“It was for freedom that Christ set us free;…”
Galatians 5:1 NASB
Dan and I have had the privilege of ministering in places where freedom is not secure. We have walked in communist countries, military dictatorship countries, countries where the poor have few if any rights.
In Thailand, we experienced three separate military coups. I remember the surprise of the first one, in 2006, when we awoke to find tanks in the streets and soldiers with machine guns lining the sides of the roads. A daunting site on our drive to school!
Our son, Josiah, when working with Karen refugees driven from their homes by brutal military squads was deeply moved by their love and graciousness towards others. He told us of the elders of the children’s homes asking him about orphans in other countries. “Can we take them? We can take them and help them!” He was moved, as we have been many times, at the generosity and kindness of the poor and the oppressed. “Mom, they are the purest Christians I have ever known!”
We taught a group of Lao students in a school along the Thai/Lao border whose parents were mostly Christians, some leaders. Most of our students had friends or family they had visited who had been imprisoned for their faith in Jesus. Still, here they were, hungry to learn how to minister and plant churches among their own people.
I have seen the joy of Nepali Christians singing along a trail as we took the gospel to unreached areas in their country. Each of them had already done some jail time for being Christian. Each of them risked heavier penalties for this outreach. Their courage and joy took my breath away.
In 1986 I took bibles to the underground church of Moscow. The pastor of the church was in prison, the asst. pastor was on house arrest. The woman they sent to meet us at night in a park led us silently to her apartment. Once inside, her joy and laughter lit the darkened room. She was alive with joy. She was alive with freedom.
Americans are by nature a freedom loving people. We have been so blessed to live in a country that has prized and protected religious liberty from the beginning. Still. It is important that we as Christians understand that for us, freedom begins only with Jesus. Christ paid the highest price for our deliverance.
When our freedom is centered in Christ, no man, no government can rob us of it. Our freedom is real no matter our circumstances. We are forever free because Jesus has made us free!
~ Debbie Ecker
