Persecuted Christians - October 2020
“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”[1]
November 1 is the International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians. In eleven days, believers will devote themselves to praying for their brothers and sisters who live in places where there are life-threatening consequences to choosing Jesus.
We are calling you to do the same – not just on that day, but even today!
When you pray for the MRN MedRim, Bengal, and Emerging Leadership Initiatives, you are praying for Christian Family who live out their lives in places potentially hostile to their faith and calling.
— When Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists set aside the faith of their fathers and choose to follow their Heavenly Father, they will face consequences.
— When leaders courageously explore what it means to be authentically a part of their culture as well as authentically Christ-following, they will face consequences.
We ask you to pray that our Father would protect His children from persecution.
Don’t stop there, though.
One of the things that sets Christianity apart from all other world religions is that Christ-followers historically flourish in persecution. The enemy’s best efforts to stamp out the fire of the Gospel serve only to spread it further. There is something about the people of God (or, more accurately, about the God they serve!) that causes the church to thrive in the shadow of persecution.
As long as the people of God have been on mission, it’s been this way. That very first missionary journey that Paul and Co. embarked on had a furlough in the city of Antioch with the church that sent them on their way. Their message for their sending church?
“We must go through many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” [2]
Therefore, we ask you to pray not only that God would save His children from persecution but also in and throughpersecution. This, friends, is part of how we enter the Kingdom of God.
If you’d like more resources about praying for persecuted Christians, check out groups like The Voice of the Martyrs and PrayerCast.
[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
[2] Acts 14:22
