Sharing stories of the suffering
Greg Musselman has seen God work in miraculous ways all around the world. But when he speaks to church groups in North America, one of the things he highlights is that following Jesus Christ is not easy.
"From a biblical perspective, there is a cost to following Jesus Christ, no matter where we live," says Musselman, who is vice-president of outreach for The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM), an organization dedicated to helping, loving and encouraging persecuted Christians worldwide.
"For some it's more intense, since there is a reality of persecution taking place," Musselman says. "Often in Canada, because we haven't experienced persecution personally ourselves, we don't have a clear biblical understanding of the cost of following Christ. But persecution goes along with following Christ, regardless of whether you're in a free country or a persecuted country."
Musselman will be speaking at a Missionfest Manitoba West youth event happening at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 26.
Since joining VOM full-time in January 2003, Musselman has traveled the world, creating videos that document the struggle of persecuted Christians in countries like Egypt, Vietnam, Nigeria and Mexico.
Born and raised in British Columbia, Musselman became a Christian at the age of 23 while living in Edmonton. He first heard about the persecuted church six years later, while working as a youth pastor.
Working with VOM allows Musselman to combine his training as an ordained minister with the skills he picked up while working in television as a sports anchor and reporter. Part of his goal is to give an individual face to persecuted Christians and tell their individual stories.
"It has become something that I feel God has directed me to do," says Musselman, who has been married for 28 years and has four children between the ages of 16 and 27.
Musselman was recently in Nigeria, where militant Islamic groups are brutally attacking the Christian church. He visited Deeper Life Bible Church in Gombe, where 10 Christians were shot to death during a prayer meeting and two dozen more were badly injured this past January...
"The brutality against the church in Nigeria is some of the worst that I've ever seen," Musselman says. But in spite of the violence, "the Holy Spirit is also at work in supernatural and powerful ways."
It is important for Christians in Canada to remember their brothers and sisters who are suffering, he adds, pointing to the instructions in Hebrews 13:3: "Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering."
"While we suffer with them, they are also encouraging us," Musselman says. "We rejoice with those who rejoice. So I rejoice with what God is doing."
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