Unspoken

peter wray

Untold and rare stories of persecuted or impoverished believers receiving God’s Word

Stories compiled by

In order to not jeopardize the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ, names have been changed in many of the tes-timonies in order to protect them and their families.

Please Note:

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Table of Contents

Foreword.........................................................4Introduction....................................................5Tortured for owning an iPad?.......................6Goodbye Buddha, Hello Jesus....................10Mercy for a Mullah.......................................15I Prayed 10 Years for this Bible...................19A Rickshaw Driver’s Dreams......................23Blind Rwandans Hearing the Light...........28The Happy Smuggler...................................31Blind Faith.....................................................38Selling Bibles to Muslims............................42Somu’s Salvation..........................................47Bonus: Encourage a Secret Believer...........51

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Christians should never underesti-mate the power of God’s Word to trans-form lives and entire communities. His Word is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword.”

Over the years we have been priv-ilged to see millions of people in Asia come into new life in Jesus Christ be-cause of the Bible. “Unspoken” is a col-lection of testimonies that is sure to en-courage your own walk with God.

-Paul HattawayAuthor of The Heavenly Man

Foreword byPaul Hattaway

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Owning a Bible is a luxury for Chris-tians in many parts of the world. And in some countries, it’s a crime.

But every Christian should have access to a copy of God’s Word in his or her own language.

In the pages to come you will read stories and testimonies about believers from around the world who waited years before they had access to a Bible. We hope that these testimonies of changed lives will encourage you, and remind you of what we so often take for granted—the power of Scripture to truly change lives.

Introduction

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North KoreaTortured and imprisoned

for owning an iPad?

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The cold of the prison cell quickly penetrated Joseph’s thin clothes chilling him to the bone. His body

ached from the beating he had endured. His organs felt deeply bruised and out of

Many North Korean followers of Jesus must bury their Bibles when not in use to keep authorities from finding them

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place. He was pretty sure his knee was broken beyond repair. Was this the end?

Joseph, a North Korean underground Christian, had been arrested after being found with a digital media player. Digital devices such as tablets or smart phones are illegal to own for the average citizen. But Joseph’s torture and prison sentence had come when officials found a Bible and other Christian resources loaded on his device.

Joseph had acquired the media play-er during a covert visit to a safe house in China. The safe house provides emergen-cy aid, discipleship, and digital scripture to North Korea believers able to escape the closed borders of their country.

Joseph knew he risked his life by tak-ing the media player back inside North Korea, but he also knew that many in his

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underground church network desperate-ly needed the hope it contained. On the floor of the prison cell, he had questioned his actions. But with each thought of doubt, the Holy Spirit had brought reas-surance that his sacrifice was not in vain.

Through God’s incredible provision, we were able to secure the release of Jo-seph from what may have been a slow death sentence. Although badly shaken, he is now recovering and wanted us to know that his spirit remains firm in his faith.

The Digital Bible project has infiltrat-ed the closed North Korean borders with God’s Word though the hands of others besides Joseph. Even now, many under-ground churches are secretly using these incredible tools to grow in their faith de-spite threats of severe persecution.

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MyanmarGoodbye Buddha, Hello Jesus

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Trying to decipher the doctrines of Buddhism has been compared to searching for a black cat in a dark

room in which there really is no cat. Not an easy task. There is, however, one of

A 70-year spiritual journey: Buddhist monk Dokan

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Buddha’s teachings that makes very good sense:

Do not accept anything by mere tradition....Do not accept any-thing just because it accords with your scriptures....Do not accept anything merely because it agrees with your preconceived notions...

Thankfully, some of Buddha’s followers heed his advice regarding the traditions, scriptures and preconceived notions of Buddhism, and they’re turning to Jesus. One of them attended a pastor’s confer-ence in Myanmar (Burma).

For the first forty years of his life he was a Muslim, and he was known as Raja Mohammed Adam. From reading the Koran, he learned about Jesus, respect-ing Him as a prophet. But Islam did not fulfill Raja’s deepest spiritual yearnings.

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Most of the citizens of his country were Buddhists, and Raja was quite familiar with their numerous temples that dotted Myanmar’s landscape. Hoping to find what he was searching for, he joined the ranks of the Buddhist monks who roam the streets each morning, barefoot, beg-ging for rice. He moved into a monastery, and his name was changed to Dokan.

