Living the Psalms: A Persecuted Christian’s Story

Bethany DuVal • Nov 08, 2018

If you want to know what it feels like to be a persecuted Christian, read the Psalms. At least, that’s what Serena, a young believer from the Middle East, says.

While in hiding for nine months, she says, “I was just reading Psalms. … Like, I’m surrounded by enemies. People want to kill me. People want me. Every situation is really hard for me. But [Jesus said], ‘OK, but you know that I’m yours. … I will save you.”

Serena was raised by Christian parents, but she didn’t know that until she was 15 years old. When she asked her parents why they were different from their Muslim friends and family, her mom gave her a New Testament.

Serena embraced Jesus soon after. But when she was in college, the family’s underground church was discovered. Serena’s parents fled to Austria. Serena had to wait another nine months until she could get a visa — to Italy.

Recently, Serena shared what it’s like to be a secret Christian and how TEAM missionaries in Italy have helped her grow in her faith like never before.

This interview has been edited for length, clarity and Serena’s safety.

Your parents weren’t open about their faith, but you noticed they were different. How?

I could feel that we were different a little bit because we celebrate Christmas every year. It’s not common among my people. So, for me it was, like, wondering why we celebrate Christmas, having a Christmas tree. Why we celebrate Easter, you know? Easter is something that nobody even knows in my country. When I was almost 15, I think, I completely understood that we are different.

How did you become a Christian?

My mom gave a Bible to me. It was just a New Testament. I started to read the Bible, and everything was different for me. You know, my whole world changed, because it was all about peace. It was all about love. No violence.

But the most, most, most important thing that made me completely sure about Jesus was His sacrifice. When I started reading, I was thinking, OK, maybe this one is a lie like Islam. How can I be sure? And when I was thinking about that, I came across John 3:16–17. It says that God so loved the world, He sent His Son to this world. Not to condemn the world, but to save them. I thought, Why should He send Jesus for a lie?

Were you afraid of what might happen when you became a Christian?

After maybe a year and a half, two years that I completely accepted Jesus, I had years of reading and searching. And then, when I felt I was ready, I told my mom that I wanted to attend church meetings as well. But it was very dangerous, and my mom was really worried. Because in the home church, every moment, police can come and arrest you.

You don’t know. You don’t know if it’s safe, if it’s not safe. If you’re there where a neighbor understood and called the police or not. So, if you have a spy in your membership, you know, it is possible. I still don’t know who told about our church, if it was a neighbor or someone from us.

So, for sure I knew that I’m going through something very dangerous. But I really believed in Him.

How did you find out that your church had finally been discovered?

One of our Christian sisters talked to my dad. She received a letter from the government, and they explained that, “We know everything about you. We know all of you. And you should come and explain this to the court.”

You and your parents hid for a month before they escaped to Austria, and then you were alone for nine months. What did you do during that time?

My friend told me they have a small house in a small village. So, she told me, “If you want, you can go there and live there.”

It was really hard. It was harder because everyone knows everyone there. And when I moved there, I’m a young girl. I was a young girl without a husband, without a family, without anybody. So, in that situation, every night, I couldn’t sleep. I just kept my whole identity secret.

But Jesus really helped me. At that time, I was just reading Psalms. I was just reading Psalms. He talked to me in that time.

After she was persecuted, Serena fled to Italy.

After months of waiting to join her parents in Austria, Serena finally got a visa — to Italy. Despite the disappointment, Serena chose to follow where God led, and He hasn’t let her down.

Eventually, you escaped to Italy, where you connected with TEAM church planters Cindy and Steve Thompson. Tell me about your relationship with them.

Cindy and Steve , they are really like a second mom and dad. Cindy is full of love. They have two girls. Even when I met their girls, they told me, “OK, so you are our new sister.” They accept me completely in their family, their home. Usually, all the Sundays after church, I go to their house. We eat together. We watch movies together. When we have discussions and I have questions, they always give me answers. They really treat me as a daughter.

