This week in our Wednesday Resource blog we transition from the theme of creating a culture of prayer in our homes to a theme of missions and martyrs. In November last year (2018), on an obscure island in the Indian Ocean, John Allen Chau – a 26-year-old American adventure blogger and evangelical missionary was killed by the isolated tribe he was attempting to convert to Christianity. The Christian community exploded in conflict as many called Chau a martyr, and many 
others challenged and called his sacrifice a fools errand wasted in illegal behavior. The conversations spiraled out of control to the detriment of missions. It seems the internet gives a voice to anyone with an opinion. All Nations, the evangelical organization that trained Chau, described him as a martyr. The “privilege of sharing the gospel has often involved great cost”, Dr Mary Ho, the organization’s leader, said in a statement. “We pray that John’s sacrificial efforts will bear eternal fruit in due season.” Before his trip to the island, Chau wrote in his journal of his heart’s desire to see the Sentinelese saved. He was passionate about seeing unreached individuals come into the knowledge of Jesus.
Here’s what the conflict showed me: There is an entire generation that does not understand missions and martyrdom, giving way to misunderstanding and a shying away from the call to the nations. Truth, 
Jesus said one of the signs that must take place before His second coming is the gospel being preached to ALL nations. Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Missions is important. The Gospel flows from families to communities to regions to the world. Part of our discipleship in the home needs to share the possibility of missions to the nations, and the hero’s of the faith that have been persecuted and even martyred for their faith. Jesus final command, know as the great commission calls us forth to the nations: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen
Most of us parents have never been missionaries, and if we have it typically was a youth mission trip somewhere coordinated and safe. I am in no way knocking short term missions trips for youth groups, or even adults. I am saying that many of us simply do not have a grid for discussing missions and martyrdom with our kids. Hence this weeks Wednesday Resource: Jesus Freaks: Martyrs: Stories of Those Who Stood for Jesus: The Ultimate Jesus Freaks, a partnership between DC Talk and Voice of the 
Martyrs ministry. This book journals the stories of 100 Martyrs from the 1st century AD to the 20th century AD. As a resource these true accounts of those who gave up their lives to stay true to their faith are opportunities for us to read to and with our children and have conversations about missions and self sacrificing faith for the sake of the gospel. There are more Christian martyrs today than there were in ad 100–in the days of the Roman Empire. Now in the twenty-first century, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, more than 150,000 Christians are martyred around the world every year. In Hebrews 13:3 Paul exhorts us to “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.” We can remember them by sharing their stories with our children and sharing the call of Jesus to reach the neighborhood and the nations for the Kingdom of God.
Grab your copy and plan intentional times to read with your children, share the call and pray with your children for missionaries all across the world and how God can possibly use them in His grand story of reaching the nations with the gospel.