Sorrow & Blood
Dr. Bill Taylor (Dip, Moody; BA, NTU; ThM, DTS; PhD, University of Texas) was born (1940) and raised in Latin America. Following three years on IVCF staff in Texas, he and his wife, Yvonne, invested seventeen years in leadership training (Seminario Teológico Centroamericano) and church planting in Guatemala.
Following two years on the faculty of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Bill served the Missions Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance for thirty years, twenty years as Executive Director, and ten as Senior Mentor. During this season he coordinated the MC publications and global missiology teams.
Following the WEA decades, he founded https://www.taylorglobalconsult.org/ to focuses on consulting, teaching as adjunct at different seminaries, mentoring, writing and serving the CRUX Institute—an innovative Spanish-language apologetics platform. Bill has served the missionary movement for 62 years in theological education, leadership development, church planting and global networking. In singular ways, the 17 years in Latin America prepared him for 30 years in global ministry.
Bill has written (English and Spanish) and edited a great diversity of books for the local church, the global mission movement. The WEA Mission Commission books were produced by William Carey Publishing. His most recent book is Leading from Below: Lessons from the Crucible of Global Mission, WCP, 2025. He is not completing his memoirs.
Bill and Yvonne, a native Texan, were married in 1967. Together they have three children born in Guatemala, and eight grandchildren. Worshipping at Christ Church-Anglican, his highest passion is to finish well.
Antonia Leonora van der Meer, Brazilian with a Dutch background, served with IFES formany years in Brazil and Angola. Now at the Evangelical Missions Center in Brazil, she isdevelopment coordinator, dean, teacher, and mentor. She has a master’s in theology at theBaptist Brazilian Theological Faculty in São Paulo and a doctorate in missiology at the AsiaGraduate School of Theology in the Philippines. She has published several articles in Connections:The Journal of the WEA Mission Commission, in Global Missiology for the Twenty-firstCentury, in the Brazilian version of Perspectives, in Doing Member Care Well, in The Dictionaryof Mission Theology, and in the Atlas of Global Christianity. She wrote several books inPortuguese: an inductive Bible study (ABUEditora), a personal missionary story (Eu, umMissionário?), and a book on caring for Brazilian missionaries in contexts of suffering (MissionáriosFeridos).
Reg Reimer (MA, Fuller Theological Seminary) has served the kingdom of God in many capacities around the world, but describes himself foremost as a missionary to Vietnam. After forty-five years of deep involvement there, he has become the acknowledged authority on Protestants in that enigmatic country. He has reported much on Vietnam, but, as the situation required, anonymously- until now.
This anthology is relevant to believers enduring persecution. It equips those preparing for ministry in difficult contexts and challenges them to recognize the central place of suffering in God’s mission. In an increasingly dangerous world, Sorrow & Blood offers clarity, conviction, and hope for faithful witness.
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It is with reverence that I touch Sorrow and Blood. The data, reports, witnesses, and biblical reflections open before my eyes allow me and push me to see the faces of people who tell me with their lives that in Jesus Christ they found the meaning of life and of history. The world is not worthy of them (Heb 11:38) nor am I. But in grace they minister to our lives and to our generation, calling us all into a deeper commitment to being agents of God’s Kingdom in the corners of the world in which we live. I feel honored to be ministered by those who tell me, through suffering, that it is good and necessary to serve our Lord Jesus Christ and to live, or even die, for him. It’s an amazing work. Gloria Deo.
— Dr. Valdir Steuernagel -
Sorrow and Blood is a powerful and comprehensive global study of persecution and suffering. Every follower of Christ who wants to be informed and inspired should read this book. It should be required reading for pastors, missionaries, activists, or any other Christian who wants to engage biblically in a complex world where millions of fellow believers are under great pressure or persecution for their faith.
— Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe -
For most of us it is incomprehensible the suffering that our sisters and brothers have endured in many places around the globe for the sake of the Gospel. Sorrow and Blood is the best effort done by evangelical reflective practitioners to provide a comprehensive description and a deep analysis of what Christian suffering and martyrdom mean and what the situation looks like today. This is not just another book produced by the Mission Commission of WEA, but one of the most profound and challenging to read, particularly if you do it with an open mind and a warm heart.
— Bertil Ekström -
As I read this book and write these lines, I am aware that right now native evangelical Christians are forced to leave their land and their towns in southern Mexico because of their faith. The question of religious persecution has become all pervasive and urgent, both in the European post-Christendom societies as well as in countries dominated by Islam and other religions. This book is a most valuable compendium and it should become required reading for future missionaries and mission educators. The rich diversity of nationalities, perspectives, and styles represented is a good example of how Christian missiology is becoming truly global.
— Dr. Samuel Escobar -
With a wonderful balance of insight and passion this volume addresses the most neglected mark of the true church: suffering. Readers will not only be enlightened, but also deeply moved and challenged listening to voices from around the globe reflect theologically, report accurately, and testify personally on this topic. Sorrow and Blood is a profound and vital contribution to our understanding of the church and mission.