Buddhists believe that all suffering stems from unfulfilled desire, so Bud-dhist monks attempt to restrain their desires, following a path of asceticism. But after twenty-seven years of begging, fasting, meditation and celibacy, Dokan still hadn’t found what he was searching for. So he borrowed a Bible. As he read through the four Gospels, he encountered a different Jesus than he had learned about through Islam. Jesus was much

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more than a prophet. He was the Cre-ator and Master—in the flesh. As he read, it seemed as if Jesus was saying to him, “You are just like a Pharisee.” Dokan was cut to the heart. He decided to repent and follow Jesus. That was eight years ago.

After thirty years of being a monk, and now at age seventy in one of Asia’s poor-est nations, Dokan is afraid to leave his monastery, not knowing how he would survive. But he is looking for an opportu-nity, and he knows that his fellow monks are very suspicious and watching him closely. He told me he would renounce his robe immediately if he had a way of escape. Please pray for him as we work on a strategy to help him with the exodus for which he longs.

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IranMercy for a Mullah

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Morad, a Christian, sat waiting in a government office that issues li-censes for cars. He noticed that a

man sitting in the waiting area with him was a mullah (the term for an educated Muslim trained in religious law and doc-trine, and who usually holds an official

Muslim religious students

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post). The wait had been long, and the mullah grew increasingly impatient. Un-able to contain his frustration any longer, he blurted out loudly, “The people work-ing in the office are in need of God’s for-giveness!” (Haven’t we all felt the urge to say something like that in such circum-stances?)

Seizing the opportunity, Morad asked the mullah about forgiveness. The mul-lah admitted that Muslims could never be sure their sins have been forgiven. Morad then shared what the Bible teach-es about forgiveness. The mullah dis-missed his words with a smoke screen of standard Muslim arguments, but Morad wisely replied, “I am not here to argue with you, I just want to share with you the wonderful truth about Jesus and how He truly is able to forgive sins.”

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Morad then rushed out to his car to fetch a New Testament. “I’d like to give you this New Testament,” Morad told him upon his return. “Please read it. You can meet Christ and understand what He says about forgiveness,” he continued. The mullah respectfully accepted the New Tes-tament, promising Morad that he’d read it.

I never found out whether the mullah received his car license that day, but I know he received something infinitely more pre-cious—the Word of God.

Two Iranian men happy to receive their own New Testaments

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ChinaI Prayed 10 Years

for this Bible

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“You must be an angel!” Yang Mei told the courier. He had

just handed her a brand new Chinese Bible, something she would never have dared to purchase, as she knew too many believers who had been imprisoned after purchasing government-printed Bibles.

75-year-old Swei Arr with her first Bible, for which she prayed ten years

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She had resigned herself to the fact that she would never own a copy of God’s Word. “Glory to God for the big and great present you have given me!” Yang Mei exclaimed, bubbling with joy. It was a dream come true.

That courier continued his mission, taking Bibles to other Chinese believers.

When Kuan Yuh thankfully received his new Bible, he told the courier that he had been saving for five years in hopes of owning his own copy. Kuan offered him what he had saved—the equivalent of $15.60. The courier graciously refused, and listened as Kuan told him about other Chinese brothers and sisters in Christ who were also longing for Bibles, and who were suffering persecution for their faith.

“Oh Lord, thank You and may my joy reach Your throne!” Chang Sang Sio cried

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out when she received her own copy of the Book for which she had prayed. It was the first time she had ever seen an actual Bible! The only scriptures she knew were those that members of her house church recited from memory during their secret meetings. She would write them down so she could read them at home.

“This precious Book will give hope to the people who have none.” Yang Ch-uang Hung had prayed for two years for a Bible so that she could use it to bring her family and friends to the Lord.

“I have prayed ten years for a Bible,” said smiling Swei Arr, “ever since I first believed in Jesus.” Now 75 years old, she told the courier that if she died that day she would be a happy woman, now that God had answered the longing of her heart! (See her photo on page 20.)

2323

IndiaA Rickshaw Driver’s Dreams

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Ram operates a rickshaw taxi ser-vice in Northern India to support his family. Two years ago, he be-

gan having dreams of “a beautiful man and his face often shines with marvel-ous light. This man call [my] name with much love.” Neither Ram nor his wife

Pastor Thanish presents a new Bible to Ram, a rickshaw driver

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understood what the dreams meant.One day Ram noticed two of his pas-

sengers holding a newspaper with the face of Jesus being used in a company’s Christmas greetings ad. This is the man who comes to my dream, he thought, and asked the couple who it was. Jesus, they said, the God of the Christians. This was the first time he had ever heard of Christians or of Jesus. Unable to forget his dreams nor the face in the newspaper, Ram spent the next 3 months asking friends and people in his village if they knew any-thing about Him. None could help Ram.

