# Martyr in Sumatra



## Pergamum (Jul 10, 2008)

Here is an email I received today from someone:



Yesterday (July 9) I received word that a faithful Indonesian 
> Christian was martyred in the city of B____. 


> 
> Mas [names abbreviated] was the young son of my acquaintance of many years 
> Zan.. Some of you may remember that after the Tsunami 
> in Sumatra we raised money to help Zan bring relief to his 
> own people. Even at that time he was imprisoned for preaching the 
> gospel, but inexplicably released without charges. Now his son 
> Mas has paid the price which he has faced for himself on many 
> occasions. 
> 
> Zan converted from Islam and later translated the entire 
> Bible into the ___ language (the language of the predominantly Muslim people 
> of ___). 

He himself has been sentenced to death and escaped, and 
> has had attempts on his life and experienced many threats for his 
> faithful witness to his own people. He has led many Muslims to 
> faith in Christ and helps disciple and train them. His own son who 
> had theological training was attacked and killed in the city B___ and 
> a Bible was placed on his face by the attackers, suggesting that he 
> was killed for preaching the gospel. 
> 
> Mas was the sole surviving member of Zan’s family. 
> His wife and two daughters had previously passed away. 
> 
> 
> Two days ago, I received Zan’s prayer bulletin. He quoted, 
> “Engkaulah yang memagari dia dengan anugerah-Mu seperti perisai.” 
> Mazmur 5:13 (“You fence him [the righteous] around with your grace 
> like a shield.” Psalm 5:12). 

In the letter he reported that several 
> students had completed their training and returned to A___ to begin 
> ministry. He referred to a new centre of evangelism (perhaps the 
> very one started by his son). 


> 
> In his prayer requests he mentioned that someone had attempted to 
> poison him in March. The person who made the attempt later confessed 
> that he had been assigned the task and had used a very deadly 
> poison. He had expected Zan to die within an hour of eating 
> the poison; but he saw that though he was vomiting blood, Zan 
> and his friends just prayed for God to help. When he saw God answer 
> their prayers, he decided to confess!


----------



## Augusta (Jul 10, 2008)

Psalm 116:15
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.


----------



## Leslie (Jul 11, 2008)

It is an indictment of the stateside church that real Christianity, as portrayed in this story, looks so different from what one sees in the evangelical culture there. May God comfort the church and may the seed of this man's blood produce much fruit for the kingdom of God.


----------