— Dr. Craig Ott
Foreword by William D. Taylor
Prefaces
Ajith Fernando
Christopher J. H. Wright
Part One: Building the Foundation
Introduction
William D. Taylor, Antonia van der Meer, and Reg Reimer
Chapter 1: A Global Survey
Christof Sauer and Thomas Schirrmacher
Chapter 2: Reflections on Mission in the Context of Suffering
Beram Kumar
Chapter 3: Christian Responses to Suffering, Persecution, and Martyrdom
Reg Reimer
Chapter 4: The Demographics of Martyrdom
Todd M. Johnson
Chapter 5: A Response to the High Counts of Christian Martyrs Per Year
Thomas Schirrmacher
Chapter 6: Redefining Persecution
Charles L. Tieszen
Chapter 7: Persecution, Martyrdom, and Mission
David Tai Woong Lee
Part Two: Reflections from Scripture and Theology
Chapter 8: Deliver Us from Evil
Rose Dowsett
Chapter 9: From Genesis to Revelation
Wolfgang Haede
Chapter 10: A Biblical Theology of Persecution and Discipleship
Glenn Penner
Chapter 11: The Prosperity Gospel
Grant LeMarquand
Chapter 12: Reflections on the Prosperity Gospel
Femi B. Adeleye
Chapter 13: In the Context of World Evangelism
Marvin Newell
Chapter 14: The Teaching of Jesus on Suffering in Mission
Antonia van der Meer
Chapter 15: Biblical Teaching on Suffering and Perseverance in Paul and Peter
Margaretha N. Adiwardana
Chapter 16: The Problem of Evil and Suffering
Isaiah M. Dau
Chapter 17: God’s Plan of Perseverance and Suffering in the Book of Revelation
Margaretha N. Adiwardana
Part Three: Reflections from History and Case Studies
Chapter 18: Picturing the Persecuted Church in the Art of the Early Christian
Catacombs
Kelley Magill
Chapter 19: From Asia Minor to Contemporary Turkey
Carlos Madrigal
Chapter 20: How Saintly Should Biographies Be?
Miriam Adeney
Chapter 21: An Inductive Approach to Understanding Persecution in the Middle East
Andrew Edward
Chapter 22: Suffering and Persecution in the Middle East
A Pastor from Egypt
Chapter 23: The First Christian Martyrs of Japan
How Chuang Chua
Chapter 24: Tsarist Russia and the Soviet and Post-Soviet Union
Mark R. Elliott
Chapter 25: Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union
Johannes Reimer
Chapter 26: Post-Communist Perestroika Russia
Eugene Bakhmutsky
Chapter 27: The Modern Secular West
Janet Epp Buckingham
Chapter 28: Angola
Antonia van der Meer
Chapter 29: Brazilian Missionaries
Antonia van der Meer
Chapter 30: Training Our Missionaries to Die
Reuben Ezemadu
Chapter 31: The Rwandan Martyrs of Ethnic Ideology
Antoine Rutayisire
Chapter 32: The Rwanda Martyrs
Célestin Musekura
Chapter 33: God and Red Caesar
Xiqiu “Bob” Fu
Chapter 34: China
G. Wright Doyle
Chapter 35: Sri Lanka
Godfrey Yogarajah and Roshini Wickremesinhe
Chapter 36: India
Richard Howell
Chapter 37: Graham Staines (1941–1999)
Abhijit Nayak
Chapter 38: Vietnam
Reg Reimer
Chapter 39: Surviving Evin Prison
Maryam Rostampour and Marzieh Amirizadeh, Interview by Sam Yeghnazar
Chapter 40: The Korean Hostage Incident
David Tai Woong Lee and Steve Sang-Cheol Moon
Chapter 41: The Refugee Highway Partnership
Heidi Schoedel
Chapter 42: Suffering in Mission among the Poor in India
Iris Paul
Part Four: Preparation, Support, and Restoration
Chapter 43: A Pastoral Theology of Suffering in Mission
Antonia van der Meer
Chapter 44: Global Dialogue Summary
Pastors, Mission Pastors, Agency and Network Leaders
Chapter 45: Missionary Training
Rob Brynjolfson
Chapter 46: Preparing Church and Mission Agencies
Stephen Panya Baba
Chapter 47: Preparing both Church and Local Missionaries: Global North
Paul Estabrooks
Chapter 48: Preparing both Church and Local Missionaries: Missionaries: Global South
Paulo Moreira Filho with Marcos Amado
Chapter 49: Preparing a Mission Agency
S. Kent Parks
Chapter 50: Missionary Families
Laura Mae Gardner
Chapter 51: A Story of Missionary Martyrs’ Children
Dave Thompson
Chapter 52: Code of Best Practices
Voice of the Martyrs Canada
Chapter 53: Best Practices for Foreign Teams Visiting the Persecuted Church
National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka
Chapter 54: Guidelines for Crisis Management and Prevention
Global Connections, in association with the Global Mission Network
Chapter 55: Policy Recommendations
Crisis Consulting International
Chapter 56: Best Practices for Ministry to and with the Persecuted Church
The Religious Liberty Partnership
Chapter 57: What Do We Learn from the Persecuted?
