S e r v i n g t h e P e r s e c u t e d C h u r c h W o r l d w i d e | M a y 2 0 1 7

A Mother’s Heart

How many times have we heard the expression, “Dust to Dust,” at a grave-side funeral service, in reference to the “final resting place and status” of a dearly departed family member whose physical form is ultimately given back to the earth from which it came? The familiar term was derived from Genesis 3:19 (NKJV):

“In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken;

For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”

As followers of Jesus – whether our bodies are laid to rest being relatively intact and left to decompose or, as

in other cases, following the wishes of the deceased, a family member has chosen to cremate their loved one’s remains…accelerating the process of returning the physical matter to dust – we all face the following inev-itable truth. In God’s appointed time, and according to His purpose, we will pass through death into eternal life, leaving behind (over time) nothing more than five pounds of elemental mineral ash.

Hopefully, I still have your attention. The mineral elements that remain once the process of decompo-sition is complete are fundamental and irreducible. Interestingly, they are also strikingly similar to those elements that comprise the basic elements of the earth…and in relatively similar proportions. In fact, to a certain extent, the elements left after all is said and done are water, hydrogen and nitrogen. So why does this matter? Well, we must remember that, though we are “flesh and blood,” our true self – the part that our Heavenly Father will love and protect forever – is spirit…it is our soul!

Commentary by Doug J. McKenzieChief Executive Officer of The Voice of the Martyrs Canada

DUST TO DUST

2 VOM Canada | May 2017

P.O. Box 608 Streetsville, ON L5M 2C1

Tel: 905-670-9721 Toll Free: 1-888-298-6423

Fax: 905-670-0246

Email: thevoice@vomcanada.org Internet: www.vomcanada.com

Founders: Klaas and Nellie Brobbel with Pastor Richard Wurmbrand

Chief Executive Officer: Doug J. McKenzie Director of Communications

and Publications: Karyn Marianne Communications Assistant: Merrin Joy

Graphic Design: Big Footprints Inc. Special thanks to our International Ministry

team for contributing to this issue.

The Voice of the Martyrs

The goals of VOMC are expressed in our “Ministry Purposes” as follows:

1. To encourage and empower Christians to fulfill the Great Commission.

2. To give relief to families of Christian martyrs.

3. To undertake projects of encouragement, helping persecuted Christians rebuild their lives and witness.

4. To equip persecuted Christians to love and lead their enemies (persecutors) to Christ.

5. To promote the fellowship of all Christian believers.

6. To infuse, distribute and exhibit to the Canadian church constituency the faith and testimony of those Christians in the world who are persecuted for Christ.

7. To give voice to those Christians whose cries of pain and proclamation of praise go unheard.

The Voice of the Martyrs newsletter is the flagship publication of The Voice of the Martyrs in Canada.

Published monthly, it is available free of charge and without obligation in one-year subscriptions to

anyone in Canada who requests it.

Spending of funds is confined to board-approved programs and projects. Each restricted contribution designated

towards a board-approved program or project will be used as designated with the understanding that when the need for such a program or project has been met, or cannot be completed for any reason determined by the board, the remaining restricted contributions designated for such

program or project will be used where needed most. Gifts from individual donors of $10 and more are acknowledged and

receipted with an official receipt for income tax purposes.

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When the day of redemption comes, and we are gathered up in the air to meet Jesus, God will give us a new body – not unlike the body that Jesus had (and still has) as He emerged from the grave and then ascended into heaven.

Jesus knew all there was to know about the inner workings of His incarnate body. As He sat and ate with His friends in “The Upper Room,” He knew all too well (according to the constraints and limitations of His physical form) the pain and anguish He was about to suffer, which His Heavenly Father allowed to be executed upon Him with full and final force. Our persecuted brothers and sisters, whom VOMC serves around the world on your behalf, also know of the pain and anguish of following in the footsteps of our Lord to their own “Calvary.”

The night He was to be arrested, Jesus “broke bread” and shared wine with His disciples during their Last Supper together, and then He proceeded all the way to the cross, ultimately defeating death in the process. By doing so, He ensured that our broken, decayed and abused bodies will be fully reconciled and restored. Such will only be done by God’s power to rehydrate and reorder every dry bone and every bit of mineral ash that once served us as our temporary, functional, though fragile, outer shells.

While carrying our living souls, the physical elements we embody have made it possible for us to discover His magnifi-cent creation here on earth and then choose to love Him wholly according to the indwelling power of His Holy Spirit. Our prede-cessor, David, aptly wrote in Psalm 139:14:

“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.”

