When Henry Nott arrived in Tahiti in 1797, he found an island completely given over to the work and lies of Satan and altogether against the gospel he came preaching. Human sacrifice was a regular part of Tahitian life, including the sacrifice of their own children to volcanos and sharks, as well as the slaughter of all tribes who were not like them. Rape was so common that no girl over the age of 12 remained a virgin. Warriors were so wicked they would beat the bodies of their enemies to a pulp (literally) with large rocks, leave them in the sun to dry into a leather-like hide, then cut a hole in the stomach and wear the body as a poncho with arms dangling in the front, legs in the back. The sick and elderly were buried alive. King Pomare I, ruler at the time of Nott’s arrival, built a temple to his god and, as he was setting the roof, drove every stake through living human sacrifices. Those were just a few of the over 2,000 human sacrifices he offered himself.
Within the first few years, certain members of Nott’s team quit the work and left the island, declaring that it was too hard for them. Others became merchants, abandoning the work of the gospel for the hope of profit and earthly wealth. One married a Tahitian heathen woman and was then murdered by a Tahitian man. Nott was left nearly alone. Supplies did not come from England for four years. His clothes and shoes wore out. One of the gods of the Tahitians was the god of thieves who was worshipped through the act of stealing. Nearly everything that Nott had was taken from him. His only translator was a wicked, drunken sailor who had survived on the island, which made a mockery of the gospel every time he translated it for Nott. Yet Nott was not discouraged from the work that God had called him to, focusing first on learning the language so that he could free himself to preach the gospel.
What Henry Nott found in Tahiti is not unique. Many missionaries from history and even today find similarly difficult situations when they arrive in their field. On one hand, I am a bit surprised at how organized and specific a religion existed in this place that was largely cut off from the world and without a gospel witness. How did the idea of deity and worship and temples and sacrifice become such a part of this culture? On the other hand, I know exactly how it happened. There is an enemy who hates the worship of the one true God, hates the idea of redemption, hates that man can be in right relationship with the living God and worship him, and is willing to do all he can to prevent it. He is able to speak into the hearts of men (Acts 5:3) and appear as an angel of light (2Co 11:14) to deceive them. He is subtle, making men believe that he speaks the truth on behalf of God, yet also roaring and seeking to destroy. He has learned that once he sets men in motion with “worship,” there is no end to the lengths they would go to please or appease their god. And he utterly hates the hope of the gospel.
We tend to look at our world now and think that this is the worst it has ever been or that it is somehow unique. It is not. From Cain (Gen 4:8) to Saul (1Sa 18:10-11, 19:10, 1Sa 26) to Saul of Tarsus (Acts 22:19, 26:11) to Diocletian, to the Ottoman Empire, to the reign of terror in France, to Lenin in the Soviet Union, to modern movements of feminism, moral relativism and gender equality, the truth of God has always been delivered in hostile settings. The hostility may have a different face at different times in history or places in the world, but they are all heads on the same dragon. It is easy to only see the head that is close to us and miss the full reality of the beast. He is subtle.
If you don’t realize that you are to bring forth truth in the midst of hostility, then you have most likely already been rendered ineffective by the enemy. The invitation into a walk with the Lord is to take up your cross and follow (Mat 16:24), to join in the fellowship of his sufferings (Php 3:10). Hostility is promised from the outset.
David understood what it was like to follow the Lord in a hostile place. He was called to minister in the presence of a king who tried to pin him to the wall with a javelin. A king who hunted him with an army in the wilderness, as if he were an animal to be killed and served for dinner. We can learn a few principles for ministering in hostile areas by looking at what David wrote in Psalm 16. This is one of six “michtam” Psalms in the Bible. Most of them begin by specifically referencing some kind of hostility he was facing: When the Philistines took him (56:1), when he fled from Saul in the cave (57:1), when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him (59:1), when he strove with Aramnaharaim and with Aramzobah (60:1). While the specific meaning of “michtam” is unclear, Psalm 16 is recited at funerals and at times of mourning in Jewish tradition. There is a clear tie to difficult and/or hostile situations.
The heart of those ministering in persecution
Psalms 16:1 Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.
David opens this Psalm with the key to ministering in hostile areas: a declaration that no matter what happens or where, his trust is in God. David is declaring that he has already settled the issue in his heart and has decided that God is trustworthy. Always. This is a very important thing to settle before going into the hostile area. Like the soldier who spends hours a day for months learning his weapon and armor and vehicles to the point where he knows them and can go into battle trusting in them, David had also spent extensive time with the Lord, his word, in prayer, and even in small battles that had led him to this point. David was able to walk into a hostile area knowing that he can trust fully in God, because he had proven himself time after time.
