Some ask, “Why should a Latter-day Saint care about Christian persecution? Shouldn’t we just focus on the positive?” The vast majority stumble along in comfortable complacency, unaware of what lies around the corner. President J. Reuben Clark gave this oft-repeated prophecy in 1966.
“I say unto you with all the soberness I can, that we stand in danger of losing our liberties, and that once lost, only blood will bring them back; and once lost, we of this Church will, in order to keep the Church going forward, have more sacrifices to make and more persecutions to endure than we have yet known, heavy as our sacrifices and grievous as our persecutions of the past have been.” (President J. Reuben Clark, Conference Report 1966)
Despite the repetition of this prophecy by inspired leaders including Ezra Taft Benson, many believe that the difficult times will never come. This list is for those who believe the prophecies.
The Heavenly Man: The Remarkable True Story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun (Liu Zhenying)
[amazon_link asins=’082546207X’ template=’ProductAdFloatRight’ store=’ldsanswers-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’420aa25b-1fcd-11e8-913c-61d70b69ad06′]“You’ve seen the headlines—government crackdowns on Chinese house churches; mass arrests and human rights violations. . . . But this intensely dramatic autobiography makes it real! Learn how God took a young half-starved boy from Henan Province and enabled him to stand strong on the front lines for Jesus, braving horrific opposition and impossible odds. Life-changing!” (Summary by Christian Book)
“The dramatic autobiography of one of China’s dedicated, courageous, and intensely persecuted house church leaders. . . . Interspersed with his personal account are contributions from his wife, Deling, made mostly during her husband’s frequent periods of imprisonment.” (Summary by Amazon)
[amazon_link asins=’0825461286,B001SIHRNQ,082546207X’ template=’ProductCarouselCustom’ store=’ldsanswers-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’97916ab6-1e70-11e8-b486-dd37a604f3b8′]Tortured for Christ
[amazon_link asins=’0882643266′ template=’ProductAdFloatRight’ store=’ldsanswers-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’420aa25b-1fcd-11e8-913c-61d70b69ad06′]“Pastor Richard Wurmbrand is an evangelical minister who endured fourteen years of Communist imprisonment and torture in his homeland of Romania. . . . In 1945, when the Communists seized Romania and attempted to control the churches for their purposes, Richard Wurmbrand immediately began an effective vigourous “underground” ministry to his enslaved people as well as the invading Russian soldiers. He was arrested in 1948, along with his wife, Sabina.” (Summary by Amazon)
“Pastor Richard Wurmbrand’s dramatic testimony shocked the world when it was first released in 1967. Many believers today cite it among the most influential books they have read. This is a story of how one’s faithfulness during years of solitary confinement, torture and constant suffering led to a worldwide network of support for persecuted Christians.” (Summary by Voice of the Martyrs)
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God’s Smuggler
[amazon_link asins=’B01M4IDOT2′ template=’ProductAdFloatRight’ store=’ldsanswers-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’420aa25b-1fcd-11e8-913c-61d70b69ad06′]“As a boy he dreamed of being a spy – undercover behind enemy lines. As a man he found himself undercover for God. Brother Andrew was his name, and for decades his life story, recounted in God’s Smuggler, has awed and inspired millions. This bestseller tells of the young Dutch factory worker’s incredible efforts to transport Bibles across closed borders – and the miraculous ways in which God provided for him every step of the way.” (Summary by Christian Audio)
God’s Double Agent
[amazon_link asins=’0801017068′ template=’ProductAdFloatRight’ store=’ldsanswers-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’420aa25b-1fcd-11e8-913c-61d70b69ad06′]“Tens of millions of Christians live in China today, many of them leading double lives or in hiding from a government that relentlessly persecutes them. Bob Fu, whom the Wall Street Journal called “The pastor of China’s underground railroad,” is fighting to protect his fellow believers from persecution, imprisonment, and even death. God’s Double Agent is his fascinating and riveting story.
“Bob Fu is indeed God’s double agent. By day Fu worked as a full-time lecturer in a communist school; by night he pastored a house church and led an underground Bible school. This can’t-put-it-down book chronicles Fu’s conversion to Christianity, his arrest and imprisonment for starting an illegal house church, his harrowing escape, and his subsequent rise to prominence in the United States as an advocate for his brethren. God’s Double Agent will inspire readers even as it challenges them to boldly proclaim and live out their faith in a world that is at times indifferent, and at other times murderously hostile, to those who spread the gospel.” (Summary by Amazon)
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs
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“For nearly two – thousand years courageous men and women have been tortured and killed because of their confessions of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. . . . Stories of heroic courage and overcoming faith. Stories of love of God and Christ. Stories of the amazing grace of God that enabled men women and children to endure persecutions and often horrible deaths.” (Summary by Amazon)
China Cry
[amazon_link asins=’0892211105′ template=’ProductAdFloatRight’ store=’ldsanswers-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’420aa25b-1fcd-11e8-913c-61d70b69ad06′]“Nora Lam has often been called the most famous Chinese evangelist/missionary in the world. Her remarkable life story continues to inspire millions of people. . . . The rumble of communism was thundering throughout China. The reign of Communist Dictator Mao Tze Tung was in full force, and Nora Lam was singled out and interrogated because of her affluent background as the daughter of a wealthy doctor and the fact that she attended the Mary Farnham Presbyterian missionary school. When she refused to repudiate her beliefs and faith, she was imprisoned and eventually put before a firing squad. A truly astonishing miracle occurred when she survived the ordeal which remains a mystery until this day.” (Summary by Nora Lam Chinese Ministries International, www.noralam.org)
RELATED: Recommended movies on Christian Persecution
Son of Hamas
[amazon_link asins=’B006PJC4H2′ template=’ProductAdFloatRight’ store=’ldsanswers-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’420aa25b-1fcd-11e8-913c-61d70b69ad06′]“Since he was a small boy, Mosab Hassan Yousef has had an inside view of the deadly terrorist group Hamas. The oldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a founding member of Hamas and its most popular leader, young Mosab assisted his father for years in his political activities while being groomed to assume his legacy, politics, status…and power. But everything changed when Mosab turned away from terror and violence and embraced instead the teachings of another famous Middle East leader.
“In Son of Hamas, Mosab Yousef – now called Joseph – reveals new information about the world’s most dangerous terrorist organization and unveils the truth about his own role, his agonizing separation from family and homeland, the dangerous decision to make his newfound faith public, and his belief that the Christian mandate to “love your enemies” is the only way to peace in the Middle East.” (Summary by Amazon)
Hearts of Fire: Eight Women in the Underground Church and Their Stories of Costly Faith
[amazon_link asins=’0849944228′ template=’ProductAdFloatRight’ store=’ldsanswers-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’420aa25b-1fcd-11e8-913c-61d70b69ad06′]“Follows the stories of eight women from such nations as Pakistan, India, and China who have participated in underground worship and experienced persecution and hardship as a result of their Christian beliefs.” (Summary by Amazon)
► SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS! Do you know of other inspiring biographies of persecuted Christians? Comment below!
We read some of the book, The Heavenly Man a few years ago at our school. It really was amazing how much he had to go through to teach Christianity! And how much he was persecuted for it. Here, in America, I believe we have a much much easier time to be able to do that.