Reflections from our President

Report on the City to City Persecuted Leaders Retreat

I (Corey J) was in Bangkok, Thailand last week co-leading a summit hosted by City to City Asia Pacific for 13 of the most persecuted leaders in their network. It was a high and holy honor to be with these pastors, seminary presidents, attorneys, and evangelists who traveled to join us from Myanmar, Laos, and Bhutan.

I taught four 45-minute sessions on ‘Resilience in Ministry’ from I Kings 19. In this passage, Elijah is completely burned out from years of difficult ministry. He finds himself lying in the wilderness exhausted to the point of almost fatal fatigue.

The Lord asks Elijah the same question twice in the passage, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah? He calls Elijah to engage with him for a moment of self-assessment. The reality is that Elijah was not well; he was depleted in every aspect of his being.

Many of the leaders who attended the summit could relate to Elijah. After years of ministry with little support, they are tired. One pastor from Myanmar mentioned to me that he had been held at gunpoint recently while trying to share the gospel. Another seminary president told me that out of the 80 students in her seminary, 40 have had their homes burned to the ground during the civil war. Over half of the churches that support the seminary have also been burned to the ground. Many of the pastors in her network have fled the nation because of death threats.

So I asked them: How do you think God respond to us in our burnout? Does he withdraw from us? Get angry with us? Does he give us a lecture? Does he take this opportunity to point out our weaknesses? No, he does none of that.

Instead, in I Kings 19, he sends an angel to be with Elijah. Some angels destroy cities, but this angel was sent to demonstrate that our God is a God of profound, personal grace.

This angel was sent to do something we would never have expected - he bakes Elijah a cake and pours him a jug of water. I told the participants that I hoped this week in Bangkok would be like that for them - that they would know the profound, personal grace of God this week.

Walking through the passage, I taught them that God meets Elijah in four distinct ways: first, physically - giving him food and rest. Then spiritually - speaking to him in a still, gentle voice. Third, vocationally, reminding Elijah that he still had important plans for his ministry. And finally, relationally - this is the moment when God calls Elisha to be with Elijah and to one day inherit his ministry!

Then in the final session I asked them to imagine that Elijah represents not only them individually but also their churches, their networks, their nations. I encouraged them to see Elijah as a mirror of the burned out in Myanmar, Laos, and Bhutan, and then asked them to consider how God might want to meet their nations in this time of need. I guided them through each category again - physical, spiritual, vocational, relational - asking them to consider how the Lord might want to meet needs in each of those categories.

Tears were shed as they spoke with desperation mixed with hope about how God might use them to build ministries to bless persecuted Christians back in their homelands. Myanmar leaders quickly designed two impressive projects to bring Gospel-centered trauma healing retreats, one in Yangon, and one in the hill country (where persecution is the worst). In Laos, summit participants made plans to send out two travel teams - one team of pastors and one team of attorneys - who will help persecuted Christians in rural areas of the country where persecution is the greatest.

Luke Alliance is conversations with these leaders in Myanmar and Laos about ways we can come alongside them now that they have returned back home. Please keep these leaders, Luke Alliance, and City to City in your prayers as we consider how to accelerate care ministries for persecuted Christians in the Asia Pacific region in the coming year.

Report on my time with Early Rain and Zion Refugees in Northern Thailand

On my final day in Thailand, I flew from Bangkok to a small city in northern Thailand which has become home to three Chinese refugee families - one from Early Rain Church, and two from Zion church.

I met with the Early Rain family first. The husband used to run the classical school under Wang Yi prior to the 2018 crackdown. The wife was a lead translator of books and materials for the church.

After Wang Yi and many others were arrested in 2018, their lives were turned upside down. They have been detained and interrogated many times. They’ve moved inside China to over 10 different locations since that time to avoid the police. In the past year they made the very difficult decision to leave China and have since spent time in Malaysia, Singapore, Fiji, Bangkok, and now this smaller city.

They are exhausted from all their suffering. The husband has profound anxiety about their future. The whole time we were meeting he was worried about cameras and spies and so he had a hard time sitting still and focusing on the conversation. They don’t have enough income right now to make it for much longer. There is no path for them to emigrate to the U.S. at the current time. Pray for them.

I met with the two Zion “families” next. I say “families” but that’s not accurate because these are wives and children of two Zion pastors who are currently in prison in Beihai, China.

After their husbands were arrested and taken away on October 10th, these two women banded together with their kids to quickly leave the country. They chose Thailand because it's an easy country from which to obtain a visa. These women didn’t know each other very well before they left in a rush (they were at two different Zion campuses in China) but now they are each other’s only friend.

I was deeply impacted by the short time I spent with them. Their husband’s pictures are hung up all over the dash of their cars and on the walls of their homes. They miss their husbands so much! And their kids, especially the little ones, were asking over and over ‘when will daddy come home?’

On one hand, it was heartbreaking to be with them. I’m so angry about what the CCP is doing to pastors for preaching the Gospel. The impact persecution has on these wives and children is simply massive. It’s likely that these four boys in these two families (ages 2, 6, 6, and 10) will grow up without a father at home.

On the other hand, these women have their gaze fixed on Jesus. I see resilient hope in them! They talked about their grief journey, starting with disbelief about their situation after the arrests followed by anger, but now - months later - they are experiencing a joy in their suffering that can only be found in Jesus.

Pray for these two women - they need money, community, and a plan for where they will permanently live. Again, both would love to come to the U.S. but that’s not an available plan right now.

Pray for Luke Alliance as we come alongside them and the other spouses of Zion who’s husbands or wives have been locked up in Beihai, China. The needs are great but we know the heart of God is with widows and orphans, particularly those who’s spouses are in prison for Christ.

Tie back to my trip to Rome/the Vatican

The week before Thailand, I was in Rome. I was invited to the Vatican to meet with Vatican leadership about persecution in China. I was also asked by the U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican to join him at his home for a meeting with 8 other ambassadors to the Vatican from nations like Australia, South Korea, the Philippines, Italy, the Netherlands, France, and more. The goal again, was to raise awareness about persecution in China.

Our hope is to bend the ear and ultimately the will of the Vatican to use their large megaphone to 1 billion Catholics and beyond to speak publicly in prayers, sermons, and statements about the persecution of religious leaders and communities in China. It will take more than one engagement to bend the Vatican’s will on this matter. They are currently very unwilling to speak out against the CCP.

This trip first to Italy and then to Thailand shows how Luke Alliance stands in the gap between the most and least resourced and empowered leaders of the world. Our hope is as we convey the needs of the marginalized to those who have power that help will flow in their direction.

Pray for Luke Alliance - that our ministries of advocacy and care will bridge this power gap and will result in blessing for these persecuted Christians in China, Myanmar, Laos, Bhutan, and beyond.