God Was Better Served in Prison

On January 9, 1985, Pastor Hristo Kulichev, a Congregational pastor in Bulgaria, was arrested and put in prison. His crime was that he preached in his church even though the state had appointed another man the pastor, one whom the congregation did not elect.

Kulichev’s trial was a mockery of justice, and he was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment. During his time in prison he made Christ known every way he could. When he got out, he wrote, “Both prisoners and jailers asked many questions, and it turned out that we had a more fruitful ministry there than we could have expected in church.

God was better served by our presence in prison than if we had been free.” In many places in the world, the words of Jesus are as radically relevant as if they had been spoken yesterday: “They will deliver you to prison. . . . This will be a time for you to bear testimony” (Luke 21:12-13, AT ). The pain of our shattered plans is for the purpose of scattered grace.