04/09/2020 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – My passion for perse­cuted Christians was first ignited when I led a mission trip to India in the summer of 2019. Growing up in an Indian household, I thought that I knew everything about my people and culture. In a sense, I did; but in many ways, the lives of my people were radically different than I ever could have imagined–particularly in the realm of Christianity.

Before this trip, I was well aware of the Gospel call to take up our cross and follow God, but to see it lived out in such a real and honest way was eye-opening and convict­ing. While there, my team and I were able to speak with and witness Indian pastors taking on Matthew 16:24 as a radical call to die to themselves and live for Jesus. However, this was not radical at all to them–it was normal.

Jabez Christie, the pastor who accompanied us throughout the trip, did not only live this call, but embodied it. He told us stories of how he would purposely go to villages to share the Gospel and hand out Bibles, knowing that the Hindu nationalists in the village could beat him for doing so. One of my team members asked him, “Why do you go by yourself? Why don’t you take people with you to defend yourself?”

He responded: “Why do I need protection when my God protects me? Even if I am beaten, I will rest on 2 Corinthians 12:10, ‘I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.’”

This statement broke me. The hard truth was right in front of my eyes: the Christian walk that I was living was not the same as that of Pastor Jabez. One of us was wrong…and it was me. At that moment, the Lord revealed to me that the Gospel from my perspective was more a gospel of convenience rather than that of sacrifice. It was true that I loved Jesus, but why? Honestly, it was because of the pre-eminence, the titles, the roles, and the prosper­ity that came with it–not because of the true beauty of the cross.

A Gospel of Sacrifice

As the trip continued, my spirit became conflicted and disturbed as I encountered the realities of other Christ-followers whose lives were in every way more complicated than my own privileged life. Frankly, what I began to feel was disgust. I was disgusted with both myself and the American Church for preaching a gospel of complacency and comfort rather than conviction.

When I returned to the States from India, I wanted to share my experience with oth­ers and find a way to help more people like Pastor Jabez. For several months, I prayed for the Lord to reveal to me the right way to pursue this mission. My prayers were answered when I ran into Matias, the Advocacy Director at International Christian Concern. He shared with me his heart behind what he does and the need to spread awareness for the persecuted Church. When he asked me to start a club on my col­lege campus at Southeastern University, I knew this was the answer I was looking for.

ICC Comes to SEU

Southeastern does a phenomenal job bringing its students closer to the Lord. Nevertheless, the persecuted Church is a strange topic in American Church culture because we are not conscientious of what happens beyond our own small church homes. Even for those who do know about the persecuted, it’s difficult to know how to get involved in their lives. Going a step

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