Me: I am glad we are here today!
Prodigal: Me too! We could be someplace not so nice.
Me: We should count our blessings.
This is from the book Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan
One national missionary there served time in 14 different prisons between 1960 and 1975. He spent 10 out of those 15 years suffering torture and ridicule for preaching the Gospel to his people.
His ordeal began when he baptized nine new believers and was arrested for doing so. These five men and four women also were arrested, and each was sentenced to a year in prison. He was sentenced to serve six years for influencing them.
The prison where they were sent was literally a dungeon of death. About 25-30 people were jammed into one small room with no ventilation or sanitation. The smell was so bad that newcomers often passed out in less than half an hour.
The place where Brother P. and his fellow believers were sent was crawling with lice and cockroaches. Prisoners slept on dirt floors. Rats and mice gnawed on fingers and toes during the night. In the winter there was no hear; in summer no ventilation. For food, the prisoners were allowed one cup of rice each day, but they had to build a fire on the ground to cook it. The room was constantly filled with smoke because there was no chimney. On that inadequate diet, most prisoners became seriously ill, and the stench of vomit was added to the other putrefying odors. Yet miraculously, none of the Christians was sick for even one day during the entire year.
After serving their one-year sentences, the nine new believers were released. Then the authorities decided to break Brother P. They took his Bible away from him, chained him hand and foot, then forced him through a low doorway into a tiny cubicle previously used to store dead prisoners until relatives came to claim them.
In the damp darkness, the jailer predicted his sanity would not last more than a few days. The room was so small that Brother P. could not stand up or even stretch out on the floor. He could not build a fire to cook, so other prisoners slipped food under the door to keep him alive.
Lice ate away his underwear, but he could not scratch because of the chains, which soon cut his wrists and ankles to the bone. It was winter, and nearly froze to death several times. He could not tell day from night, but as he closed his eyes, God let him see the pages of the New Testament. Although his Bible had been taken away, he was still able to read it in total darkness. It sustained him as he endured the terrible torture. For three months he was not allowed to speak to another human being.
Brother P was transferred to many other prisons. In each, he continually shared his faith with both guards and prisoners.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
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