David’s chief complaint against using king Saul’s armor to fight Goliath was that it was unproven (1 Sam 17:28-29), meaning that he could not trust it. Instead, David took with him a simple sling and no armor — at least no manmade armor. David declared to Goliath that God would deliver him from the giant just as God had delivered him from the lion and the bear. Having seen victory before helped David settle the issue of trust and complete dependence upon God. He knew that it was God who would preserve him; God was his armor. David did not need to think it over in that moment. He had already decided how he would respond.
Luk 21:14-15 14 Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: 15 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
As we were preparing to move to Pakistan, many people asked us, “But what about your kids, are you taking your kids with you? Isn’t it dangerous there?” To be honest, this was something I had to work through in my own heart, but God was quick to point out that I trusted my kids to him in Kansas City, so how could I not trust them to him in Pakistan? God is no different here or there, so why should my faith in him be any different in a more peaceful area versus a hostile one?
How could Henry Nott possibly move to a place as hostile as Tahiti? He could do it because he had already settled this key issue: his life belonged to God, and God can be trusted to use his resources as he sees fit. Nott was at peace with this reality. Surely he prayed, as David did, preserve me, O God! This, however, was not a prayer of fear but a declaration of his deep desire to be used of God for as long as possible: “I trust you, God, to preserve me for your use, in any situation I find myself, for as long as you need me. If it pleases you, O God, give me many years to serve you, and it will please me to lay down my life for you daily.”
Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Once the heart has resolved to serve the Lord as a living sacrifice, then the difficulty of the physical location does not matter. Is it any easier to truly be a living sacrifice in one place over another? No. The reality of a sacrifice is the same no matter which hill it is offered upon.
The hope of those ministering in persecution
Psalms 16:5 The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.
Not only did David trust God in the now, he also trusted God for his future, his inheritance, his eternity. Three other times in the Psalms David declares that God is his portion (73:26, 119:57, 142:5). David’s hope was in the reality that God was all he needed. David knew that nothing was left to chance, and that is why he could say in verse six that no matter how the lines fell, he had a goodly heritage.
The hope of those ministering in hostile places is twofold. First, there is the hope that comes with obedience, knowing that God is pleased with servants who obey, no matter how hard it may be. The heart’s cry of those who are consecrated to the work of God is, “Lord, consume me! Use me as you see fit!” Obedience, then, no matter how challenging, becomes an act of worship.
Jesus explained it through parable (Luke 6:47-49) by saying that those who obey are like a wise man who digs down deep and finds rock for the foundation to build his house upon. He explains that this obedience produces a better future when the difficulties come; the state of your future dwelling place depends upon present obedience. The obedience was finally proven out when the difficulty came. This is the reality of those serving in hostile areas: prior obedience produces stability in the storm, and that stability gives confidence in the Lord to continue, even to continue into hardship.
The second hope for David and for those serving in the face of attack is that God will raise up to himself a heritage in that place. The hope of the power of the gospel in the lives of those you are ministering to becomes greater than the threat of attack against you personally. Not only was David confident that the Lord had his future, but his obedience was also producing great outcomes for the kingdom of Heaven. My hope while plowing in Pakistan was that God’s word would take root and would raise up fruit for the glory of God.
The understanding of all who serve in hostile areas is that God is able to get glory out of this. Greater even than the knowledge that God has my future in his hands is the realization that, at some level, the kingdom of God is also in my hands. I get to decide to build and invest in his kingdom. I can have a part in seeing all nations, kindreds, people, and tongues, stand and worship before his throne. The hope is not my glory, but greater glory for the one who deserves it all.
Romans 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
There are many examples of this hope of glory in the Bible, such as Jeremiah 26. In this chapter, Jeremiah brings a hard word to the leaders of Judah. Upon hearing that word, they decide they want to kill Jeremiah. Once it got hostile, Jeremiah had a choice to make: serve the Lord in that hostile place or walk away and keep the message to himself. He chose to repeat the message in the face of certain death. Once the princes of Judah heard the word of the Lord again, they repented. Instead of killing Jeremiah, they sought the Lord. Jeremiah’s hope was realized: God got the glory in that place.
May our hearts be set in advance like David’s and Jeremiah’s so the Lord can get glory from our lives.
James Fyffe is a pastor at Midtown Baptist Temple in Kansas City, MO where he focuses on missions. He spent several years as a missionary in Pakistan with his wife, Rosie, and their three children.
