CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION – NATALYA IVANOVNA SUNDUKOVA – A RUSSIAN MARTYR

Winds of change of the worst kind are sweeping all over the world. The dust storms of the terrible kind are rising all across the globe. What was once considered unimaginable, is actually taking shape, and is about to burst onto the world scene very soon. How soon is not yet clear, but certainly pretty soon is very clear.

Persecution of the Christians was thought to be a thing of the past. Such a cruel and barbaric manner of conduct was believed to be given a proper and permanent burial. Well it seems such thinking is proving to be naïve thinking, to say the least. The levers of power in the world, are firmly held by the prince of this world. The strings of Christian persecution are pulled by the angel of darkness, and not the human agents – Ephesians 6:12. The rulers of this world, everyone without any exception, are very much in trance under the spell of Satan, who is busy setting up his “kingdom” which will be very soon ushered in publicly, through his human agent, the Anti-Christ.

According to the Church history records, on 28 April 1939, the Communists of Soviet Union arrest Natalya Ivanovna Sundukova [1887 to 1942] a 52 year old devout Russian Orthodox Christian, the daughter of an Orthodox priest, on the grounds that she is leading a “counter-revolutionary” church-monarchist cell in Stalinabad, which is the modern-day Dushanbe, in Tajikistan, during Stalin’s anti-religious campaigns. Natalya, by then was already serving the sentence of exile to Central Asia.

Natalya, after her trial, was sentenced to death in 1941, for her “crimes” against the country, by the communist Soviet authorities. Her “crimes” – leading a “counter-revolutionary” church-monarchist cell, refusing to work for the atheistic state, which she declared as anti-Christian, and for evangelising or spreading her Orthodox faith among the fellow prisoners. She was eventually shot to her death on 11 January 1942 by a communist Soviet firing squad.

John Stott, defining Christian persecution, says, “Persecution is simply the clash between two irreconcilable value-systems.” This is precisely what happened with Natalya Ivanovna Sundukova, a devout Christian, and to countless other Christians in the Communist Soviet Union, because of the prevalent “paranoid” hate for Christians, who are called as the “enemies” and therefore, the logical and purposeful elimination of all who are perceived to be the “enemies” of the ideas and the ideals being pursued to build a “perfect” “progressive” and “prosperous” society. Whether they actually are the “enemies” or not, is something that will never be discussed or debated openly and transparently, in a civilised and cultured manner. It is thus desired, and it is thus concluded because, the “powerful” and the “wise” and the “intelligent” of the society have decided so – and that is final.

The world is going to see such hateful behaviour from the powers of the world, yet again, in the near future, towards all “true” Christians. We are already in such days…all over the world. The world is fast ushering in the “one world” reign of the Anti-Christ, where nothing would be secret anymore, but everything would be known about everyone, with the “right” tools. It is just like the words of the character Rolf to Miss. Liesl, in the famous movie, The Sound of Music, which sums up our situation aptly – “We make it our business to know everything about everyone.”

Everything we think we “own” can be owned by multiple entities like – the manufacturers of our communication devises, the software providers, and the service providers, and WHO KNOWS WHO ELSE. Isn’t this the reality of modern life, as talked about in the general sphere of news and information today? Our phones, our email, our social media, and WHAT ELSE WE DON’T KNOW YET, are all hackable, and can be hijacked…at a moment’s notice. Isn’t this the open secret that is talked about in the media today?
– All Christians will be, if not already, considered the prime suspects and thus the “enemies” of the “civilised” and “progressive” world.
– Christians will be labelled, if not already, as those who “disrupt” the harmony in the “civilised” society. 
– Christians don’t “deserve” to be part of any “progressive” society. 
– Therefore, since they leave no option, say the powers of the world, we should kill them – for this is a “just act.”
– Haven’t we heard some High Priest and his minions, a long while ago, say the same, when they were judging our LORD Jesus Christ? 
– The religious head is part of the power setup of the powers of this world, even though he wears a garb of religion, and acts as though he is incensed with righteous anger, as a responsible human representative of the Most High God.
– “18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.” – John 15:18-21

Let us not be discouraged or disheartened dear brothers and sisters. The LORD JESUS LOVES US and CARES FOR US. He is with us, in all of this. HE WILL NEVER LEAVE US, NOR FORSAKE US. Therefore, let us be faithful and obedient to our LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ. Let us continue to walk the path that He had shown us – to LOVE OUR ENEMIES, to FORGIVE THOSE WHO HATE US, and PRAY for ALL who SPITEFULLY USE US – Matthew 5:43-48.
– “16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. 17 But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. 18 You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” – Matthew 10:16-20
Even so, the LORD help us.