This Sunday, is the International Day of Prayer for the persecuted church. We will be giving time during our Sunday night service to pray for our brothers and sisters who are in chains (Heb 13:3, Heb 10:33-34) and we will also watch some videos of believers that have been persecuted, or have lost family members because they were Christian. I’m sure everyone has read the statistic that more martyrs for Jesus Christ died in the 20th century than in all previous 19 centuries combined. That is pretty staggering to read. Above that, it seems like this century will most likely prove to be more repressive and bloody than any other before it. The world is more anti-Christian than ever since the first centuries in Rome. It is estimated that at least 105,000 Christians are martyred every year. That comes out to 1 in every 5 minutes! I’ll write it again. Every five minutes a Christian is martyred for their faith. Where is our heart in all of this? Are we praying for them? Are we seeking to help the families that have lost fathers, or mothers, or children, all because they put their faith in Jesus Christ? Are we even aware of their plight?
There are a couple great sites to go to in order to 1.Get more information, and 2. Begin to help our persecuted family. There are even sites like PrisonerAlert.com where you can write a personal letter to a Christian who is currently in jail for the Lord. What an awesome way to be able to tell them we are praying for them!
Voice of the Martyrs – http://www.persecution.com
International Christian Concern – http://www.persecution.org
Open Doors USA – http://www.opendoorsusa.org
I would encourage everyone to come out this Sunday night so we as the American Church can be praying for our family around the world that are in prison for their faith in Christ, or are being persecuted this very hour for their faith.