Just recently Bamboo center was raided by the police.
“A large group of police entered the room and asked for the leader of the group,” one of our local missionaries testified. “We prayed for wisdom and grace as they sought to destroy all that God had done in the last few years.”
We have worked tirelessly for years to establish the underground churches in the area, and raise up new leaders to handle the booming growth. And thank God that they stood strong in the midst of persecution.
The main Bamboo church plant has been meeting regularly on Sunday with the door wide open and a big cross on the door. At first we were hesitant about their bold move, but God blessed them faithfulness with many more new souls and salvations. “What is going on there?” people wondered as they walked by on any given Sunday morning. They wandered inside and had a God encounter!
But last month the police caught wind of what was happening and decided to pay the church a visit. Because one of our local missionaries is a minister registered with the state church, and even has a “preacher identification”, the police were unable to charge the group with anything other than occupying a public area with too many people. “You can continue to meet,” the police said, “but you cannot exceed more than 30 people in any meeting.”
Bamboo has seen amazing growth since we first began the church plant in 2005. Despite government pressure and persecution, they have grown to over 200 people in the last 5 years, and have even planted other churches among tribal peoples in the surrounding villages. Bamboo’s main church in the city of over 500,000 is actively reaching out to their community with the love of Christ.
When persecution comes, like bamboo, they bend but do not break.
This weekend some of our American and Filipino missionaries will be visiting Bamboo to train the local leaders, empowering them to lead the growing indigenous churches. There is always the threat of persecution, but we are stepping out in faith, trusting that God has everything in control.
Please pray for the continued growth and success of Bamboo center. The ultimate goal is to see peoples’ lives changed by the power of the gospel; to see them set free from bondage and enter into the true freedom of Jesus—even if it comes at the cost of persecution.
