When believers suffer for their faith, endurance is not simply bearing up under suffering. It’s the active, sustained commitment to follow Christ in the face of loss, danger, and uncertainty.
What does it mean for a Christian to endure in a hostile country as a witness to Christ? And how can we, as Help The Persecuted, walk alongside survivors beyond rescue, into restoration and rebuilding their lives?
What It Means to Endure as a Witness
Endurance takes many forms, but few examples reveal its cost more clearly than Bashir’s story.
Bashir met Christ as a young man in Iraq. His family’s reaction was violent. They beat him, stabbed him, and tried to kill him. But Bashir refused to renounce his faith. When his house was attacked and burned, our Field Minister Nabeel provided emergency Lightning Funds to help his family survive.
In need of a stable and steady income, Bashir started a small restaurant through Help The Persecuted's Enduring Livelihood Ministry and shared the gospel openly, even from prison after being arrested for his faith.
However, he was eventually executed by his own family for refusing to deny Jesus. A few days after his horrific death, his wife, Dina, told our team, “I will teach our daughters to walk the way that Bashir walked.”
Bashir’s story reminds us that endurance is more than survival—it’s steady faithfulness that inspires others to stand firm.
James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” The trial tests faith, but God honors those who endure with steadfast faith.
Survivors often endure across multiple areas:
- Spiritual endurance: facing doubt, spiritual attacks, and the temptation to despair
- Relational endurance: broken family ties, betrayal, social isolation
- Material endurance: loss of home, income, status, stability
True endurance requires holistic support in the form of rescue, restoration, and rebuilding through the love of Christ.
Endurance in Three Areas
Spiritual Endurance
Survivors often come through persecution riddled with trauma, fear, and even anger. But they cling to the promise in 2 Corinthians 4:16–18:
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.”
2 Corinthians 4:16–18
By fixing their eyes on Christ, believers can persevere beyond what is seen. Discipleship, prayer, pastoral support, and retreats provide a spiritual framework.
One powerful example is Timothy, a believer from Afghanistan. When captured by the Taliban, Timothy was tortured for nine months and pressured to renounce Christ. Instead, he responded to his captors, “Brother, I love you.” His steadfast love moved one commander to help him escape.
Today, Timothy continues to minister online, reaching people in some of the darkest regions of the world. His endurance demonstrates that God can turn even persecution into a platform for redemption.
Relational Endurance
Many persecuted Christians endure abandonment or hostility from family or community. Yet testimonies within Help The Persecuted show that some remain faithful, praying for persecuting relatives even at personal cost. They endure relational wounds by extending grace and by being anchored in the Body of Christ, which in turn results in finding new spiritual family through fellowship and discipleship.
Material Endurance & Rebuilding
Economic survival, housing, skills, and security are essential. Many survivors arrive in new countries as refugees with nothing. That’s why enduring faith must be matched by practical pathways to rebuild:
- Enduring Livelihood Ministry: A pathway to small business ownership for persecuted Christians, including help creating a business plan and seed funding
- Widow’s List Ministry: A ministry that provides yearlong support (with the possibility of renewal) for persecuted women who have lost their husbands and have no way to provide for themselves
- Enduring Shepherds Ministry: Created to help pastors of persecuted churches in the Islamic World, who often do not have a sustainable income, this yearlong support makes it possible for pastors to support their families through their ministry work
Stories of Endurance & Hope
Consider the story of Kamila, a refugee whose husband was murdered by the Taliban. Amid grief and fear, she held fast to Christ, refusing to let despair define her. Over time, because of your support through Help The Persecuted, she found emergency shelter, counseling, and community healing. Her enduring faith now shines as she encourages others to trust Christ in the darkest moments!
These courageous believers—Bashir, Timothy, Kamila—teach us that endurance is not about surviving hardship but about proclaiming hope through it. Their stories are living proof that persecution cannot silence the witness of Christ.
Why Hope in Jesus Is the Foundation
Without Christ, endurance is meaningless survival. But for believers, endurance is a way to reflect Christ’s character and participate in His redemptive work.
Hebrews 12:1–3 encourages us:
“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.…Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.”
Hebrews 12:1–3
As survivors fix their gaze on Christ, His cross, resurrection, and promise, they find hope that transcends trials. That hope fuels endurance, transformation, and new life.
How You Can Help Survivors Endure
Your prayers and support make this work possible: