We
have been born into a new life which has an inheritance that can't be destroyed
or corrupted and can't fade away. That inheritance is kept in heaven for you,
since you are guarded by God's power through faith for a salvation that is
ready to be revealed at the end of time. You are extremely happy about these
things, even though you have to suffer different kinds of trouble for a little
while now. The purpose of these troubles is to test your faith as fire tests
how genuine gold is. Your faith is more precious than gold, and by passing the
test, it gives praise, glory, and honor to God. This will happen when Jesus
Christ appears again. Although you have never seen Christ, you love him. You
don't see him now, but you believe in him. You are extremely happy with joy and
praise that can hardly be expressed in words as you obtain the salvation that
is the goal of your faith. 1 Peter 1:4-9
This past Sunday Brother Van preached
on persecution. There are many
Christians around the world who are seriously persecuted for the stand they
take for Christ. Some are even
killed. The devotionals for the rest of
the week are going to focus on Christians who are imprisoned for their faith. Read their stories and pray for them and
their families.
Wenxi Li
A
Christian bookstore employee, Wenxi Li, and another man associated with the
bookstore, Lacheng Ren, were arrested and sentenced to prison terms for their
role in the Enyu Bookstore in Taiyuan. On June 17, 2013, Wenxi Li was sentenced
to two years in prison by the court of Xiaodian district of Taiyuan in central
China.
In 2012, Wenxi Li, a book store worker in Beijing, traveled
to Shanxi province to help local Christians there open a new book store in the
capital city of Taiyuan. But police raided the new business, Enyu Bookstore,
and confiscated hundreds of books that Wenxi had brought with him from Beijing.
According to
the South China Morning Post, one security worker allegedly shouted at Wenxi
and his co-workers, “Don’t you dare bring Christian culture here. This is our
turf.”
On Dec. 19, 2012, Wenxi was asked to come to a police
station to retrieve the $6,000 worth of books that police had seized. But when
he arrived at the police station, he was immediately arrested and sent to
prison. Police were quoted as saying Wenxi was denied bail because of the
seriousness of his “crime.”
His wife, Cai Hong Li, said police told her that her husband
was arrested because he was involved in an “illegal business.” However, Cai
Hong said the bookstore had a legal license to operate and that her husband was
not involved with managing the business. He was “just sent to find a rental
place for a new store,” Cai Hong said.
Since her husband’s arrest, Cai Hong said she and her two
children have received harassment from anonymous sources. She added that she
fears for her children’s safety.
While in prison awaiting trial, Wenxi led three people to
Christ. His family is planning to appeal his case.
Corrupt government
officials are free to abuse many Christians.
Pray for this fellow believer and his family today.
