Making Our Voices Heard

 

Al’s affinity for bananas has led to an unexpected friendship with one of the workers at our local supermarket. He and Roberto, who works in the produce department, get a chance to talk every few days after all of the bananas in the house have disappeared,

 The store is only a few miles from home and happens to be on the way to and from the gym. So, it’s very convenient to pick up more fruit or other items when needed. We usually do our main grocery shopping together on Mondays, one of the days Roberto is scheduled to work, and often see him in the produce aisle.

Al is always happy when the shelves are stocked with ripe bananas! Al’s theory is that at our age only ripe bananas should be bought, because who knows if we’ll be around long enough for the green ones to ripen! 

Recently a new venue opened in one corner of the store, a “made to order” pizza place. The smell of pizza baking in the ovens filled the entire facility, making it difficult to concentrate on buying potatoes and veggies in the adjacent area! 

When Al disappeared one day, I couldn’t figure out where he had gone—until I heard a  voice calling out, “Get your hot pizza here! Get your hot pizza!” And along came Al, pushing his cart towards the produce area all the while advertising the new restaurant.

“Well,” he explained, “they aren’t getting any business, so I thought I’d help them out. You know like the hot dog vendors at the football games.”

Roberto happened to be putting bananas on the shelves nearby. When Al spotted him, he switched his singsong call to “Get your bananas here. Get your ripe bananas!”

Oh my! Roberto responded with a laugh and a big hug for Al. The three of us laughed and talked for a minute before we let Roberto go back to work and finished our shopping.

Putting together bits and pieces of conversations with him over the past several weeks, we discovered that he was originally from the Philippines but worked for seventeen years in the middle east. “It was there that I was saved!” he shared one day.

 Even though he was living and working in a country that was closed to Christianity, someone approached him with the good news of Jesus Christ to which he responded with an open heart. Christians in that country had to share their faith discretely, because to do so overtly meant risking severe punishment.

When Roberto became a Christian, he became involved in a house church. Meetings and worship services had to be very secretive. If the meeting started at a certain time, everyone had to be there beforehand, because the doors would be locked. Windows were covered; and sounds were prevented from being heard outside the meeting room. People came by themselves or at the most two by two.

“We followed a very strict code,” he said, meaning that they had to be extremely careful. Those who were from the Philippines conversed in the Tagalog language, which made detection harder for authorities.

“You know,” he said in a subsequent conversation, “There are still underground churches everywhere in closed countries. The good news is spreading and people are being saved. We need to keep praying! That’s the most important thing we can do!” 

Well, talk about being inspired! Roberto has been a blessing to us! Who would have thought that such a good friendship could be formed in the produce section at the grocery store?

Sunday, November 6^th, is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. The thing that people living in countries closed to the gospel want and ask for most is prayer! Perhaps your church, Bible study group or circle of friends can organize a prayer vigil on that day.

Like Roberto said, “Praying is the most important thing we can do!”

The focus of the IDOP this year is that people in the persecuted church might receive Bibles. Along with praying, we can also support ministries that provide Bibles to closed countries.

 Let’s make our voices heard…in heaven and on earth.

“As God’s fellow workers, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, ‘In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 NIV