A short time later a Christian man named Thanish and his wife were trav-eling from a nearby village to pray for a family, and happened to be riding in Ram’s rickshaw. As had become his cus-tom with his passengers, Ram showed

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them the newspaper clipping with Jesus’ picture, and asked whether they knew anything about Him.

Thanish and his wife knew Him, they said, much to Ram’s delight. After they spoke to him about Jesus, Ram invited them to his home where they prayed for his family. Ram immediately began at-tending their prayer meetings and vis-ited the home of Thanish and his wife to ask more questions.

And it just so happened that a ship-ment of Bibles had just arrived, so he gave Ram a copy (photo on page 24). Ram said, “I will keep this Bible with me every time and…I will read it and share with others the stories.” Some of those others will no doubt be the 7 family members he now brings with him to church.

Many new believers like Ram are

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waiting for a Bible. Many of us take for granted the value of owning a copy of God’s Word.

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RwandaBlind Rwandans

Hearing the Light

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Placing Bibles into the hands of be-lievers who have never owned one before is always exciting. While in

Rwanda, Africa, however, I wasn’t quite prepared for the blessing I was to re-ceive as I gave out a new kind of Bible I brought along with me this time—Bibles called Proclaimers.

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Proclaimers are audio Bibles housed in brick-sized plastic boxes and powered by a built-in solar panel, hand crank, or electrical wall outlet. One Proclaimer can be heard by dozens of people at once, making them ideal for those who cannot read—like many parts of rural Africa.

I discovered another group that re-ally appreciate these new Bibles—the blind. Thank the Lord that I happened to have one with me when I visited Kabuga, Rwanda. There I met with 12 families in a blind community. Surprise and delight flashed across their faces as they realized what I was giving them. They insisted on “seeing” this blessed box by passing it around for all to feel!

I was overjoyed to be a part of shar-ing the Living Word with these precious brothers and sisters in Christ in Africa.

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MyanmarThe Happy Smuggler

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A

wakened by panicked shouts out-side his prison cell, Maung peered through the bars of his cell window

to see torches of fire reaching high into the nighttime sky. The entire prison com-pound was ablaze. Thinking of his family

Maung in front of stacks of Chinese Bibles, ready to be smuggled into China

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members far away, Maung began to pray for deliverance. “Lord, I’m here for obey-ing You and bringing Bibles into China! Save me!”

That was more than 20 years ago. Today, I was following the same man down a walkway to a padlocked door. He opened it, and we walked inside a windowless warehouse. As my eyes ad-justed, I realized I was surrounded by stacks of thousands of Bibles in many languages, all destined for hungry hearts in China and Burma. I felt as if I was on holy ground. I sat down to ask Maung his story.

“In 1988,” Maung said, “the Lord told me to take the Word of God to China. I thought it would be impossible.” Soon, however, the Lord began bringing key contacts across his path, beginning with

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some Bible printers in New Delhi, India. They offered to provide Maung with Chi-nese Bibles, and he readily accepted their offer. Getting those Bibles from New Del-hi to the Burmese border, however, was the easy part. Transporting them across the river that divides the two nations was where the challenges—and the smug-gling operations—began. Maung contin-ued:

My friend and I would wrap the box-es of Bibles in plastic, and when night fell we would make about twenty trips wading across the river hold-ing the boxes on our heads above the water. Whenever the river was high, we would put the boxes on small rafts and swim across the river, pulling the raft with the rope between our teeth.

Once inside Burma, 60 Christians

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Maung’s helpers crossing the river between India and Myanmar

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from the Mizo tribe would meet us, and we all would walk for four days across mountains and valleys with the Bibles on our backs. From there, we would load the Bibles onto an old bus, and two of us would ride for three days to the China border. Once there we would wait until our Chi-nese contacts were able to meet us to smuggle the Bibles across the border where they would be distributed to the underground church.

I asked Maung if he was ever caught, and he quietly continued his story:

In the 1990s I was arrested, charged with “transportation of Bibles” and sentenced to two years in prison. I only served 12 months though be-cause of a miracle. There was a fire in the prison. All the prison houses

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burned to the ground, except for mine, plus the house where they had stored my Bibles. The prison official saw my standing house and told me, “Your God has released you!” And then he let me go...with my Bibles!

