Usually Easter is one of the biggest events on our Church calendars. This year we had to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection in front of our computer screens. But in many parts of the world, Christians have celebrated Easter at home for years, knowing that getting together could put their lives at risk.
Open Doors Australia works with the persecuted Church all around the world. And as Chief of Staff Jocelyn Goto pointed out, they’re much more used to the dangers of worshipping in public. “The underground Church has been operating for hundreds and thousands of years,” she said. “We’ve just never had to experience it in our generation.”
[audio src="https://getmediapoint.com/document/episode/podcast/MDAwMTQ5OTUyMC5tcDM.mp3" /]
Talking to Robbo and Becci on Vision’s Rise & Shine, she said there’s a lot we can learn from nations like China and Iran.
Coronavirus is spreading rapidly there as well, but the underground Church is quite an established movement in those places.
Though it’s impacting all of us differently, Jocelyn knows we’re all suffering from fear and anxiety at the moment, even maybe asking God why this is happening. So we thought what can we be doing to pass on what we know about living out your faith in extreme circumstances.
Inspired to keep the Body of Christ together, they’ve started releasing free weekly content through their House Church by Open Doors program. “This is a resource that we hope actually complements the Church, and keeps people close to Jesus during this time of crisis.”
The videos and discussion questions are designed to help us take courage from our brothers and sisters in places where even worshiping within your home can be dangerous. “I think there are many different lessons to be learning in this season about Faith, life and family, and what it looks like to be loving our community in the ways that we’ve always prayed for, but perhaps never been bold enough to step out in.”
With content suitable for adults and kids, this is a great resource to remind us that God is with us all through the week. “I think the beauty of what we’ve put together is that you can still tune into your church’s livestream. Your pastors are working really hard on those.”
“But it’s kind of a bit of a Choose Your Own Adventure with House Church, because it could take you 15 minutes to watch everything and be finished, or an hour, depending on what path you want to take with it. So it is a beautiful Sunday resource, but then it’s also so relevant throughout the week.”
We reckon there’s no better time than now to take inspiration from the Church in other parts of the world. Check out the House Church page on the Open Doors website to explore the content already available, and subscribe to new releases.
[audio src="https://getmediapoint.com/document/episode/podcast/MDAwMTQ5OTUyMC5tcDM.mp3" /]
Start your mornings right with Rise & Shine, weekdays on Vision Christian Radio. Click here for your local times.
