Choosing To Suffer Affliction by Kathleen Nenadov

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This volume traces the history of the Nazarene church in Yugoslavia after World War II, with an emphasis on the persecution faced by the Nazarene brethren due to their nonresistance stand. Hardcover, 156 pages

Click to read - Table of Contents.pdf

One short account from a Nazarene:

After I finished high school, I was sent to target practice in my village. Immediately, I was confronted with trouble. I refused to take a gun, and so, I was punished. They didn’t beat me, but I was ridiculed and looked down upon. When I turned 20, I was drafted to go to the army. After two days, they came to administer the oath of allegiance and distribute arms. I remember that it was very nice sunny morning. The new soldiers lined up together for the ceremony. Then, I stepped out of line. Many confused eyes of the soldiers were upon me. But, the officer in charge looked at me with wrath. He took me to the administration office. I told them that I cannot accept arms because of religious reasons. The officer just shook his head, and said,
“You have to choose what you want to do. Accept arms, or go to prison”. I looked him in the eye and said assuredly,
“I cannot accept arms and I accept whatever God has in store for me.”

That day, they put me in jail and beat me a little bit. They tried different things to convince me to change my mind. At times, it was hard, but, with God’s help, I endured. I felt peace and joy that I was
able to suffer for Christ. And that really helped.

And then came the night that I will never forget. A soldier took me from my cell at 1AM and brought me to administration. There was a higher officer waiting for me. He might have been a captain. His angry eyes glared at me as I entered. He spoke with malice,
“Now is the time for you to decide if you will live or die.”
I didn’t really understand what he meant, so I just said,

“Whatever God has planned for me, I accept.”

He pulled out his pistol and loaded five bullets. He demanded that I look at him. So, I did. He came up to me and put the pistol in my mouth. He said,
“I will give you three chances to accept arms. And if you refuse on the third time, I’m going to shoot you.”
I stared at him and gave him no reaction. So, he asked the first time,
“Will you take arms?”
I calmly answered, “No”. He was kind of surprised.
Then, he asked a second time, and again, I said “No”. Now, he was even more surprised and was noticeably shaken by my answer. But, he proceeded to say,
“Now, I’m going to ask you for the third time, and if you say no, you will be dead.”
I looked at him without hesitation and said, “No”.

With that, I saw a miracle before my very eyes. This man’s face became completely black and blue. He could hardly breathe and he seemed to have some kind of seizure. He dropped his gun from my mouth and my life was spared. I never experienced such an amazing feeling like I had at that moment of deliverance. I could not be more thankful to God. Peace and joy overflowed in my heart. But, I truly felt that if I had died that night, I would have also been blessed.  Never in my life would I ever go through something like that.

After a few days, they took me to another jail where I would be sentenced. I was beaten a little and subjected to many officers who tried to persuade me to take arms. They did everything to show me that I was wrong. But, I kept reminding myself that I was right before God and what He wanted from me.