Week 1: Introduction — Daring to Ask the Hard Questions

1.Nik opens the book by raising the question of whether faith can survive in places of brutal persecution. Before reading any further, how would you have answered that question from your own experience and assumptions?

2.The title, *The Insanity of God*, is deliberately provocative. What do you think Nik means by it — and what does it suggest about how the world views the way God works?

3.Nik describes himself and his wife Ruth as ordinary people who simply said yes to an extraordinary calling. How do you think ordinary faith can be the starting point for something that looks, from the outside, like insanity?

4.The book is built on a tension between what we *expect* God to do (protect His people, reward faithfulness with safety) and what He actually *does*. Where have you personally felt that tension in your own walk with God?

5.Acts 9:15-16 records God telling Ananias that Paul 'must suffer' for the sake of Christ's name — suffering presented not as a tragedy to be avoided but as part of the calling itself. How does that challenge a Western Christian's typical assumptions about what a blessed life looks like?

6.Nik and Ruth eventually set out to interview persecuted believers around the world. What questions would *you* most want to ask someone who has suffered deeply for their faith?

7.How do you think this book might challenge or expand your current understanding of the global church? What fears or resistances do you notice in yourself as you begin?