On Sunday, June 19 we examined Romans 12:17-21 in our series Living Inside Out – see our teaching archive Our teaching truth, in reference to persecution, was that the way we treat others reveals how we view God. It may be a blunt, cold truth, but it is true. In that one moment when a person or people repel your efforts to express hope in God your response/my reponse, shows how we view God. If our response is embarrassment; is it because we value the Gospel too little? If our response is anger; is it because we want our will done? If it is dejection, is it because we put our hope in the reponse of the hearer and not the God of the offer. None of these things can be said about Graham Staines or his family. The following is the soul-stirring reality that how we treat others reveals how we view God.

“On January 23rd of 1999, Graham Staines and his two sons, Phillip (11 yrs.) and Timothy (6 yrs.) were murdered by a large mob of militant Hindus. They had gone to a Christian camp in the jungle, where Graham was ministering. At midnight the mob attacked, setting fire to the jeep in which Graham and his sons were sleeping. They were burned alive. When the fire finally cooled, they found the charred body of Graham Staines with his arms around the bodies of his sons.

Graham served the Lord in the jungles of Orissa for over 34 years. He was described as “a wonderful, gracious, self-effacing man of God, full of faith, confidence and humility; warm-hearted, and a wonderful father.” At his funeral, the streets were thronged with masses of people—Hindus, Muslims and Christians. They were there to show respect for Graham and his family and to show their solidarity against the actions of the killers. Despite the fact that persecution of Christians has increased in recent years, the president of India came forward and said, “that someone who spent years caring for patients of leprosy, instead of being thanked and appreciated as a role model should be done to death in this manner is… a crime that belongs to the world’s inventory of black deeds.

The response of Gladys and Esther was on the front page of every newspaper in India (with one billion people, soon to pass China as the most populous nation on earth). Gladys said, “I have only one message for the people of India. I’m not bitter. Neither am I angry. But I have one great desire: that each citizen of this country should establish a personal relationship with Jesus Christ who gave his life for their sins…let us burn hatred and spread the flame of Christ’s love. Gladys shocked nearly everyone, because people assumed she and Esther would move back to Australia or somewhere else in the west. She said no, God had called them to India, and she would not leave. She said, “My husband and our children have sacrificed their lives for this nation; India is my home. I hope to be here and continue to serve the needy.” When asked how she felt about the murder of her dad, Esther, as a thirteen year old, said “I praise the Lord that He found my father worthy to die for Him.”

How can Gladys do this? How can a wife who has lost her husband to the brutality of inhuman creatures when all they tried to do is share the love of God?! They had prayed for these people that their souls would be saved from hell to get this – a murdered husband and sons?! How does Esther respond so easily to a father so tragically taken? The answer is not found in a wishful thought or a positive mindset, but how they viewed God! Gladys and Esther were able to move through this time and still minister because they saw God for who He is and that birthed trust that put persecution in its rightful place – all part of the road going home.

I must admit when we speak of persecution, I need to find the back row and duck. I don’t know persecution. I don’t know difficulty. But I can pray for those who do and rejoice and take full advantage of the freedom that I enjoy by spreading the Gospel with a wild abandon and a focused joy on what God has done in Jesus! In a small way it is a tribute to those who left this world in flames to live as though God was worth it.

To cite and read more from the source site regarding the Staines family.