What Are Closed Access Countries and What Makes Them Difficult?

What are Closed Access Countries and what makes them difficult?

Closed access countries are challenging places to be working in. What that really means, when people say closed access, often times they think of an area that you can't get into completely. And actually what closed access really means is places which are limited for religious activities. Basically saying anybody with a religious identity heading into that country will be scrutinized pretty heavily or or monitored pretty heavily. But often times you will not be given a Visa  for a professional Christian Visa, like a missionary Visa. You can't get those.

What makes that really challenging is that, number one, it means that the government itself is resistant to the gospel of Jesus Christ and it's also resistant to foreign influence most times. When people think about religious activity with a government, another perspective is that they're somehow fearful of God and things like that. What they're more fearful of is Western influence in their countries, and so they try to limit that by saying if you're coming into our country you won't bring that into our country.  What makes it really challenging and difficult in closed countries, specifically areas that you have to find access to be able to live there long term to accomplish what God's brought you there for. For us it was to see a church established among a minority people group. To do that it was very challenging. You had to be there long enough to be able to learn a language first language, the national language, and then learn the minority language, the second language. Most times in closed countries the government is really resistant to getting into those areas, which making even more challenging.

So how do you stay there long term? You have to find legitimate ways that governments will allow you in. I want to kind of dispel another thought: people think you sneak into closed countries. Well, you can't sneak into a closed country, you can't be in a closed country long enough to do all of that. So it has to be a way that the government wants you there, that the government will accept your reasons for being there to allow you to stay there long term. What makes it really challenging is you're continually watched, monitored, and suppressed from any kind of religious outburst or or conversations with people. Sometimes the government will will prohibit you from talking about things, and so you have to be careful with that. I think probably one of the biggest challenges is the pressure that comes from the outside influences on you, the feeling that you're being watched and monitored, the feeling that people are always looking after you, and nervous about what you're doing there.

These are all things that weigh heavily on people's minds when they're in closed countries.