Acts 8:1-4 NASB
¹Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
²Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. ³But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.
⁴Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.
Devotional
Scattered, then what?
In Acts we read that after the death of Stephen many Christians moved into the land, to escape their persecutors. What had started so beautifully in Jerusalem now seems to be extinguished like a candle.
We might almost think that God was mistaken.
However, it turns out that God is going ahead with His plan.
In fact, He uses the situation, because now the Gospel is going to places where it would not have come if the Christians had stuck together in Jerusalem.
There are many refugees in Colombia.
Carmelo and his family arrived from the west of the country in a settlement without running water, light or gas.
They were the only Christians and invited the neighbors to their meetings. In no time a small church grew with 100 faithful churchgoers and an even larger daughter congregation was founded in a neighboring village.
After a few years, Carmelo and his family fled north again after threats from the paramilitaries and the guerrillas.
In meantime there is also a church in that village… We might just sit down and take it easy. But what an example these people set for us. Let’s pray a lot for them!
Twitter: @SchoemakerHarry
Website 1: https://devotionals.harryschoemaker.nl
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