Christian persecution washed away by Living Waters

The night was dark. And The Mekong River was cold and deadly. But for Brother Barout – a Bible League-trained preacher, evangelist and Bible Planter® - and his colleague, it was the only way out. For two weeks, Brother Barout had faced persecution as a Christian while the authorities detained him and attempted to brainwash him—simply for sharing the Gospel.

Now, Brother Barout – newly released from prison and whose body was weakened and shaking with fever – was determined to share God’s Word with the thousands of Laotian refugees on the other side of the river in Thailand—many of whom had also escaped Christian persecution by the government.

“At 10:00 p.m., we entered the cold, muddy river.” Barout recalls. “We both had Bibles in large plastic bags we tied to our backs.” Willing to die in either the cold grip of the river’s current or at the hands of his countrymen fervently pursuing Christian persecution, Barout knew that even his death would bear witness to his faith.  Sharing his final thoughts, as he and his friend prepared to enter the river, Barout says, “I thought, Lord, if we die, at least when they find our Bibles, they will know that were Christians.”

Untold horrors 

The Mekong River is enormous—often wider than the Mississippi, just as muddy, full of treacherous currents and choked with filth. Up until that night, God has sustained Barout through the untold horrors of persecution as a Christian, but this would be another challenge. Brother Barout knew it would take a miracle for him and his friend to survive the crossing.

But a miracle is exactly what God provided.  Neither the evil aims of Christian persecution nor the deadly waters of the Mekong River would claim the lives of these two Laotian Christians.  After 45 minutes of intense swimming, battling both the river and the weight of the precious cargo on their backs, Barout and his colleague emerged from the Mekong to the opposite shore in safety. 

A successful journey

Today – as he preaches freely among Laotian refugees in Thailand, planting Bibles and fulfilling God’s call on his life as a dynamic preacher and evangelist - Brother Barout gives testimony of God’s faithfulness to him as he endured Christian persecution in his homeland and as he and his friend made their terrifying journey across the Mekong.

Brother Barout’s story has a happy ending—but only because a firm grounding in God’s Word sustained him. As a direct result of Barout’s training with The Bible League, he had the spiritual strength to face this kind of Christian persecution and to survive this ordeal.  As a result, no longer subject to the persecution of the church, Brother Barout regularly places donated Bibles in the hands of Laotian refugees. His passion for sharing God’s Word is a contagious seed of life-changing faith.

Who would have ever imagined donated Bibles would travel so far?  With every Bible donation you make, you are helping prepare Christians facing extreme persecution around the world not just to survive, but also to thrive. Christian persecution around the world is practiced on an unprecedented scale—in secular dictatorships, in Buddhist and Islamic states, in nation after nation. It is widely believed that there are more martyrs today than there were in the first century A.D.

A heart flooded with hope

It is our prayer that wherever a pastor is facing Christian persecution – whether it be long nights alone in prison, brainwashing, or torture – he will feel God’s presence surrounding him with love. And we also pray that wherever a Christian maybe fleeing for her life as a result of persecution of the church, she will feel her limbs quickened and her heart flooded with hope.

The evil reality of Christian persecution in this world requires more of The Church today than at any other moment in history. But you can make a difference. Every Bible donation impacts the life of the man, woman or child who receives it as it equips them for the sake of the Gospel.  Will you help us fight Christian persecution by making a Bible donation?  For when a donated Bible is made available, it goes directly into the field—where there is a high demand for God’s Word as ministry opportunities continue to explode across the globe.