In Italy, you finally got the chance to be baptized, by Steve. What did that day feel like?

It was a really important day, because I could really talk. I could really stand and say, “Hello, people, I am a follower of Jesus Christ, and I’m telling you my testimony, and I’m really happy for that. I am a follower. After all of these things that happened to me, happened to my family, still, I’m happy for that.”

What did it feel like to be able to just go to church and be open about your faith?

It was such a good feeling because I could have my Bible everywhere. I could read it everywhere. I could chill at the park and read my Bible. I could have my Bible in a café. And I could have it in the subway. I could freely go to church to sing. It’s just the most, most, most, most good feeling — and, like, strange feeling at the same time.

How have you grown in your faith since coming to Italy?

Before, everything was just very secret. I didn’t have the opportunity. For example, YouTube in my country is filtered. Now I can search for the word “Gospel.” I love pastors all around the world. I love to study the Bible. I had a lot, a lot, a lot of questions before. Which, a lot of them, I couldn’t find answers.

And I really need someone, you know? I really need a discussion. For example, we have two missionaries from America, Amy and Sara. They are new in our church. So, for example, I was talking to Amy, and she told me, “Yes, we can read like in a Bible school again. Start at both Testaments, too, and we can have a discussion.” So, I mean, I have a lot, a lot to know and to ask. But I know more and more, and I’m happy for that.

How should people pray for persecuted Christians? What would be most helpful?

The most important thing for this kind of church is safety. God leading them, and God watching them. And if they are discovered by the government, that they could be released. They could be safe.

Bridging Dissonance: Finding Connection in Music and the Gospel

By Emily Sheddan • 18 Jul, 2024
TEAM worker Luke Standridge and his fellow musicians use music to build connections to faith in Japan. In music terms, dissonance creates movement or even suspense in a song. It invites tension. That tension is what helps grab our ear’s attention and the interchanging of these notes with pleasant melodious parts is what makes music such a delight. In a similar way, God is using music to grab people’s attention and catalyze Gospel impact in the largely unreached nation of Japan. TEAM Global Worker, Luke Standridge moved to Japan in 2019 with no clear direction on how he was going to use his passion for composing music while doing ministry. However, after Luke got involved with a local church and began developing deep friendships, the Lord opened unimaginable doors for Luke that in time, coordinating his creative skills with sharing the Word. “People Need to Come to Japan!” Growing up as one of ten kids in a family that was heavily involved in ministry and missions, Luke never considered that it would one day be a part of his own journey. In 2016, via a Japanese language learning class in Indiana, Luke and his brother had the opportunity to travel to Japan. Hearing, learning, and using the language in the context of Japanese culture was the goal. While it was Luke’s first international trip – even his first trip on a plane - it was also his first time hearing about the spiritual condition of the Japanese people. “And just through that, God did a huge 180 change on my heart,” says Luke. “More people should come here as global workers. People need to come to Japan!” The call God was laying on Luke’s heart is echoed when looking at the spiritual landscape of Japan. The nation is home to the second largest unreached people group in the world. It is one of the most difficult places for the Gospel to take hold and grow. Japan is also home to a deep and rich culture that prizes creative arts from pottery to ink to music to anime – a fact that would help Luke find his niche in life and ministry. God’s Guiding Hand In the short three-month timespan of that first trip, Luke found that opportunities came naturally to share about life, and people’s curiosity for Christianity grew. “I left Japan knowing I just had to come back,” Luke shares. “Even if I didn’t get back to the same area, I knew Japan was where God wanted me to be.” The Lord is good all the time and all the time the Lord is good. His plans do not fail. Luke returned to Japan in 2019, and less than a week after arriving, he was put in touch with a renowned composer in Japan. The composer saw some of Luke’s music and invited him to help write the music for a beloved in-country animated show. But God wasn’t finished yet! Fast forward a year, and more connections and opportunities allowed Luke to help with music for Pokémon - a franchise that has brand recognition around the world and was being developed into a TV series in Japan. Luke recalls how the Lord began using these connections in the production world to open doors for Gospel conversations. One night while having dinner in downtown Tokyo with famous artists and composers from all around the country, Luke was asked about his ministry-focused visa. This was a rare opportunity in a setting with people otherwise uninterested in Christianity. Luke shares, “The whole time I could see God’s hand in guiding the entire thing.”

