June 17, 2002
Curry & Mercer urge Baptists to spread gospel despite cost
___By Trennis Henderson
___Western Recorder
___ST. LOUIS--Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer, relief workers imprisoned in Afghanistan for three months by the Taliban, urged Southern Baptists to spread the gospel faithfully, even though "it might cost you everything."
___The Baylor University graduates, who worked in Afghanistan with the Shelter Now International relief ministry, were arrested last August on charges of sharing their Christian faith with Muslims. They were freed Nov. 15 in a dramatic pre-dawn rescue by U.S. Special Forces.
Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer speak to reporters prior to their address to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting.Van Payne/BP
___Rather than focusing on their arrest, captivity and rescue, however, the two women emphasized their motivation for ministry as they spoke to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in St. Louis June 11.
___"It's a privilege for us to share with you what God has done," Mercer said. "Everyone who prayed is a part of the miracle God did."
___Both Mercer, 24, and Curry, who turned 30 while in prison, are members of Antioch Community Church in Waco. They were among eight Westerners arrested by the Taliban.
___Prior to enrolling at Baylor, Curry said, she was involved in drinking, drugs and had an abortion. Noting that she was "full of guilt and covered with shame," she said while at Baylor God brought people into her life who helped get her back on track.
___"As people prayed for me, my heart was healed, and God cleansed me," she said. "It allowed me to experience God's presence. I just learned how to fall in love with God, how to spend time with him on a daily basis."
___As she experienced God's love and forgiveness, Curry said, she discovered that "we've got to give that love away."
___Citing statistics that indicate 2.5 million people never have heard the Christian gospel, she added, "I realized that God was just looking for anyone who was willing to go."
___That led her to shed tears of burden and conviction for people without Christ, Curry said. "I realized those weren't my tears, but those were God's tears. His heart breaks for those every day who have not had a chance to hear."
___When she served among impoverished mothers and children in Afghanistan, Curry said, she frequently was asked, "Why did you leave your great, rich America and come to our poor country?"
___"It was easy to share about our faith; it was so natural," she said. "It was awesome to be able to say, 'Because God loves you; he loves the Afghan people.'
___"Muslims don't know that God loves them," she added. "We ended up showing the 'Jesus' film, and that's what got us into prison."
___Acknowledging that she was "shocked and afraid" as she was imprisoned, Curry said she and Mercer held hands and sang praise songs as "peace like a river came and flooded our souls."
___After 10 days in prison, the women were allowed to go to their house to retrieve some personal items, including their Bibles.
___As "God gave us Scriptures to encourage us," Curry said she discovered "we had got caught in the middle of some huge plan of God ... so the whole world would pray for Afghanistan like never before, so his light would come and freedom would come and they would have hope again.
___"Jesus wants to come back," Curry insisted, "but he's still waiting for these last remaining nations and people groups that have never heard."
___Emphasizing that "the harvest is great but the laborers are few," Curry noted that God has blessed Southern Baptists with the resources to impact the world with the gospel.
___"I pray you will be a part of seeing this world changed for the glory of Jesus Christ," she noted.
___Mercer said people urged her not to go to Afghanistan with Shelter Now, warning that the Afghan people "don't really want to hear what you have to say."
___"That's a big, fat lie," she declared. "There are 2.5 billion people waiting to hear about the love of Jesus.
___"In going to Afghanistan, we wanted to see the glory of God fill that nation through the establishment of the New Testament church in that country," she explained. "I looked at Afghanistan, and I realized there are not enough people in heaven standing around the throne of God from that country.
___"The question I found myself asking in prison was: 'If I want to see the New Testament church established, what is it going to take?'
___"I had a really hard time in prison," Mercer acknowledged. "I did not do prison the way I had hoped I would do it."
___Amid the uncertainty and fear during 105 days in captivity, "I found myself wrestling with God. I asked God, 'Why do we have to be in prison?'"
___Reaching the point where she was willing to sacrifice her life to advance God's kingdom, Mercer noted: "It might cost everything to see the people of Afghanistan come to know Jesus. It might cost the church of Jesus Christ to see his church established around the earth."
___Even facing such tremendous costs, she added, "We'll find out in the end it really cost us nothing because Jesus is all we wanted anyway.
___"What if all of us said, 'Yes, God, we want to see your glory fill the earth whatever the cost'? His kingdom would come. My prayer for all of us is that we would be people of faith and take God and his word and go for it, no matter what the cost."
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