In Christ,

A reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper"

Due to the threatened attack, Hannelie and the other doctors from her clinic had been put on

standby at a U.N. meeting. With great concern for her husband and children, the dedicated Christian physician was very anxious to get home. During the drive through Kabul’s traffic-choked streets, her driver received an alarming phone call. She could tell from his expression and the way he was talking that some-thing was terribly wrong. Finally, he told her that there had been an attack on the building where her family lived and worked.

As they approached the street of her home, police and armored vehicles blocked the way, forcing her to get out and walk the rest of the way. A crowd had

gathered outside the building, but no one would let her go inside or tell her what was going on.

A terrible silence hung in the air, and nothing seemed to move. The usual city noises of traffic, horns and barking dogs were strangely absent. As darkness approached, Hannelie noticed that there were no lights on in their top-floor apartment. She was terri-bly worried, and quietly prayed while awaiting news of her precious loved ones.

At 5:45 p.m., the silence was shattered by the sound of gunfire, followed by a large explosion. Onlookers in the street scattered for cover. “I believe that was when one of the three attackers detonated himself in the hallway of the building,” Hannelie explains. “I started

When this missionary family moved to Afghanistan, they counted the cost. They knew Christ was worthy, and they willingly put their lives on the line – paying the ultimate price. While it was known that the

Taliban had planned to attack Kabul on November 29th of 2014, nothing prepared Dr. Hannelie Groenewald for the militant group’s actual target. In this sobering account of events surrounding the horrific attack,

Hannelie testifies of God’s sustaining grace during the most heartrending moments of her life.

A Mother’s Heart

4 VOM Canada | May 2017

to cry. Concerned police escorted me away from the scene to a neighbour’s house at the corner of the street, two houses from our own house.”

The sounds of gunfire and more explosions con-tinued for the next hour. Eventually, Afghan police fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the top floor of the compound, into the apartment where the Groenewald’s lived. The house caught fire and burned until about 7:20 p.m.

Hannelie sat in the dark and stared at the glow of her smart-phone, seeking comfort from God’s Word on her Bible app between texts and calls from con-cerned loved ones. “I was reading Psalm 91 over and over again, believing that my family was doing okay,” she recounts. “Somehow, I knew from the extent of what I was hearing that maybe no one was alive, but my brain didn’t want to accept that.”

ANSWERING THE CALLBefore moving to Afghanistan

in 2003, Hannelie and her hus-band Werner had discussed the possibility of potentially facing death in this war-torn country where terrorism was rampant. They seriously consid-ered the dangers of raising their two young children – Jean-Pierre, who was five years old at the time, and Rodé, then three – in a region dominated by the Taliban, knowing their lives would be drastically differ-ent from what they had known living in South Africa. Yet God’s call was just as real as the dangers they would face, and they knew obedience to Him mattered more than their fears and discomfort.

Werner and Hannelie led comfortable lives in South Africa. Werner ministered as the senior pastor of a church, and Hannelie served as a physician in a trauma unit. While seeking to develop a more insight-ful prayer life for a particular country, Werner visited Pakistan, never intending to one day live and serve abroad. However, during the 2002 trip, he received a clear call to become the “hands and feet of Christ” in neighbouring Afghanistan, which had recently been identified as home to those who planned the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the United States.

After returning to South Africa and sharing his expe-rience with Hannelie, Werner suggested they travel to

Afghanistan with a short-term medical outreach team. Six months later, they visited Pakistan and Afghanistan for the duration of two weeks.

“In Peshawar [Pakistan], at a house church meet-ing on a Sunday morning, we had exactly the same experience,” Hannelie recalls of her first short-term outreach trip. “We felt the touch of the Holy Spirit. It was the first time in my life I experienced a specific

touch from the Lord in this way. I just started crying and knew that Afghanistan or Pakistan – wherever in the world the Lord calls – can be our home.”

The couple spent the conclud-ing week of their trip in Kabul, serving at various mobile medi-cal clinics and working in a few nearby villages. Hannelie vividly remembers her first impression of the city. After 25 years of war, few buildings remained standing, roads were practically nonexis-tent, and the entire infrastruc-ture had crumbled. She thought, “This country is filthy and poor and ugly; there is really nothing beautiful in this country except for the desert and the mountains and the valleys.”

Fully aware of the dangers of living in a country such as Afghanistan, Hannelie and Werner trusted in God and viewed their move as an adventure. Something else they had to consider was the children’s education. “You have a vision for them…. You want to help them get a proper education, and that source wasn’t [available] in Afghanistan. We knew there were going to be a lot of challenges along the way.”

In April 2003, they returned to Afghanistan to seek a place to live, an aid organization to work with and options for their children. Four months later, they left behind their friends and family in South Africa and moved to Afghanistan. “My parents and our family thought we were totally crazy to leave a country like South Africa to go to Afghanistan,” Hannelie adds.

Still, the certainty of their call sustained them throughout the move. Their church supported the decision, and the Groenewalds witnessed God’s provi-sion for them. “The Lord was so faithful,” Hannelie affirms. “We raised the money we needed to support us on the field within two months. That was confir-mation from the Lord that He wanted us there.”

There are tremendous needs in Afghanistan.

May 2017 | VOM Canada 5

Hannelie was also developing a deeper relationship with God: “My spiritual journey with the Lord actu-ally started after our calling to Afghanistan. Before going, I was more secularly oriented – a nominal Christian. I knew about the Lord Jesus. We always attended church on Sunday mornings and we lived our lives as Christians, but that was where it ended.”

A CHALLENGING TRANSITIONLiving in Afghanistan was quite a culture shock for

the Groenewald family. They found it difficult to connect with the Afghan people, and felt as if they were constantly being watched by those who were suspicious of them. Life was especially hard for their daughter Rodé. As young girls in Afghanistan are typi-cally housebound, with little freedom to move around, Hannelie did her best to make life more bearable for Rodé. This mother and daughter did so much togeth-er, from cooking to homework. Hannelie became aware that Rodé, who seemed to enjoy anything relat-ed to the arts, was developing into a gifted writer.

The couple’s son, Jean-Pierre, is described by Hannelie as a “soft bear; a big boy with a soft heart.” As he always wanted to be a pilot, Jean-Pierre often practised with an online flight simulator and befriend-ed pilots of other aid groups in Afghanistan, often joining them on domestic flights. He dreamed of one day studying aviation technology at Moody Bible Institute in Washington state.

Meanwhile, Hannelie’s husband Werner remained diligent in the work he felt called to do in Afghanistan. Over the years, he served with various humanitarian organizations – providing leadership training, community development education and English language courses.

“When Werner received his calling, the Lord showed him how his training as a reverend in a church could be precious [in teaching] Afghans about the ways of the Lord,” Hannelie admiringly says of her late husband. “To be salt and light…that is what he tried to do. Even in the leadership training semi-nars, he always tried to sow seeds of truth and [God’s] Word into the Afghans’ lives.”

Fearless service to Christ became a theme for Werner, and something he spoke of often. In October 2014, Werner spoke at a conference on the subject of Counting the Cost for Christ. He concluded his message by saying, “We die only once. It might as well be for Christ.”

While Werner thrived in his work, God showed Hannelie that she couldn’t put her own career first.

Although she served at the CURE International Hospital of Kabul and in local medical clinics, she had left behind a successful career in trauma medicine in South Africa. “In Afghanistan, I learned to change [my priorities] – firstly to God, then my husband and chil-dren, and then myself (my ministry and career). My main focus in Afghanistan was to support my husband and be God’s hands and feet to the Afghan people.”

Life for the few thousand Christians in Afghanistan is very difficult. There are no church buildings, so it’s nearly impossible for them to meet for worship and prayer. Afghans who do come to know Christ often keep their decision a secret, living in fear of their Muslim families finding out. By law, anyone who leaves Islam can be put to death.

More mature believers, Hannelie continues to explain, may share the Gospel. Yet doing so is extremely dangerous. “They have counted the cost as Afghanistan is a dangerous country. We had to count the cost before going to Afghanistan with our small children. We knew that anything could happen, and Afghan believers there also know that anything can happen. They can be imprisoned, killed or beheaded. You have to come to terms with this before you go to a country like that.”

THE DAY LIFE CHANGEDJean-Pierre and Rodé slept late on the day of the

attack. Jean-Pierre spent the early part of the day in his room listening to music, playing guitar and chat-ting with friends on social media. He had planned to visit a friend that afternoon at 3:30 p.m., which was about the time of the attack. On the other hand, Rodé spent the morning quietly crocheting, working on her computer and playing video games.

Werner arrived at his office at 8 a.m. to prepare for the leadership training classes he was teaching at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. While he was teaching the afternoon class, the Taliban fighters stormed the building. At about 3:30 that afternoon, a neighbour noticed three men walking in front of the Groenewald’s house. He noticed that one of them was wearing a police officer’s uniform.

One of the intruders climbed onto the shoulders of the other two so he could jump over the wall. Once inside, he opened the gate to let the others in. The gate guard immediately confronted the men, but they shot him to death with a pistol. When Werner heard the gunshots, he ordered the ten Afghan students in his class to take shelter in Hannelie’s consulting room next door.

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After the students had left the conference room, Werner and two of the Afghan male students tried to escape up the stairs. Halfway up, however, they encoun-tered the attackers at a side door which led to the back of the building. So they turned to run back downstairs. “Lord, please help us,” Werner uttered before being shot twice in the leg and once in the abdomen. He lost consciousness and bled to death within minutes. The bodies of Jean-Pierre, 17, and Rodé, 15, were found in the Groenewald’s upstairs apartment, in Jean-Pierre’s room. Both of them had been shot to death with an AK-47.

Two Afghan Christians survived the attack by hiding in the confer-ence room, although one of them suffered a flesh wound to the leg after gunshots were fired blind-ly into the room. While the remaining Afghan stu-dents had hidden in the consulting room – where they tried barricading the entrance – one of them was killed when an attack-er fired through the door.

After the shootings, one of the attackers detonated a bomb, killing himself. The surviving Afghan believers remained in place until the police killed the last two Taliban fighters at about 7:30 p.m. Twenty minutes later, two co-workers tearfully broke the news to Hannelie that her family had been tragically killed. She sat still, in shock, unable to comprehend the news. “Sleep evaded me that night,” Hannelie admits. “I felt totally over-whelmed, and so terribly alone. I just couldn’t cry. I wished so much that I could do something to help lift the heaviness.…”

“IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL”Nearly two years after the attack, Hannelie can

remarkably say, “It is well with my soul.” Although it hasn’t been easy for her to arrive at a place of peace

and acceptance, she knows that God has been with her every step of the way. Although she regrets not being with her family when they died, she’s certain that Christ was with them. “I wanted to be there, especially with the children, to embrace and hold them….”

Following the attack, she was thankful to find evi-dence of God at work. The fire that burned their

apartment stopped abruptly in front of Jean-Pierre’s room, preventing it from burning her chil-dren’s bodies. Hannelie also sensed God’s guid-ance as she worked through her grief…to the point of being able to forgive the attackers.

In the months follow-ing the attack, Hannelie sought opportunities to serve elsewhere in the world. But each time, God closed the door. For now, she has decided to stay in South Africa where she is using her medical background to care for the less privi-leged. She also continues to share her testimony in South Africa and else-where, speaking at events on an average of about six times a month.

Looking back on her family’s years of service in Afghanistan, she says it was well worth it. “I

believe we made an impact on people’s lives. I also believe that [my family’s] shed blood is like seed for the Afghan church, and that there will be a thousand-fold harvest in the end – because God has the last move.”

Hannelie is proud of her family’s obedience to Christ, knowing that their sacrificial service was for God’s glory. “I know they are actually [spurring] me on to finish the race…to finish well,” she continues. “I believe that one day Jean-Pierre will say, ‘Mom, what took you so long to get here?’ [My family] are where they are supposed to be, on Jesus’ lap, and I cannot wait to be there as well…. But I have to finish this race for the Lord.”

Although it hasn’t been easy for Hannelie to arrive at a place

of peace and acceptance, she knows that God has been with her

every step of the way.

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Mark your calendar!VOMC CONFERENCE COMING TO ALBERTA…

November 18, 2017 Watch for more details in an upcoming issue!

www.vomcanada.com/momentum

SOLITARY REFINEMENT

How does someone survive 14 years of torture, imprisonment and starvation? And how do they

emerge from that smiling? At the end of April in southern Ontario, VOMC

birthed the world premiere of a stage play that enacts incredible true stories of best-selling author Richard Wurmbrand, while also addressing Christian perse-cution around the world today. Solitary Refinement begins touring Canada in the fall of 2017. To attend, or for information on how to book the presentation in your community, visit www.vomcanada.com/touring.

This immersive experience expresses two parts of the 40-year-old mandate of VOMC: inspiring and educating Canadians on ways to assist in the support of Christian victims of persecution globally. The stage play brings to life the ministry’s late founder, Richard Wurmbrand (author of Tortured For Christ), to tell his own transcen-dent tale from a transformative prison cell.

Award-winning playwright Dennis Hassell confesses, “In researching Richard Wurmbrand’s story, I was surprised by joy. I discovered a man overflowing with hope and love – and even humour. Amid the suffering, he found the supernatural. He found Christ in ways more tangible than we normally find in our comfort-able churches.” He blurts, “Richard never wanted us to feel sorry for him; he felt sorry for us!”

Dennis Hassell also performs the role of Richard Wurmbrand, in collaboration with director Tom Carson, a triple Dora Award nominee. Tom and Dennis have partnered on nationally touring hit shows like The Big Picture, 2000 Candles, The Missionary, and The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass. They are thrilled to be joined creatively by Emmy and Gemini award-win-ning composer Tom Szczesniak in creating an original score. Videography and state-of-the-art lighting also unite in bringing you into the story.

The production was four years in the making. “The play is affirming and informing, but also challenging,” states Executive Producer and VOMC’s CEO Doug McKenzie. “It poses a powerful question in the here and now. Would we be willing to die for Christ as others are doing in so many countries today?”

VOMC will be presenting the event for the community at large, free of charge.

For ages 13 & up. Run time: One hour.Voluntary contributions toward touring expenses

will be gratefully accepted.

For more information, visit: www.vomcanada.com/touring

SOLITARY REFINEMENT

May 2017 | VOM Canada 9

A FGH A NISTA N: In View of the Underground Church

Afghanistan, which consists of more than 30 mil-lion Muslims, is one of the least reached and most

restricted nations on earth. It’s a place where converts from Islam receive an automatic death sentence; that is, if their family members don’t kill them first. It’s a place with 48,000 mosques and not a single church building.

Afghan believers generally must avoid speaking about Christianity or even pray-ing audibly in their own rooms. For with multiple generations sharing homes, a Muslim family member would be sure to notice. A man who secretly reads the Bible may not be able to mention it to his wife, in case she reports him to her extremist father or another mili-tant family member.

Despite the extremely difficult challenges experi-enced in Afghanistan, God is at work and His Good News is spreading. The emerging Afghan church con-sists of thousands of believers of various ethnicities.

Even though it is very difficult for them to meet for worship or to share their faith, slowly and steadily the Kingdom of God is advancing.

Seasoned Christian leaders will typically meet with a new convert for several months before ever intro-ducing him or her to other believers. It’s also quite common for young believ-ers to drive around for hours so they can pray and sing worship songs in the privacy of their vehicle.

At great risk, a few believ-ers will gather in someone’s living room once a week – like the one in the provided photo below. In this hiding

place, they pray, listen to Christian teaching on radio, encourage one another, and share Communion togeth-er in remembrance of Christ’s death and resurrection.

What we may consider to be just an empty room, Afghan Christians see as an opportunity to secretly gather together for cherished times of meaningful prayer and worship.

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The Pastor’s Wife$8

In her testimonial book, The Pastor’s Wife, Richard Wurmbrand’s wife Sabina candidly recounts the events lead-ing to their imprison-ment – the discovery of Christ, their secret underground church activities, the opportuni-ties they had to preach in bomb shelters during WWII, their rescue of

Jewish children from the ghettos, the illegal print-ing and distribution of millions of Russian Gospels, plus more.... This remarkable true-life story is sure to hold you captive to the ongoing cause of Christ! Paperback, 217 pages

The Torchlighters “Heroes of the Faith” DVD Series…

The Gladys Aylward Story$15

With war raging about her and enemy soldiers closing in, the wounded missionary Gladys Aylward sets out on the most difficult journey of her life – a 160-kilometre trek over the mountains to a safe haven. But it's not her own safety that concerns this little woman with big faith. It's the safety and well-being of the hundred orphaned children in her care. Watch as Gladys' strength and faith are stretched to the limit, all for the sake of the children. Animated story is about 30 minutes, plus there are additional bonus features such as a more detailed documentary for parents, educators, and all who are interested in learning more about the life of this heroic missionary.

Never Alone – Galina's Story$10

When Galina was a young girl, her father was arrested in the Soviet Ukraine for being a pastor. Several years later, during the time of her husband Pavel’s ordina-tion, she remembered her father’s imprisonment and the many hardships her mother endured as a result. What if Pavel and I have to face the same trials? Galina wondered. “I am Yours, Lord,” she prayed in complete

surrender. Shortly after-wards, Pavel was arrested. Galina’s published testi-mony, Never Alone, is a story of commitment, the power of prayer, and the blessings of Christian fellowship. It is also a testimony of God’s protection, a challenge for today’s Christians, and a reminder that – regardless of the circumstances – God’s children are truly never alone. Paperback, 361 pages