Christians Cannot Die

At least that is the political stance in this closed country. One of our brothers in this closed country sat down next to me and just poured out his heart.

“One of our sisters died. Of course, most of her family are not believers. And when the family went to bury her there were problems. The local Mullah refused her services. The local government officials refused her a burial plot. The family was denied a traditional funeral by their friends. It almost seemed like a cartoon gone awry, except that it wasn’t funny. Basically, it was a total disaster.

“We are struggling with how to bury our dead, how to minister to those grieving, how to reach through the tragedy of death to share the hope of a real future in heaven with those who have no hope. This is just the first one in our region, we know others have begun to wrestle with the issue, but it is a first for us. And as yet, is still totally unresolved. Hopefully no one else dies anytime soon so we have time to sort through this a bit.

“Pray with us. This just adds to the burden we bear. The government is always watching, arresting, searching our homes, threatening. Family members are afraid to associate with us. Friends disappear whenever there are difficulties. And even believers shrink away. And now we are becoming a stench to all because we cannot bury our dead.

“We do not grieve as those who have no hope. Jesus Christ will sustain us. We will go on. But sometimes the joy is just missing.”