A challenging gift (3)

Still not found the right gift? Or are you looking for a meaningful way to spend the dark winter evenings? We received several reviews of our books from Elisabeth Bell, a reader who has experience working in closed countries. We would like to share them with you, and hope they will give you some helpful ideas of what you could give a person who is ready for a spiritual adventure. Today: ‘Kidnapped by a Cult’
In the West, the word “cult” conjures up the TV images of David Koresh and the Branch Davidians, or the mass suicide of the Heaven’s Gate group in the 1990s. But have we considered the parallels that might exist in other cultures? Shen Xiaoming’s story is a front-page headline, heralding the Lord’s keeping power in the face of the cunning deception targeting Chinese believers.
Shen’s story reads a bit like a spy novel – the Lord hiding and protecting him, at times right under the noses of those who would arrest him. And in the depths of persecution, Shen receives specific strategies from heaven, enabling him to persevere under intense violence and manipulation.
Kidnapped and barely able to use his legs, Shen experiences the strength of Christ made perfect in his weakness. Through Shen, the Lord demonstrates His word: “to his own master he stands or falls, and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”
With little use of his physical legs, his life is a chronicle of standing tall in the face of adversity, through the One who is his very strength.
Elizabeth Bell has a heart for the persecuted Church and loves to share stories of God’s faithfulness to His children. She has spent several years working in closed countries to further the advancement of the Gospel.