The iron bolt which so mysteriously fastens the door of hope and holds our spirits in gloomy prison, needs a heavenly hand to push it back.
C.H. Spurgeon

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Tidbit #15: The Persecuted Church

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#1 · November 1, 2003, 9:34 am

Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>

 
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THE HOPE CHEST
with Virginia Knowles
Tidbit #15 on November 1, 2003
The Persecuted Church
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The Hope Chest is a free e-mail newsletter with encouragement and practical teaching tips. The writer is Virginia Knowles, wife of Thad, mother of nine children, and author of Common Sense Excellence: Faith-Filled Home Education for Preschool to 5th Grade, and The Real Life Home School Mom.

Hope Chest Contact Information:

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Please forward this issue of the Hope Chest to your friends, even if they are not home schooling!

 
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Dear Hope Chest readers,
 
Last week's Hope Chest was about the priority of the local church, but this week I would like us to focus on the persecuted church around the globe.  It’s not pleasant to think about, but Christian believers in many countries are severely persecuted for their faith: violently murdered or attacked, thrown into jails with horrible living conditions, homes and churches burned down, children taken away, denied job and educational opportunities, or any other number of injustices.   We must not neglect our suffering brethren.  A vital part of home schooling is opening the eyes of our children to the real world beyond their own  comfortable neighborhoods.
 
This Hope Chest issue has several short sections to encourage and equip you in this quest:
  • International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church and Voice of the Martyrs
  • An Evening in the Catacombs
  • A Word from Isaiah
  • "Expostulation" by John Greenleaf Whittier
 
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International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church
and
Voice of the Martyrs
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This year's International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church is Sunday, November 9.  What can you do? Find out more at the Voice of the Martyrs web site: http://www.persecution.com. If you click on the International Day of Prayer (IDOP) link, you can download PDF documents such as prayer guides for children and adults, national flags, dramatic readings, and church bulletins.  You can also sign up to receive their quarterly Link newsletter which is published for children: http://www.linkingup.com/ We have participated in some of the service projects listed in Voice of the Martyrs and Link magazines. A few years ago, my older daughters collected blankets for Sudanese refugees. Another time, they sent money to fund a helium balloon gospel outreach into North Korea. One of our younger children created a Geography fair exhibit on The Persecuted Church using maps and photos from Voice of the Martyrs magazine.   These are such valuable resources for every Christian!
 
Other helpful links can be found at:
 

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An Evening in the Catacombs
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Here is a dramatic educational idea that we did two years ago. This is an excerpt from the Geography section in the Social Studies chapter of my book Common Sense Excellence: Faith-Filled Education for Preschool to 5th Grade  [http://www.thehopechest.net/CSE.html].
Balance between fun and sober reality: Help your children realize that history is not always pleasant. When we studied Ancient Rome, one of my daughters complained that I wasn’t making history fun. As I opened our Famous Men of Rome book to that day’s chapter on Nero, a very wicked emperor, I had to remind her that history isn’t always amusing! Sometimes it is quite sobering, at least if we do it justice and don’t try to trivialize it for the sake of entertainment. However, a few days later I had a brainstorm to plan a meaningful evening in the “catacombs” to commemorate the Roman Christians who were persecuted for their faith. The catacombs are a labyrinth of manmade tunnels and rooms carved out underneath the city of Rome. Reportedly, several million martyred Christians are buried there, and countless others went into hiding, living and worshipping together in such dark, dank quarters. When I presented the idea to Mary and Julia, then ages 14 and 12, we agreed to set it up as a surprise for the younger children. They immediately started making a special cassette tape with dripping water and footsteps sound effects. That Sunday evening, after baby Naomi went to bed, Dad took the other ones, ages 2 to 10, into the living room and dressed them in bed sheets to look like Romans. Mary, Julia and I scrambled around in the dining room to get ready. We moved the table against the doorway (so everyone would have to crawl under to get in!), arranged the chairs in a semi-circle, covered them with white tablecloths to simulate catacomb walls, turned off the lights and lit several candles. Of course, we also had to shoo away the younger ones who were trying to peek! After we called them in, we explained what we were doing, turned on the sound effects tape, and sang the doxology and a few worship choruses. Julia snuck in with a bowl of ginger snaps wafers, saying she had brought food from up above in the city of Rome. We pretended that we hadn’t had food in days. I turned on the All Glory, Laud and Honor CD, which has two 4th century hymns on it. (It is produced by Diana Waring in conjunction with her Romans, Reformers and Revolutionaries history curriculum.) I read aloud a vivid description of the catacombs from the book Martyr of the Catacombs: A Tale of Ancient Rome * and Dad said a prayer. About this time, Mary snuck out through the door to the garage and banged on the front door. When we opened it, a Roman soldier came in to arrest Julia, who promptly had a heart attack and died on the spot. We said a eulogy over her, and Rachel and Lydia inscribed a memorial to her on the wall (actually, poster board) as they would have done in the real catacombs. Fortunately, we were able to resurrect her in time to get back to the modern world. My four year old talked about this for days! I am glad we had the chance to liven up our Ancient Rome study, while still focusing on the issue of religious persecution.
* Looking for the book Martyr of the Catacombs? Here is the page at the publisher’s web site.

 
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A Word from Isaiah
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In the "In Search of Sanity" chapter of my book The Real Life Home School Mom [www.thehopechest.net/RealLife.html] I wrote about how contemplating and alleviating the suffering of others helps keep our own problems in perspective.   I find this so true in my own life, especially as I read the promises and exhortations of Isaiah 58:6-12:
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter -- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.  You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings."

To see Matthew Henry's commentary on this passage at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, click here:
 

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Expostulation
by John Greenleaf Whittier
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Expostulation

(one verse)

by John Greenleaf Whittier,

Quaker abolitionist

from The Liberator, September 13, 1834,

reprinted in American Poetry

 

Rise now for Freedom! not in strife

Like that your sterner fathers saw,

The awful waste of human life,

The glory and the guilt of war:

But break the chain, the yoke remove,

And smite to earth Oppression’s rod,

With those mild arms of Truth and Love,

Made mighty through the living God.

 

To read a short bio of Whittier, click here:
To read "Laus Deo", Whittier's joyful response to the end of the Civil War, click here: http://users.erols.com/kfraser/union/homefront/laus-deo.html
To read Whittier's "The Call of the Christian" and "The Christian Slave" click here:
 
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May God bless you all richly as you seek to "smite to earth Oppression's rod" on behalf of the suffering saints!
In His Sovereign Grace,
Virginia Knowles
 

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