is a sample of what Dr. Räsänen, also a medical doctor, has to say:
Dr. Päivi Räsänen is a member of the Finnish parliament and a former Minister of the Interior, no less!
I believe that ultimately the purpose of these attacks is to eliminate the Word of God and discard the Law of God. It is very problematic that expressing Christian beliefs is often seen as insulting in the West. For example, marriage between a man and a woman has become a concept that is understood as restrictive, even threatening. Concepts such as man and woman, father and mother, are dearly loved concepts, and as old as the history of humanity. The attempt to break down the gender system based on two different genders hurts especially children. It is unfortunate how uncritically the ideology of sexual diversity and LGBT activism has been supported and endorsed even by churches.
I believe that every person has the right to hear the whole truth of God’s Word, both the Gospel and the Law. Only people who recognize their sins need Jesus, the propitiation for our sins. We must have the courage to speak about the dangerous effects of LGBT activism. Debatable themes such as immoral sexual relations have to do with guilt. Guilt cannot be solved by denying it, but only by confessing it and receiving mercy and the message of forgiveness in Jesus’ sacrifice. It is impossible to think that classical Christian doctrine would become illegal in the West.
Please pray for Dr. Räsänen and for the other faithful Christians in Finland and in other parts of the world, where many are enduring much worse persecutions. Remember, persecution comes with the territory
Many Christians worldwide are being persecuted, and the persecution is growing! In this Studio Elective, Michael Weis, who has ministered to the persecuted Church, gives biblical principles about the reality, expectation, and preparation for “Persevering Through the Coming Persecution.”
Hopefully, it will help prepare you for the coming persecution prophesied in the last days before Jesus returns. Persecution of Christians is certainly growing around the world. Christians are increasingly being accused of hate speech and being intolerant. Why, because of holding God’s values on abortion, marriage, sex and gender.
LIVING ETERNAL NOW 