4 Amazing Stories of Martyrdom and Costly Discipleship

Justin Martyr

Justin Martyr, also known as Saint Justin was born in the Roman city of Flavia Neapolis in 100 AD. Though he was raised by pagan parents, he found truth through Christ. He became a philosopher, and his combative defense of faith eventually made him enemies of the city. In Rome, he and his disciples were arrested for his faith, he was asked by the perfect to denounce his faith by making a sacrifice to the gods. He responded “If we are punished for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, we hope to be saved.” They were then taken out, beaten and beheaded. Their fellow Christians secretly set out to retrieve their bodies and gave them an honored burial as martyrs. They rejoiced that their companions had remained faithful and inherited eternal life.

Jan Hus

Jan Hus, also referred to as John Hus was a Czech Priest, philosopher and early Christian reformer. Given he lived before Luther, Calvin and Zwingli; he is considered the first Church reformer. He played a pivotal role as a predecessor to Protestantism, and His teachings influenced Western Europe, and had a major influence on Martin Luther himself. He was burned at the stake for heresy against the doctrines of the Catholic Church, particularly related to those on ecclesiology, the Eucharist and other theological topics. Moments before his death, the imperial marshal asked Jan one final time to recant and save his life. Jan responded “God is my witness that…the principal intention of my preaching…and all my other acts or writings are solely that I might turn people from sin. And in that truth of the gospel that I wrote, taught, and preached in accordance with the sayings and expositions of the holy doctors, I am willingly glad to die today.” The executioner then started the fire.

Ahn Ei Sook

Ahn Ei Sook, was a Korean woman who lived through terrible times during the Japanese occupied Korea in the ‘30s through 1945. She took a powerful stand alone for God’s truth, despite arrest, imprisonment and possible execution. She was imprisoned in a prison camp for her faith, and refused to bow down to Japanese idol worship though many Christians did that day. She was tortured for six years until her release. Throughout her life, there were countless examples of God’s intervention. On the day of her release, a sympathetic prison guard shouted “Ladies and gentlemen! These are the ones who for six long years refused to worship Japanese gods. They fought against sever torture, hunger and cold, and have won without bowing their heads to the Idol worship of Japan. Today they are champions of the faith!” The crowd then shouted “Praise to the name of Jesus,” and began to sing joyously. She made the decision to go to the parliament of Japan and speak out against the injustice of the persecution of Christians.

Sarah Corson

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Her mission was to bring the love of Jesus to the indigenous people of Bolivia. In 1980, she and a team of seventeen young people traveled down the world’s deadliest roads, crossing swollen rivers to reach these people as a part of a project to help the impoverished residents to help sustainable agriculture. She didn’t know that during this journey she would be confronted by military junta, who believed that American missionaries were encouraging the resistance. Because of this, they wanted to eliminate them from the equation. The junta had no idea they were dealing with someone who truly embodied the presence of Christ. She only had seconds to pray before she was discovered by soldiers. In that moment, she was completely aware of the presence of God. When she was found, she began to be shoved around, with gums aimed. In this moment, she did the unexpected. She went back and forth with the soldiers about the presence of Christ, and the love she had for them through the love of Christ. Even in the chaos, standing on different sides related to faith, they were amazed by her actions. She was later released. She was a pastor a Bolivian church. When Sarah and her husband Ken worked with the people of the village to find Christ and grow not only spiritually, but agriculturally. She is a powerful testament to what God can do when you’re willing to risk everything to follow Him.