By Their Blood: Christian Martyrs of the Twentieth Century

Rating:
Summary: Required reading for every Christian
Review: I used to think that all the martyrs were a thing of the past...the distant past. However By their Blood is the Foxes book of Martyrs for today. More Christians have died for their faith in the past century than the past 2000 years put together. James and Marti Hefley start with the Boxer Rebellion in the China in the early part of the last century where missionaries and Chinese believers where brutally murdered for their faith. Through the rest of the century we are told the stories of other modern heroes of the faith who suffered at the hands of their persecutors. What struck me the most about this book was that these people who have suffered were not much different than me. They weren't perfect people and some even doubted. None of them set out to be martyrs. And many of them had families. I'll never forget the story of the missionary mother who handed over her infant to friends before her persecutors beheaded her and her husband. Or the woman who was forced to march through the jungle and begged her captors to let her lay there and die because her legs and feet were swollen she didn't think she could walk a step furthur. This book challenges my faith in God. Do I trust Him in everything? Even unto death? Especially in a time where so many American churches focus on making us feel comfortable in our faith, this book vividly illustrates what it means to share in the sufferings of Christ.