Better than Money

“These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:7-8, NIV.

John’s* homeland is closed to Christianity. In John’s country, it is illegal to be a follower of Jesus. He moved to a neighboring country at the age of 30 to work for a mining company on a two-year contract. He came to make money, but he found something more valuable. He met Jesus, and now money is not that important to him.

Following Jesus changed John’s life, and his roommates didn’t like the changes. John used to drink, curse and gamble with them, but all that stopped when he found Christ. When he’d try to read his Bible, his roommates would turn off the lights. He’d move to another room, and they would follow him and turn out the lights as soon as he started to read. The only place he could read the Bible was in the bathroom, because he could lock himself in and they couldn’t turn off the lights.

One evening John’s roommates got drunk. They gathered up sticks and rocks and decided to beat John up. They told John that he had become a stranger to them, and he thought he was better than them. As they were about to start the beating, God intervened by sending an older man.

The man said, “John has a right to choose what he believes. Why are you so angry that he believes something different than you?” His roommates had no answer so they disbanded and John was saved until then next time they got drunk.

John has followed Jesus for eight months. He already leads a church. He knows how to witness, baptize, and conduct the Lord’s Supper. When his contract is up he plans on sharing Jesus in his homeland, even though he knows it could cause him trouble with the government. He can’t help but share the faith he’s found that is better than gold.

Pray that:

God will give boldness to believers like John in the face of open persecution.

God will call many witnesses like John to take the gospel into hard to reach areas of Pacific Rim.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.