Openly praising God.
Finding things to praise God for amid persecution.
This month we are bringing awareness to the persecuted church. We asked our global partner, Paul* with Ecclesia Ministries, to share with us how some of those he ministers to might face persecution for their faith. He has story after story he could share. Here are just a few:
Due to unrest taking place in their homeland, a small community of believers was forced to leave their homes in search of a place where they could live free from the fighting. They journeyed far and ended up in a community that was predominantly Muslim. As a Christian minority, the local community refused to let them stay with others in the town. Forced to leave their homes due to fighting, they ended up in another place where they were unwelcome and had no place to sleep.
Through some connections, they reached out to a church not too far from them. The church welcomed them but did not have a place for this caravan of believers to stay. They helped them by contributing some materials and helped build makeshift shelters on the outskirts of town. It isn’t much. It isn’t good. But they remain strong in their faith and thank God for a place to sleep and pray for peace to return to their homeland.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
This past Christmas, while believers were celebrating in a nearby home, someone came by and set fire to another one of the houses the believers often pray in.
The church community was in deep celebration on Christmas Day when they saw the house burst into flames. They paused the celebration, and all went toward the structure. They tried to rescue some of the things still inside.
But even while putting out the fire and a crowd forming, the church didn’t stop singing and openly praising God.
Pictured here is Jasmine* and her husband. Both accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. During the war, her husband was targeted and killed because of his faith in Jesus.
As is the custom, Jasmine was moved into the house of a near relative. This relative tried to force her to renounce Jesus and go back to Islam. She refused, and the family kicked her out of the house. There was no other good place for Jasmine and her three children to stay except with this relative.
With few options, Jasmine found a home for herself and her children. It is not a sound building. She fears that it could collapse at any time.
“I am always comfortable when Jesus Christ is with me,” she says. “He is more than a house to me!”
Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.”
Mark 10:29-30
Nancy* is a follower of Christ. After her husband died in some recent unrest, she moved in with her extended family. They are not Christians. Her mother was married to a radical Muslim. When he realized that Nancy was Christian, he tried to force her to return to Islam. When she refused to renounce her faith, he chased Nancy from his home.
Homeless again, she went and stayed with another Christian friend. Her stepfather sought to harm her and planned an attack. Harmed in the attack, God protected her life but her arm was broken. Fearing another attack and her life, she went to the church and they helped relocate her to a safer place.
These are just a few stories about Christ-followers facing daily persecution for their faith. Join us in praying regularly for those being persecuted for following Jesus. Become a Known Prayer Partner to receive updates on our global partners and how you can pray with us.
*Names altered to protect the identity of those working in areas of increased persecution.