Weekend Devotional: Welcoming God's Word

This month, we asked VOM workers to share stories from their visits with persecuted Christians who remain faithful in some of the world's most difficult and dangerous places to follow Christ. As you read this story, we hope you will be encouraged and inspired to a bold and obedient faith.

As I stepped out of the four-wheel drive truck that had just bumped along a rutted dirt road, I was amazed at the reception. Our small group was welcomed with singing and children who tossed flower petals onto the ground. Soon someone placed two large garlands around my neck and a ceremonial turban on my head — a traditional Pakistani way of welcoming guests. I have never experienced such a warm, honoring and celebratory greeting, and I will never forget it.

But I wasn’t the reason the Christians had gathered. I was there to help with a delivery. The group of more than 50 people, including children, had assembled to receive Bibles ― full copies of God’s Word as well as children’s picture Bibles and audio Bibles.

Among the crowd were some of the poorest people in Pakistan, workers who are essentially indentured servants in the brick kiln trade. They are economically trapped in a situation where they may spend their entire lives, from childhood to old age, making bricks from mud. Many are illiterate.

“I request that the whole Christian community pray for them because they live like slaves here and they don’t have basic facilities,” said Firdous, a Christian from a middle-class Pakistani family who donates her time and energy to support Christians laboring in the brick kiln industry.

At the site where I arrived that day, a small building the Christians used as a church had been demolished recently. The Christ followers had met under a blazing sun in the same location where they still gather each Sunday to attend Bible study classes and hear God’s Word taught by a traveling minister. This time, they were gathered to receive their own copies of God’s Word.

“I am very glad that some brothers have come with Bibles and audio Bibles,” said Firdous. “It will be very, very useful to them, and for the teacher to help the children know more about the Bible and Jesus.”

Firdous’s comment made me think of this verse from Isaiah: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news” (Isaiah 52:7). Inspired by her example, I want to help more people around me connect with Scripture and grow in God’s Word — the ultimate Good News.

If you would like to help provide Bibles to persecuted Christians, like our brothers and sisters in Pakistan, click here.