Latest / Challenges of Faith Radio Program / Where do U stand? Ep 3390

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Where do U stand? Ep 3390 · Challenges of Faith Radio Program

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  Speaker 1: Welcome back to Challenges of Faith Radio Program. I'm Gary McCance.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for joining. I'd like to acknowledge God and you,
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  Speaker 1: our listeners. Hey, today's topic, we want to pose a
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  Speaker 1: question as it relates to where do you stand here
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  Speaker 1: in episode 3,397? You say, Gary, what do you mean,
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  Speaker 1: where do you stand? Well, in Britain... A 35-year-old Simeon
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  Speaker 1: Chandra had placed a simple message on the side of
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  Speaker 1: his car using temporary tape. The message read, Jesus Loves You.
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  Speaker 1: And when his insurance company found out, they demanded that
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  Speaker 1: he remove it. They also required a dated photograph proving
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  Speaker 1: that it was removed if he wanted his insurance coverage
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  Speaker 1: to continue. So Chandra pointed out that all kinds of messages, flags,
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  Speaker 1: and slogans are displayed on vehicles. But when a Christian
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  Speaker 1: puts a peaceful message on their own car, it suddenly
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  Speaker 1: appears to become a problem. He's now receiving help from
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  Speaker 1: the Christian Legal Center. You know, it may be tempting
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  Speaker 1: to look at a case like this and not see
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  Speaker 1: why it's such a big deal. After all, no one
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  Speaker 1: put Chandra in jail. No one threatened his life. But
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  Speaker 1: this is where religious freedom can begin to erode. That's
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  Speaker 1: when ordinary Christians are pressured to keep their faith out
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  Speaker 1: of public view. And Christians should pay attention when simply
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  Speaker 1: identifying with Christ begins to carry a penalty. In other
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  Speaker 1: parts of the world, that penalty is already much higher.
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  Speaker 1: For example, Pastor Wayne Lin spent nine months in detention
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  Speaker 1: in China with no hopes of release. Wayne, who earned
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  Speaker 1: a Ph.D. in Old Testament theology from Wheaton College, returned
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  Speaker 1: to China in 2017 and became a leader of Beijing's
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  Speaker 1: Zion Church. In 2018, Chinese authorities officially banned the church,
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  Speaker 1: but believers continue meeting in homes and holding services online.
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  Speaker 1: According to Wayne's wife, the church refused to compromise its
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  Speaker 1: beliefs and continues shepherding its congregation, according to the Bible. Then,
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  Speaker 1: in October 2025, authorities detained 30 Zion church leaders, and
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  Speaker 1: while some have since been released, eight, including Pastor Lynn,
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  Speaker 1: remained in prison. Conditions inside the detention facility are harsh,
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  Speaker 1: and Lynn's wife noted that 20 to 30 people may
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  Speaker 1: be packed until a single cell with prisoners sometimes forced
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  Speaker 1: to sleep on their sides. And because there's not enough room,
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  Speaker 1: you already know that food is going to be poor,
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  Speaker 1: and everyone's health is going to become a concern. And
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  Speaker 1: though it appears there's no end in sight for the
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  Speaker 1: aid and attention, the church faithfully prays for each person's health, safety,
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  Speaker 1: and opportunities to share the gospel. Now I want to
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  Speaker 1: switch over to Nigeria. And if you've been following Challenges
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  Speaker 1: of Faith radio program for a while, then you know
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  Speaker 1: I go around the globe and discuss what's occurring there.
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  Speaker 1: The Christians in Nigeria, the cost can be still higher.
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  Speaker 1: The Fulani people, overwhelmingly Muslim and Fulani militants, have been
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  Speaker 1: responsible for brutal attacks against communities that happen to be
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  Speaker 1: Christian in northern Nigeria. Yet something remarkable is happening among
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  Speaker 1: some Fulani themselves. They're turning to Christ. One man began
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  Speaker 1: questioning his belief system while attending an Islamic school. So eventually,
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  Speaker 1: His friends, who happened to be Christians, told him about
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, and he met a pastor and trusted Christ.
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  Speaker 1: When his mom found out, she handed him a poison
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  Speaker 1: glass of milk. He drank a sip and immediately became sick.
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  Speaker 1: His mother left him in agony, telling him, Let your
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  Speaker 1: God save you. When she later discovered that he was
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  Speaker 1: still alive, she threatened to shoot him. And as he
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  Speaker 1: ran for his life, his brother fired the guns. He
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  Speaker 1: still carries the scar from the bullet that struck his leg.
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  Speaker 1: Another young Fulani man, Amadou, became interested in Christianity and
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  Speaker 1: eventually trusted Christ. Knowing what his family might do if
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  Speaker 1: they discovered his conversion, he ran from his parents' home.
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  Speaker 1: For him, there was no option. If my parents learned
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  Speaker 1: I became a Christian, he said, I would be killed. Today,
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  Speaker 1: both of them are studying at a Bible college, preparing
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  Speaker 1: to become pastors and missionaries. After discovering Christ at tremendous
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  Speaker 1: personal cost, they're still preparing to take the gospel back
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  Speaker 1: into places where following him would be dangerous. So you see,
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  Speaker 1: it's easy to look at Christians suffering in China or
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  Speaker 1: Nigeria and think that that can never happen where you live,
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  Speaker 1: or where you live, or where you live, or here
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  Speaker 1: in the United States. But religious freedom is rarely lost
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  Speaker 1: all at once. It can disappear one small step at
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  Speaker 1: a time. When you look at China, it shows how
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  Speaker 1: far that road can go. Think about it. Technology now
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  Speaker 1: gives governments an ability to monitor their citizens that previous
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  Speaker 1: generations could hardly have imagined. Cameras, facial recognition, and massive
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  Speaker 1: amounts of data can make it increasingly difficult for Christians
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  Speaker 1: to meet or worship without authorities knowing about it. And
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  Speaker 1: you really want to ponder this because once religious freedom
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  Speaker 1: is gone, getting it back may be next to impossible.
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  Speaker 1: Have you thought about it? Did you even hear about it?
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  Speaker 1: I know you did. Thanks for tuning in to Challenges
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  Speaker 1: of Faith radio program. I'm Gary McCants.