For those who have not attended a conference, the main focus is to bring awareness to the persecuted church around the world. This is done by the testimony of several Christians who had undergone significant persecution- Men and Women who have suffered torture, starvation, and other atrocities and have lived to tell....not only lived to tell, but lived to tell it through the breath of forgiveness for their captors.
One of the special afternoon speakers was a woman by the name of Gracia Burnham. Gracia and her husband Martin were aviation missionaries in the Philippians. On a whim, she decided to book a one night stay at a nice resort in the Southern Philippians so she and her husband could celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary. At 4 a.m. during this one night stay they heard a loud knock on their door- It was a group of terrorists coming to kidnap them and several others....this began a 1 year 11 day captivity that would separate them from their 3 young children. Tragically, on the last day of their captivity a gun battle broke out that would take the life of Martin (Gracia was shot in the leg during the battle) and release Gracia.
While Gracia spoke on Saturday, to the packed out Sanctuary of people at my home church, we learned about the hard times she and Martin went through during their one year captivity. We learned about the forgiveness she has extended to her captors, about the Organization she started after getting home- to bring Jesus to people she was treated so wrong by, and most astonishingly we learned about the passionate love she has for the Lord- How the Lord has allowed her, in His strength, to take all of her hard experiences and present them in a light that gives hope- Hope that no matter what we go through in life God is with us and will give us strength .......
I have a small list of Hero's in the Christian Faith- People that have walked our earth in recent generations who have been more than 'faith' conquers in Jesus Christ... Corrie Ten Boom is on my list among a few others....Gracia is also on that list-
A woman who has been kidnapped, starved, emotionally battered by her captors, widowed, and left to be a single mom to 3 children
A woman who through all of the above did not let her Faith fall away and become bitter, angry, and isolated
A woman who has allowed the Lord to heal her, comfort her, restore her
A woman who has also allowed the Lord to fill her with forgiveness for the ones that persecuted her and has brought this forgiveness story to thousands and thousands around the world.
Thank you Gracia.
Gracia has written a book about her experience while in Captivity (In the Presence of My Enemies)- A book that has made the New York Times Best Seller list....
It's a must read!!
P.S. Here is a comment (facebook) from my sister Jodi:
What ministered to me the most was what Martin told her while in captivity when she asked him why the Lord would allow them to go through this to only die in the end. Martin's response was that it was their captors day of grace. Each day that they were in captivity was the Lord's extended grace to their captors. What an amazing revelation. We get so bogged down in our trial that to see what the Lord may be doing in the life of the one hurting us and to realize that your testimony during that trial may be what turns the heart of your enemy to Him. That just hit me like a ton of bricks b/c I'm the one plotting revenge when I get through the trial. My "persecutor" will wish he/she never messed with me. To look through the lens of Christ is such a gift.
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| Martin and Gracia during their captivity |
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