I was wiping tears by the time we got to this part of the interview, and I wanted to know what he did after his miracu-lous release. With a big smile on his face, Maung simply said, “I just started trans-porting Bibles like I had before...”

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IndiaBlind Faith

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The small Indian congregation in the photo above consists entirely of blind believers. They not only face

the challenge of their common disability and the cultural prejudices that accom-pany it. They are also persecuted by their

A church of all blind believers

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Hindu neighbors…to the degree that it is no longer safe for them to attend church in their original location. So they now meet in their pastor’s small bedroom, and the crowd overflows into the hall-way. I joined them last month when I was in New Delhi, India.

This group of 17 blind believers is so hungry for the Word of God that many travel from miles around to hear the Word. The only time they have an op-portunity to be encouraged by the Word of God is on Sundays. Braille Bibles cost more than these believers could ever af-ford, so they thought it unlikely that any of them would ever own their own Braille Bible.

But just a few months after visiting these precious believers we were able to send them their own Braille Bibles. The

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pastor had this to say when he received them:“We have been praying for many years

for Braille Bible for the blind believers in our city. God has heard our prayer!”

The believers reading their new Braille Bibles

4242

PakistanSelling Bibles to Muslims

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Nafees is an evangelist in Pun-jab, Pakistan. One of the ways he reaches out to Muslims is by sell-

ing the Muslim Outreach Bible (a New Testament). Bibles are typically destroyed by zealous Muslims, but this version is

Nafees, at right, transacting a Bible deal

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“camouflaged” with a gold-leafed cover and flowery text to resemble Islamic holy books, without compromising the truth.

Here is a testimony I received from Nafees…

At the start and end of every school year, different book selling companies and local book stores organize a book fair for the stu-dents and book readers. The book fair takes place in the Public Park and lasts for four days. In this fair all kind of school and college text-books, cultural books, folk books, history books and religious books can be found.

I went to the book fair to see if I could sell some [Muslim Outreach] Bibles. (We cannot give them away for free, because it makes the Mus-

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lims think it has no value, and they doubt its authenticity.) I stopped at one book stall that was selling Islamic books. As I was looking at the books, the bookstall keeper asked if I needed any help. I asked him if he had the Injil Sharif of Isa [“New Testament of Jesus,” the name of the Bibles I sell]. He said; “No we don’t have it,” but his employee who was helping him said that yesterday there was another customer asking for it. I asked them if they would be willing to sell the Injil Sharif if I supplied them with some copies, and they said, “Yes we will!”

The next day [after I gave them copies to sell] I visited them, and they told me they had sold 5 copies of the book, and now they needed 10 more! I asked them who bought these books,

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and they told me some students and teachers.Nafees stamps his contact information

inside the cover of each Bible he sells. We are praying now that the students and teachers will contact him so that he can share with them more about Jesus!

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IndiaSomu’s Salvation

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I recently received the following testi-mony from Somu, a young man from a Hindu family. His life was forever changed after receiving a copy of the

Scriptures.I never knew about Jesus until

recently. My very close friend Ra-jeev gave me a Bible and told me,

Somu receives baptism

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“This book changed my entire life and it will surely change you too.”

As we are from a rural village in Haryana state, North India, we never had Christian people in our place. It was my first time learning about Raveev and his new faith. So with much anxiety I started reading from the middle of the book (Psalms) and I felt so good. Then my friend led me to read from Matthew. As I was reading about Jesus it began to touch my heart and I developed a love and affection to Jesus. Moreover I felt so sad when I read about the cru-cifixion.

Rejeev took me along with him to the village church and in-troduced me to the pastor there.

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He explained me well why Jesus died on the cross. Then I kept on reading the book and it began to speak to me every day. My life too changed. Last month I gave my life to Jesus and thank God I took baptism last week. I am so happy that I found the true God.

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Thanks for reading these stories of lives changed by the Word of God. Sto-ries like this are happening ev-

ery day through electronic and physi-cal Bibles distributed into restricted ar-eas where Christians are persecuted. If you would like to send an encourag-ing message or prayer to these faithful, persecuted believers go the secure web URL below. We will have your message translated and delivered to the believers, along with their very own copy of the Word of God!

http://tinyurl.com/pyat24aYour password is: Unspoken-98731

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HeavensFamily.org/Bibles

Many believers in restricted nations have little-to-no access to God’s Word and are praying to re-ceive Bibles. We are believing that God will help us answer their prayers! Learn more about our Strategic Bibles Ministry and how you can get in-volved at: