Sid: My guest by way of telephone is Kevin Turner, and Kevin is President of Strategic World Impact. I’m catching up with him with his office in the Sudan, Africa areas. And he’s at their base with his entire family there. He works primarily in warzones; disaster areas, and where there’s Christian persecution. Kevin you’ve got a young family; you’re a young man; why are you putting your life on the line and your family’s life on the line? You could do very well in America; you know that and I know that; God knows that; why are you?
Kevin: There’s a really incredible hymn that I think will sum it up for you and it’s says this. Only one life will soon be past and only what’s done for Jesus will last. And then the second stanza and then people forget this one. And when it is over how glad I shall be if the lamp of my life has been burned out for Thee.
Sid: We don’t hear things like that here in America. Tell me 3 or 4 hot spots and persecution that’s going on for Christians. I mean you don’t have to go any further than Sudan. I don’t understand why the world hasn’t been in an outrage over this for years they’ve been systematically murdering Christians. I don’t get it Kevin.
Kevin: Well, unfortunately I think that the god of this world has blinded the eyes of our press and various things. So that after all it’s just a couple million Christians who have been systematically subjected to genocide.
Sid: A couple million!?
Kevin: In the last, in the last, in fact me and my wife were counting. In the last 8 months on 5 occasions our lives had been directly spared. We had literally 26 jihadists they were posted on the roadside waiting to attack us with our PG’s, and machine gun fire. The Lord prevented that from taking place. All I can say is this, I believe the greatest thing in life would be for me to live for Jesus, and the second things is to lay my life down for Him. I believe theologically that Jesus said “Come and die” and He meant it.
Sid: Question…
Kevin: He meant it.
Sid: It’s one thing for you, wait a second Kevin, that is one thing for you, and yes He meant that. But how come you have your family; how old are your children?
Kevin: Well my oldest is 14 my daughter; in fact she was attacked here in Africa. And my second daughter is 8 I’m sorry 11 and my son is 8. And what’s really interesting about that we wrote an article me and my daughter together, my 14 year old daughter. It’s called “Calvary’s Love” and after she was attacked my wife…
Sid: Now wait a second, why was she attacked?
Kevin: Well, because of the country and the area of where we’re working. It was actually an insane man who jumped out and grabbed her by the neck and began choking her. I ran over there to rescue her and we were attacked by a mob of about 50 people. We barely got out of there with our lives it was just me, my wife and my daughter.
Sid: Oh, why the mob attack you; I understand the crazy man but why the mob?
Kevin: Well, they’re Muslims and I think what happened is we’re very well known that we’re Christians. And they were beating and trying to smash our windshields on our vehicle, which I literally had to fight to get my wife and daughter into. They were sitting inside screaming and when we finally got back to my missions compound my wife was I mean incredibly disturbed as you could imagine. My daughter is crying and literally I mean it was probably 5:00 AM my wife had finally went to sleep and I stayed up even a little bit longer to pray. And the nest couple of hours she woke up and said “Kevin I just want to know why; why did God allow this to happen?” I said “Because He’s giving us the ability to understand what Calvary’s love is all about.” You see the love of the flesh only goes so far but to love people that attack your daughter, well that’s Calvary love that’s the love of Jesus. And what we’re able to do through that is grow and the most important thing out of that entire episode for me was seeing my 14 year old daughter, she was 13 at the time weeping she just turned 14 weeping, crying; pleading that she wanted to stay. She didn’t want to leave. My wife was ready to change the tickets and finally the Lord touched her heart we ended up staying. When we went back to America I was scheduled to come back to Sudan and my daughter was weeping and saying “Dad you can’t go without me; you can’t go without me you got to take me, I have to go back.” And I’m thinking “This is in the heart of a 14 year old girl who understands what Jesus meant when He said ‘Come and follow Me.’” You know what the modern lie the biggest lie in the church in America is today?
Sid: What’s that?
Kevin: It’s called the doctrine of in expendability. And what the pastors, preachers and evangelists have told the church in America today is. “You’re too important to die.”
Sid: Hm.
Kevin: “You’re too important to lay down your life” If you’re going to have good ministry it needs to be long ministry. And as Jim Elliott wrote in his diary before he was speared to death by the Auca Indians he said “Can’t thou bear the short lived life oh my soul?” And I thank God John the Baptist did subscribe to that false theology “I believe and therefore I live.” And until I knew Jesus I didn’t have hope; I didn’t have anything worth living for; I didn’t have anything to die for. But He revolutionized my life and because of that I want to live for Him and even die in His service.
Sid: Kevin what is it like when you’re in a life threatening situation which happens to you more than we have time to discuss and you feel Jesus with you?
Kevin: I’ll tell you this right now I sometimes almost think that I’m an adrenaline junkie because what I’ve seen is in the midst of chaos, turmoil, or when I don’t even know if I’m going to be alive tomorrow Jesus is so near. I remember one time in fact that we were attacked by helicopter gunships. I had my right knee opened to the bone; a bunch of people were shot and killed around me. I ended up running 90 miles through the desert. And as they were shooting at me rockets my back pack was blown to smithereens by a rocket. I was crawling on my hands and knees and trying to get into these huge rocks and I remember as I clawed by way up the side of this mountain. I finally saw this crevice in these rocks I crawled in and I thought I’d be safe from this fire. This is helicopter gunships circling us. And literally when I crawled in that crevice in those rocks Jesus met me in there. And this is what He said “Kevin I’ll hide you here in the cleft of the rock and I’ll cover you with My hand.” (Crying) And I’ll tell you there’s not a dime, there’s not a million dollars; there’s nothing that anyone could give me in response that knowing Jesus called me by name and He put His hand on me. And there’s something that you get to experience when You say “Jesus Your my all and all.” And when He’s your treasure, and of course we know He lives in heaven at the right hand of the Father; then the things of this earth grow strangely dim and it’s not about your kids; and it’s not about living for your wife, or any other thing. It’s simply this “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.” And the only way that can be reality; the only way that you can truly say that is when Jesus is more important to you than anything.
Sid: You know I was reading that article that caused me to call you right outside of Sudan, Africa. I’m going to quote from it; it says “A Chinese Christian who spent more than 26 years in a tiny prison cell was asked upon his release how he handled this confinement?” His answer rocked me to the core; he said “It was like a honeymoon with Jesus.” Do you remember when he said that Kevin?
Kevin: Yes I did, and yes I do. In fact I remember being there in that underground church and meeting with this precious saint. He actually was friends with Watchmen Nee; they were part of what was called the Magnificent Seven of China along with Allen Yun, and Samuel M. And this was so that Wayne McDowell and in fact there was a book about his life called “A Stone Made Smooth.” I’ll tell you I remember sitting there with these precious believers but before I could sit with them I had to get to the front of the church because they were calling me to the front. It was so packed with bodies seated on the floor was the only way I could get there was to step on the hands, on the knees, on the people that were sitting there on the floor worshiping. And I was so humbled because they weren’t looking at me say “Hey buddy you bumped me, hey you stepped on me!” they were smiling with the radiance of the Son of God. I got to the front of there and I sat with the man who’d been in prison for 27 years. He said that “After 12 hours of forced labor he would literally have 10 minutes outside behind his cell, and there’s only consolation in life was that he would hum “The Old Rugged Cross” to himself. And I thought “Jesus this man knows you in a way that I only dream of.” What I’ve seen in life Sid is this “Calamity clarifies and comfort confuses.” When the church in America wants to say how God has blessed them they point to things. When the church around the world wants to say how God has blessed them they point to souls. They point to the interaction; they point to the intercourse of God in their soul and it’s so valuable. It’s such a precious thing it blows my mind.
Sid: You know the most popular message on American Christian TV today is “Give to my ministry and you will have such abundance of money and wealth.” How far removed from is that from the Book, the Bible?”
Kevin: Huh, well my message to the Church in America is come and die.” Few people take me up on it but I believe with all my heart that I have divine obligation to stand up and say “Come and be a Martyr for Jesus; come and lay down your life for something more important than yourself.”
Sid: Kevin, we’re out of time right now we’ll pick up on tomorrow’s broadcast.