Ronald R. Boyd-MacMillan
Chapter 58: Human Rights and Persecution
Thomas Schirrmacher and Thomas K. Johnson
Chapter 59: Advocating for the Persecuted
Reg Reimer
Chapter 60: Reflections on Theology, Strategy, and Engagement
Chris Seiple
Chapter 61: Jesus Christ’s Comfort and Healing for Traumatic Wounds
Kyle Miller
Chapter 62: Counseling Victims of Human-Induced Trauma
Patricia Miersma
Chapter 63: A Review of “Healing the Wounds of Trauma”
Patricia Miersma
Chapter 64: The Place and Function of Academics
Christof Sauer and Thomas Schirrmacher
Chapter 65: The Place and Function of Research
Steve Sang-Cheol Moon
Part Five: Final Themes
Chapter 66: Prayer without Ceasing
Mindy Belz
Chapter 67: A Call
Faith J. H. McDonnell
Chapter 68: A Service of Thoughtful Prayer for the Persecuted Church
Yvonne Christine DeAcutis Taylor
Chapter 69: Approaching the Final Door of Our Journey
William D. Taylor, Antonia van der Meer, and Reg Reimer
Part Six: Resources
Appendix A: The Bad Urach Call
Appendix B: Select Annotated Bibliography
Samuel Chiang, Roberta Chiang and Brian F. O’Connell
Appendix C: Persecution Information on the Web
A. Scott Moreau and Mike O’Rear
Appendix D: Partnering Platforms Serving the Persecuted
Brian F. O’Connell
Appendix E: Member Care Resources
Harry Hoffmann and Pramila Rajendran
Appendix F: Globalization of Mission Series
World Evangelical Alliance Mission Commission Publications
Index
Appendices
Authors
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William D. Taylor
William D. Taylor
Dr. Bill Taylor (Dip, Moody; BA, NTU; ThM, DTS; PhD, University of Texas) was born (1940) and raised in Latin America. Following three years on IVCF staff in Texas, he and his wife, Yvonne, invested seventeen years in leadership training (Seminario Teológico Centroamericano) and church planting in Guatemala.
Following two years on the faculty of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Bill served the Missions Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance for thirty years, twenty years as Executive Director, and ten as Senior Mentor. During this season he coordinated the MC publications and global missiology teams.
Following the WEA decades, he founded https://www.taylorglobalconsult.org/ to focuses on consulting, teaching as adjunct at different seminaries, mentoring, writing and serving the CRUX Institute—an innovative Spanish-language apologetics platform. Bill has served the missionary movement for 62 years in theological education, leadership development, church planting and global networking. In singular ways, the 17 years in Latin America prepared him for 30 years in global ministry.
Bill has written (English and Spanish) and edited a great diversity of books for the local church, the global mission movement. The WEA Mission Commission books were produced by William Carey Publishing. His most recent book is Leading from Below: Lessons from the Crucible of Global Mission, WCP, 2025. He is not completing his memoirs.
Bill and Yvonne, a native Texan, were married in 1967. Together they have three children born in Guatemala, and eight grandchildren. Worshipping at Christ Church-Anglican, his highest passion is to finish well. -
Antonia van der Meer
Antonia van der Meer
Antonia Leonora van der Meer, Brazilian with a Dutch background, served with IFES formany years in Brazil and Angola. Now at the Evangelical Missions Center in Brazil, she isdevelopment coordinator, dean, teacher, and mentor. She has a master’s in theology at theBaptist Brazilian Theological Faculty in São Paulo and a doctorate in missiology at the AsiaGraduate School of Theology in the Philippines. She has published several articles in Connections:The Journal of the WEA Mission Commission, in Global Missiology for the Twenty-firstCentury, in the Brazilian version of Perspectives, in Doing Member Care Well, in The Dictionaryof Mission Theology, and in the Atlas of Global Christianity. She wrote several books inPortuguese: an inductive Bible study (ABUEditora), a personal missionary story (Eu, umMissionário?), and a book on caring for Brazilian missionaries in contexts of suffering (MissionáriosFeridos).
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Reg Reimer
Reg Reimer
Reg Reimer (MA, Fuller Theological Seminary) has served the kingdom of God in many capacities around the world, but describes himself foremost as a missionary to Vietnam. After forty-five years of deep involvement there, he has become the acknowledged authority on Protestants in that enigmatic country. He has reported much on Vietnam, but, as the situation required, anonymously- until now.
- Pages: 569
- Publisher:
William Carey Publishing
William Carey Publishing
- Binding: Paperback
- Publish Year: 2012
- Vendor: William Carey Library
