When I read the story about these nuns who all were beheaded, and how they peacefully and joyfully went to their death, I felt deeply touched. My prayer, ever since I read the book, Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand, has been that I could be able to withstand even torture and not renounce my faith in Jesus.

Ever since I can remember, I have been afraid of being tortured,being imprisoned, or executed. Reading or hearing about the holocaust always brings me to a state of intense anguish. Hearing about the persecution of Christians and how they courageously faced death in the public executions is so intense for me. I have such empathy for this suffering and can’t imagine going through such an experience.

Tears are coming to my eyes even now.

I also could hardly stand watching the movie, the Passion of Christ. Although I watched it when it first came out 14 years ago, I still remember sobbing and grieving as I watched the horrible way that Jesus died.

Does it seem odd that I would want to get to a place where I could face death or torture with the faith that Jesus will be with me? I think that this is the ultimate goal that we Christians need to have, though, because even now there are Christians being tortured, imprisoned, and executed for their faith.

I hope that we in our monastery, or I individually, will never have to go through what other Christians have gone through in this way. However, we can have the intention of being so close to Jesus that we can withstand anything. And, we can be so fiercely committed to helping alleviate the persecution of Christians, and helping our Creator to bring heaven on earth, reconciling all to each other and to our Creator.

I hope that we can help persecuted Christians in other countries. Perhaps we might even be able to relocate them in our community. That would be such an honor and I’m sure they would be inspiring to us.

My vision is that we can work together to help all of life to thrive, and help people who choose to hurt others because of their religion, race, or any reason–to wake up to the truth of who they are in Christ. We have a big job to do! We will need all the passion and commitment we can get with the help of Jesus.

Here are some more videos that will educate you about these inspiring nuns. I think these stories are helpful and help us to see what is possible, and what to aspire to in our lives.