will deliver us out of thine hand, oh king." While these were deliv ered out of the mouth of the lion, they were taken on into the pres ence of the Lord. It was not a tem porary triumph but one which was eternal. I visited the Congo in 1965 to encourage our African Christians. I talked with them from early morning until late at night. These believers had been hunted as ani mals. They had to flee from place- to-place always being pursued. Most of them had lost all of their possessions as well as many close loved ones. Yet, here they were to worship and seek the Lord's face. They held prayer meetings every day of the week. Most of them had taken with them their most priceless possession, namely a Bible. The Word of Cod was a tower of strength during the unbe lievable conflict they encountered. They developed a close intimacy with the Saviour. One of the veteran African pas tors was in retirement at the time of the rebellion. He had been quite ill and in much pain. When the rebels overran the mission station, he could not flee. He was captured and dragged off to another village. There a communistic tribunal was
set up and a multiplicity of false accusations were brought against him. Because he read the Bible, prayed and preached they took out machetes and began to gash into his back. They ended up by slitting his throat. Later his faithful son told me, "I thank Cod for my dad! Like the Apostle Paul he fought a good fight, he kept the faith, and he finished his course. Henceforth there is laid up for him a crown of righteousness." That is only one testimony of many. Time would fail to tell of one of our outstanding pastors in that land who on four occasions nearly lost his life. He had been stood up before a firing squad. An African Christian woman tossed herself be fore his body and said, "You slay me before you slay our pastor." What devotion to Christ. As we step into the early chapters of Acts we can ask the persecuted church, "Is your God able?" They would jubilantly reverberate the words, "Our God is able!" As it was true then, so it is again today. This liv ing God is not pleading for volun teers. He has issued a mandate to the Church of Jesus Christ. The Lord is not interested in token in volvement. Oh, that you and I might be able to say, "Lord, what will thou have me to do?"
Rev. Langford was a missionary for 20 years in the Congo with Africa Inland Missions and is presently Home Director of the mission organization. He was a key speaker for the Biola 1970-71 Missionary Conference.
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