Understanding the Church in Persecuted Parts of the World

Understanding the church in persecuted parts of the world can be difficult. Filtering through terminology, politics, other religions, and even fake news floating around Facebook can be daunting. For missionaries, words like “underground” can create some interest in the work they’re doing. As a ministry team, YouthHOPE has always tried to present the truth of who we are working with, to tell their stories, and to share what God is doing around the world without exaggeration or misleading information. We are still learning a lot about about the church in South Asia. It is different from region to region even within the same country.

Here is what we do know: we traveled illegally into a country where the church does not have the freedoms we have here at home. We worked with some amazing leaders who care about their country, their cities and villages, and about youth. They face obstacles which we are only beginning to understand. They have an inspirational faith. For 3 days, 25 ministry leaders -- young and old, volunteer and full time, men and women -- came together to be trained in our Youth Ministry Leadership program. They left encouraged, uplifted, connected, and passionate about their calling to reach the youth of their country. The training is great, but for those who are working against the grain, I believe sometimes the fellowship is better.