ORLANDO (FBW)—The numbers are staggering:

• Today, 200 million Christians worldwide face persecution.

• Since the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, more than 70 million Christians have been martyred, most in the 20th and 21st centuries.

• There are currently 50 nations, the majority of them Muslim-controlled, where Christian persecution is open (supported by the government).

Those are just some of the grim facts related by Tim Gill, an associate with Voice of the Mar­tyrs, a Christian ministry that has been telling the world about the persecuted church since 1967. Gill spoke recently to the College Ministry at First Baptist Church in Orlando.

"The persecuted church is like a diamond," he said. "If you look at it correctly, you get the benefits of a diamond. But if you look at it wrong, the persecuted church is nothing but an upside-down rock." Unfortunately, Gill said, that's how much of the western church views persecuted Christians.

"This is what about 80 percent of the church in America is doing. We consider them to be a liability. We ask, 'What are these people going to cost me?' Or, 'What are these people going to do for my ego?' I've heard so many people say to me, 'We can't even look at the persecuted; they make me feel so bad.'"

And, Gill said, that is a terrible shame.

"The persecuted church has great value to us, but we fail to see it. If we look at the persecuted church correctly, we will see that it has great value to us."

He proved his point by turning to Philippians 3:17: "Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us."

For Gill, the persecuted church is that example.

"The persecuted church is going through the worst of times," he said. "They are walking through things that we in America have not even dreamt of yet. They are setting the example for us. If we study the persecuted church now, we will be prepared when persecution hits us later."

And, according to Gill, if the church in America lives as it is supposed to, then the results should be the same every time.

"The Apostle Paul knew that those who followed his example [becoming a Christian] would be beaten with rods, stoned, flogged and burned at the stake," he said. "This has happened throughout history. When you follow the correct [Christian] example, persecution is automatic. You can't get away from it. Expect persecution."

And that's what is happening today to the multitude of Christians in such nations as China, North Korea, Sudan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria and Vietnam, just to name a few.

"When you become a Christian in those places, your status is completely shot," Gill said. "The minute they accept Jesus Christ, they are looked at as infidels and second-class citizens. They are looked at as dirt."

But there is a flip side. With the rejection comes joy of the purest kind.

"We see that all over the world," Gill said. "They develop a joy we can't understand. Though they suffer horribly on the outside, inside there is a joy and radiance. That's the work of the Holy Spirit."

That joy, Gill said, comes when we experience Jesus on an entirely new level. He pointed to Philippians 3:10: "... that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death ..."

"Until we experience Christ, we can never gain complete knowledge of Him," Gill said. "We can know all about Jesus in our heads, but until we experience Him as does the persecuted church, we can't say that we fully know Him."

So, just how bad is the persecution? Books can, and are, written about it, but here's one example.

"In Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population in the world, the persecution against Christians is terrible," Gill said. "There is a village of about 600 Christians which was completely surrounded and attacked by 5,000 Islamic fanatics. They stole everything that wasn't tied down—including all of the women. Any woman that was able to bear a child, married or not, if she was over 12 years old, was kidnapped."

And for a reason.

"They were taken to other towns and given to Muslim men. The women were immediately impregnated because they knew that the mothers would stay with their babies and not try to run away. Every child born was automatically Muslim."

As for the Christian village, it, too, met its fate.

"It was burned to the ground," Gill said.

That's just a very small sample of what happens every day, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Gill closed the emotional evening by encouraging First Baptist Church in Orlando's college students to get involved with the persecuted church. One way to do that, of course, is to pray. Another way, he said, is to sign up for Voice of the Martyr's 16-page, free monthly newsletter. And the third, he said, is to tell other Christians in America about the persecuted church.

"I encourage each and every one of you to be a voice for the persecuted," Gill said. "What you heard tonight, don't keep to yourselves. Spread it around so that others will know."

To learn more about the persecuted church throughout the world, please visit Voice of the Martyrs web site at www.persecution.com.