Extreme Faithfulness to Christ

By Nancy L. Cox

WCFS Senior 

Romania 1940’s:

The Soviets were sending fear through the country of Romania as they invaded after WWII.  Even though Russia was their enemy, some Romanian children walked with confidence and unwavering smiles on their faces to greet the Russian soldiers.  Reminded of their own children that they had to leave behind in Russia, the soldiers greeted them tenderly, patting their heads.

One of the officers asked the boys if they wanted some candy, they said “Thank you, sir,” and then said: “We have some gifts for you as well.” Digging into their pockets they pulled out some gospel tracks and New Testaments that were in Russian. The soldiers asked what it was and they said with mouths full of candy; “It is a book of Good News”.

The soldiers looked through them. One of the officers recognizing that they were religious, knowing the danger of possessing them, looked at the boys with great unease on his face. If it had been adults handing them out he would have arrested them, but what harm could children do?  Little did he know that these children had passed hundreds of these tracks and New Testaments out which had led many Russian soldiers to God.  Where adults could not dare to go, children were able to be used by God to further His Kingdom.1

In the devotional by The Voice of the Martyrs called Extreme Devotion, I have been humbled by the many stories of extreme faithfulness and commitment to Christ and His Word.  I was especially amazed by the many stories of the devotion of children to the cause of Christ.  It makes me wish I had the kind of strength the children had, to be tortured and killed for the love of Christ and the gospel.

I read a story about a little boy named Ibaragi Kun from Japan that was sentenced to be crucified along with twenty-five other believers.  When an official saw him, he had pity on him because of his age. He tried to get the boy to denounce his faith but the boy said to him “Sir, it would be far better if you yourself became a Christian. Then you could go to heaven with me.” Then the young boy asked the startled officer “Sir, which cross is mine?”2  

In Romania 1989, protests broke out due to the needless deaths of hundreds in Timisoara.  During one protest soldiers were sent to break it up, but thirteen children made a human barrier to keep the soldiers away from the crowd. The soldiers advanced anyway and the children shouted, “Please don’t kill us.”  The soldiers did not heed their pleas and killed all thirteen of the children.

 Some say that angels started the revolution, by surrounding the children and gave them the holy courage that they needed to stand against evil.  Tanks were sent to every town in Romania to suppress the uprising but finally, the soldiers yielded to the peaceful crowds and in the town of Sibiu, the soldiers and officers actually joined the crowd as two ministers climbed on top of a tank and led everyone in prayer.  A memorial was placed where the children were killed. It is believed that the death of those thirteen children was what gave the country victory over the grip of the Generation of Communist oppression. 3

The Bible says that unless we become as little children, we cannot enter his kingdom (Matt.18:3). Children have an ability to put all of their trust in God; they can fully rely on him for all of their needs. When God says to trust, obey and rest then they take him literally. They have a kind of faith that is not legalistic or limited. They don’t put God in a box because they know that it is impossible to do so. They are willing to let God use them…even if it means dying in the process. 

When God wants us to have a child-like faith, it’s not being a baby and crying when we don’t get our way. It’s learning how to fully trust in His love and know that He will take care of us through the hardest trials that we might face through life.  It helps to think about the faith of the Christians in countries that are hostile to the gospel of Christ.  They have faith in the One that is worth dying for.  They don’t care about what the world thinks, what their government thinks, or what their family thinks.  All they care about is what God thinks. 

They look forward to hearing Him say, “Well done good and faithful servant enter into my joy,” (Matt. 25:14-30).  May we all have that kind of faith, to trust God with everything that He has done or is about to do.  I pray that God will give strength to the persecuted Church and that they will find strength and comfort in His word.  I pray that we, who have not suffered like our brothers and sisters over seas, will learn to pray with a fervor that will give them strength and encouragement.

May we learn to call out to God in our time of need. May we remember to call out to Him when we are at the peek of our joy in Him.  May Christ be the center of our lives.  May the faith of those who have gone before, give us the courage to face the battles that we may face.  May their example show us God’s faithfulness in all things.

I Peter 2:1-10

“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, and hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,

 2) As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,

3) If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

4) Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,

5) You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

6) Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.’

7) Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief of the cornerstone,’

8) And

‘A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.’

They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

9) But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

10) Who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”

1 The Voice of the Martyrs; Extreme Devotion pg. 310 ©2001, The Voice of the Martyrs.

 2 IBID; pg.32

 3 IBID; pg. 82