Bridge of Grace

In Dec. of 2017, eight young Christians traveled in a van to engage in evangelistic work in Western Pakistan, near the border of Afghanistan.  On Dec. 24, their van's tire went flat, and as they waited for it to be fixed, they distributed leaflets about Jesus to locals.  As some of the locals were accepted the literature, members of the Pakistani secret police emerged from the crowd and arrested five of the Christians.  The young Christian men were taken to a local police station where they endured hours of interrogation.   Day after day, the men were interrogated and threatened, sometimes in groups, sometimes individually.  The Christians were told if the accepted Islam, they'd be forgiven & released, but if they did not, they'd be tortured & killed.  However, none of the men denied their faith.   As the days wore on, the men were kept in solitary cells, only removed for interrogation and beatings.  They were warned that they would spend seven years in prison, that

In Nepal Min Maya grew up in a Buddhist home.  As a young girl, she had no use for Christianity except to visit the local church to obtain free school supplies.  When she was old enough to leave home, Min moved in with her older sister in the capital city of Kathmandu to find work.  While there, Min became ill, and when the remedies offered by Buddhist monks didn't work, her sister invited some of her Christian friends to pray for her.  Amazingly, Min's health improved.  After this happened, Min and her sister began to take an interest in Christianity and decided to become a follower of Jesus.  However, Min's mother did not approve of her choice.   Min's mother was a Buddhist lama who performed blessing rituals for the local villagers.  As she occupied such a prestigious position within her faith, her daughter's conversion didn't sit well with her.  Min's mother first took her home and tried to push Min back into Buddhism.  When Min refused, her mother kicke

In the Gospel of Luke 15:11-32 we read the Parable of the Prodigal Son.  In it, we read the story of how the son of a wealthy man asks for his share of the inheritance, which his father grants to him.  His son left home, squandered his fathers wealth on a life of materialism & debauchery.  Before long, the wealth ran out, and the Prodigal son was reduced to doing the most degrading of work, feeding swine, in order to survive.   As the Prodigal son hit rock bottom, he came to his senses, returned to his father in rags & tears, begging forgiveness and acknowledging he was not worthy to be his son.  However, his father immediately embraced his son, clothed him, and threw him a great feast.  When the Prodigal Son's Brother heard what was happening, he was filled with resentment.  He had in his mind dedicated himself to serving his Father faithfully asking nothing in return, while his brother, who squandered all that was given to him, had returned and was given a great feast.