_CHURCH HISTORY: CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A WHITE MAN'S RELIGION Pt.4_

Have you ever heard the name Perpetua&Felicity? The Roman Catholic Church calls them *Saint Perpetua and Saint Felicity* - or in Latin, _Sancta Perpetua et Felicitas_.

These two African women were arrested in AD 203 because they did not deny Jesus. Perpetua was educated and of a noble birth but Felicity was a slave girl working with Perpetua. At the time of their arrest&imprisonment, Perpetua was nursing a baby while Felicity was 8 months pregnant

Perpetua's father came to the prison begging her. He was not a Christian. He held her baby in his arms and said, "Have pity on your father. Have pity on your baby. Just say you are not a Christian and you will be free."

Perpetua looked at a water pot on the floor and said, "Father, can you call this pot by any other name than what it is?" He said, "No." She said, "Neither can I call myself by any other name than Christian." That was her answer. She would not lie about who she was.

Felicity had a different fear. The law said pregnant women could not be executed, because the baby inside was innocent. She was afraid she would be left behind while her boss turned friend died for Christ, and then she would be killed later alone, with common criminals.

So the whole prison prayed for her. And God answered. She went into labour early in prison and gave birth to a baby girl. A Christian woman in the prison adopted the baby. Felicity was now free to die with her sisters.

When the day of execution came, they were brought into the arena in Carthage. The crowd wanted blood. Perpetua and Felicity, along with three other young men - Revocatus, Saturninus, and Secundulus - were thrown to wild beasts. Felicity was tossed by a wild cow.

Perpetua was tossed too. Her clothes tore. But instead of crying in shame, Perpetua stood up, fixed her hair, and helped Felicity to stand. Even in the arena, she was still a sister caring for her sister.

History says when the beasts did not kill them, the soldiers were ordered to finish them with the sword. Perpetua took the trembling hand of the young soldier and guided his sword to her own throat. She was not afraid of death. She was ready to meet her Lord.

Perpetua kept a diary in prison. It is called "The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity." It is one of the first books ever written by a Christian woman. In it, she writes about her dreams, her fears, her love for her baby, and her love for Christ. For 1,800 years, the church has read the words of this young African woman.

*Long before missionaries came to Africa, African women were already dying for Jesus*.

Perpetua and Felicity were not converts of foreigners. They were African Christians, in an African church, in an African city, standing for Christ before Europe was even Christian. Africans and the Christian world at large have a lot to learn from their story.

Your faith must have a name. Perpetua said, "I cannot call myself by any other name than Christian." Can you say that at your school, in your office, in your family, when it is not convenient?

Perpetua and Felicity teach us that Africa did not receive the Gospel as cowards. Africa received the Gospel as martyrs. Our foremothers did not run from death. They walked into the arena singing.

If God could use a 22-year-old nursing mother and a pregnant slave girl to shake the Roman Empire, He can use you. Would your faith survive prison? If they told you today, "Deny Jesus or lose your job, your family, your life" -