Connecting in a New Kind of “Neighborhood”

By Lorena de la Rosa and Suzanne Pearson • 13 Jun, 2024
Through creative arts and other forms of innovative outreach, “The Neighborhood” is creating connections to the Gospel and the love of Jesus. CONNECTION. It’s a common word with powerful implications. Dictionary.com defines connection as a joining or linking together; a relationship between people or objects that unites or binds them together. God has created each of us with a deep need for connection with Him as well as connection with others. Hebrews 10:24-25 speaks to this, as the writer exhorts, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” This God-given need for connection lies at the heart of a creative and innovative ministry in Japan known as “The Neighborhood.” TEAM Japan global worker, Kelly and her family created The Neighborhood as a place where connections are formed through creative arts, educational opportunities, and simply just providing a space for people to be together. A Family Calling The journey to the creation of The Neighborhood began over 5,000 miles away from Tokyo, in California where Kelly, her husband Jeff, and their five children were living. The kids were the first to sense God’s calling to missions, and asked why their family wasn’t serving in this way. How Kelly and her family came to TEAM is a God-story in and of itself. “God placed a TEAM Japan worker at our lunch table the same week that the kids posed that question to us,” Kelly recalls. “We had never heard of TEAM and so we thought, ‘let’s check this out.’ After that, God just kept confirming that we were supposed to be here.” After a period of fundraising and with much excitement, the family of seven moved to Japan in 2014. For the first five years, Kelly and Jeff served as a part of other TEAM ministry initiatives, but they began to sense a stirring for something new. Creating The Neighborhood Kelly and her family truly have a deep gift for hospitality, and regularly opened up their home to others they met in Tokyo. They saw a great need for people to have a place to gather and connect, and they wondered what doors the Lord might be opening for them to meet that need. “About a year before we were to return the States on home assignment, we were just really thinking about our future in Japan,” Kelly says. “We saw a need for people to have a ‘third place’ – a place that’s not home and it’s not work. They didn’t have a church community or any other place where they could meet people and just connect.” Kelly goes on to explain that in Japan, the culture is such that people don’t generally invite each other into their homes, but as her family did so, people embraced that opportunity. “This idea formed in all of our hearts of a student ministry center – a place where we can create community and learning,” says Kelly. “It was born out of what we were already doing in our home, but seeing how we could expand it and have better space.” God’s Provision What happened next is a true testament to God’s provision. Kelly, Jeff, and the kids returned to the States and began sharing their vision for The Neighborhood with their supporters and churches who responded generously. Upon returning to Japan, the search was on for the right space. “We had a Christian realtor that we told our dream to, and he just went looking for it,” Kelly recalls. When the realtor found a 5-story apartment building, he said, “It’s kind of out of your budget but it has what you need and want.” The Lord provided the funds and the family moved into the space in November 2019. They now occupy all but the ground floor, with living space for their family as well as classrooms, areas to study or hang out, and guest rooms for exchange students or others who need a place to stay overnight. The first floor is occupied by a pizza shop – a welcome amenity for the many groups and students who visit The Neighborhood. “It’s very convenient!” Kelly says with a laugh. The Neighborhood began to see lots of activity right away until the pandemic hit in early 2020. During the height of the quarantine, Kelly and Jeff used the time to redecorate the space and plant gardens outside the building. Then as the restrictions eased, they invited individual students or families over for meals and fellowship. It wasn’t until March 2023 that The Neighborhood was able to fully open again as intended. Kelly shares that despite the setbacks of COVID, the Lord continued to provide the funds to pay the rent.
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