GODLESS

By Kari Costanza, July 2009

Ethiopia

Shimelis Hapte, 43, has seen persecution and has lived to tell about it, but the memories make him cry. He knew as a child that he wanted to serve the Lord. In 1984, the Holy Spirit came upon him while he was in prayer. “I was born again at that time,” he says. “I was very happy.” But that happiness was not to last.

“Starting from 1984,” he says, “the government was opposing Christian life. They tried to destroy it. They took everything—our Bibles, musical instruments, our spiritual books. They took it by force and put Christians in prison.

“I hid to worship. If two people together were reading a Bible, they were arrested and sent to prison. We hid ourselves and joined with underground churches. Especially at night.”

In 1990, Shimelis was caught worshipping. He was imprisoned. “They ordered us to take off our shoes. They tied us together with rope. Our feet were scraped and bleeding. They took us to the police. First they asked about Christianity. They asked us to deny Jesus Christ. None of us did. We passed by the police. They beat us with sticks, one by one. It was painful.”

Shimelis and 15 others were held in a 2-by-2 meter (6.5-by-6.5 foot) room. “People slept on top of people. We were interlocked. After one week we went to the big prison. It was like a concentration camp. Worms entered our skin. Flies got into our legs. And there were lice. One night we counted the number of lice on me—there were 78. In the morning, the lice marched away like marching ants. People died from disease. They cooked our food in rusted metal dishes. Our hands were covered in rashes.” The prisoners included Shimelis’ future wife, Atakilt. Her face still bears the scars of persecution. Her right eye droops where she was beaten during those terrible times.

REFLECTION:

This week we will put away our resources and freedom to worship publicly as we experience what it’s like to be “godless” with the persecuted church.

SUGGESTIONS FOR THIS WEEK’S EXPERIENCE:

• Hide or put away all signs and symbols of religion in your room, including your Bible
• Hand copy a page of the Bible and use only this page as your Scripture for the entire week
• Don’t attend any religious services or meetings for the week

As always, you can adjust these experiences or come up with your own. Commit to one, remembering that we are trying to step into what it would feel like to be unable to have access to spiritual resources (in Shimelis’ case, it was lack of the resource of freedom to be a Christian and worship).

Also, listen and ask God to speak to you in new ways this week as you leave behind some of the normal means through which you might hear Him. Consider how believers all over the world have a life-changing relationship with Christ even though they may not have Bibles, worship bands, and public meetings. Ask God to challenge and grow your knowledge of Him and faith in Him as He does theirs.

--Written by Sarah Brubaker