Missionary Threatened for Refusing to Denounce Christ

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Gospel for Asia missionary Amil Romir refused to comply with a local government official’s request to denounce Christ and discontinue his ministry in the small country of Bhutan.

Amil was summoned to the office of the local political leader. The man asked him to write a statement saying, “I will never preach about Jesus Christ and will never show the film on the life of Jesus Christ in this area.”

Since Amil refused to turn his back on Christ, the officials have threatened to send his case to a higher authority.

Amil and his ministry have been the target of anti-Christian extremists for several months. In June, local officials interrupted a worship service that Amil was leading. They were delivering a warrant calling for each of the Christians in the service to appear before the local government body and answer questions.

On June 30, Amil and his congregation appeared before the authorities, at which time each believer was questioned individually about how they became a Christian.

“We received Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior by our own decision and conviction,” one believer told officials. The other Christians echoed this testimony. Amil answered each of the questions they asked about the ministry.

They authorities declined to arrest Amil or the Christians, but they tried to force them to sign a statement saying they would not tell others about Jesus.

When these Bhutanese Christians refused to sign the statement, the officials let them go under the condition that they would not have any meetings or worship services and that they would come back and clean the government office and grounds every 15 days.

Amil and his church members are making the most of their unusual “punishment” by continuing to be examples of Christ’s love and humility as they serve these local officials.

Bhutan is a difficult place to minister the Gospel. In the past, elected officials have banned Christianity and denied citizenship to anyone who refused to practice the state religion of Buddhism. It is illegal for Christians to even meet in homes for worship in Bhutan.

Amil asks for continued prayer that God will continue to use him effectively, in spite of the circumstances. He also seeks prayer for those who oppose the ministry. He would like to see them turn to Christ.

Amil also asks for prayer for the Christians in his congregation, that God would continue to give them courage and help them stand firm in their faith.