Jars of Clay Learns About Faith, Persecution Abroad

NASHVILLE--Far from the celebrity world of Nashville's Christian music scene, the popular band Jars of Clay recently took a measure of the depth of faith in Asian lands where Christian worship can come at a high price.

On a trip to communist Vietnam and China, the four-man band huddled discreetly with underground Christians in house churches and karaoke bars, hearing terrible stories of imprisonment and torture of those who risk their lives to be Christians.

Leaving their musical instruments at home, Jars of Clay went halfway around the world, not to perform on tour but to learn about an issue that has galvanized the Christian community and politicians too in recent years -- the persistence of religious persecution, especially Christian persecution, in the world today. "There's a passion for Christ that's a lot deeper over there," Jars of Clay member Dan Haseltine said last week. "In America, our first inkling is not to rely on the hand of God. But there, the word of God is very powerful to them. If the Book of Acts were still being written today, it would include the church in Vietnam and China."

Tomorrow, thousands of churches in the U.S. and worldwide will honor the fifth annual International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. The goal of allied groups is to end harassment and abuse of Christians in about 60 countries. They claim that more Christians have died for their faith in the last 100 years than in all previous Christian centuries combined.

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