International Day of Prayer

International Day of Prayer, is a day where Christians all over the world pray for their brethren in Christ all over the world. I normally forget to do something special on this day. 

Not this time.

Here are some ways you can pray for your persecuted brethren all over the world:

1. Pray that Christians all over the world will know the comfort and encouragement of Almighty God.

2. Pray that their persecutors will turn to Christ as Lord.

3. Pray that God will cause His Church to grow in spite of the persecution coming their way.

4. Pray that God will give them the boldness to preach His gospel even with the threat of impending death on their heads.

5. Pray that God will provide them with Bibles so they can enjoy His Word and grow closer to Him.

We must always remember our brethren in Christ who are being horribly persecuted for His Name. And as westerners, we must NEVER take for granted the freedoms we enjoy here.

Presbyterian Church in Xuzhou Raided During Service

 It’s a miracle that these people have a way of watching the service online with all the persecution they face on a regular basis. Let alone that not all of them were arrested.

Just a testament to the grace of God.

11/04/2021 China (International Christian Concern) – A Presbyterian Church in China’s Xuzhou was raided on October 31 during Sunday worship. The pastor and four members of the house church were taken away, while others in attendance had their personal information taken by the police.

According to China Aid, local authorities from Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province raided Dao-en Presbyterian Church last Sunday when the worship was taking place. Pastor Fang Xiaojun and four Christians were brought to the local police station.

As a church not vetted by the state, Dao-en Presbyterian Church is not unfamiliar with persecution. In August 2018, Tongshan District Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau interrupted the Sunday service of the church’s South Campus and issued a notice of administrative punishment to Pastor Fang and Preacher Ma Ben. Since then, the church has often been raided.

On August 2, 2020, Pastor Fang and some members were gathering at a congregant’s home, while others attended online Sunday worship. The police raided the home and took Pastor Fang away. He was not released until noon that day.

Pastor Fang has a track record of standing with the persecuted(Read More).

6 Abducted in Nigeria’s Latest School Attack

May these 6 people be returned to their families.

For more on how to pray for Our Nigerian brethren in Christ; click here: 5 Ways To Pray for Nigerian Christians

 11/02/2021 Nigeria (International Christian Concern) – On Tuesday, gunmen raided the staff quarters of the University of Abuja in central Nigeria and kidnapped six people.

“Suspected bandits attacked the staff quarters of the university in the early hours of today. We have a report that four of our staff and their children were, nevertheless, abducted,” the university said on its Facebook page.

The attack took place close to the Nigerian Army’s barracks.

“The eyewitness who pleaded anonymity said the bandits operated for over an hour and 30 minutes,” said Sahara Reporters.

“The bewildered residents of the staff quarters and neighbors tried without success to reach out to security agents… some soldiers finally responded after the bandits had a free reign without resistance…a public primary school behind the quarters was used by the bandits as their operational base while the assault lasted.”

Over 1,400 students have been abducted just this year in Nigeria—a sharp increase over previous years in what is a relatively new trend. The mass abduction of schoolchildren began in 2014 when the Islamist terror group Boko Haram abducted 276 mostly Christian girls from a school in Chibok.

The rate of kidnappings has increased as armed groups realize its effectiveness in grabbing headlines and raising cash through the extortion of parents or state governments for ransom money.

No level of the Nigerian government has demonstrated any real ability to push back against this trend.  The Nigerian national government is considering legislation that would criminalize paying ransoms for the return of abducted schoolchildren. If passed, the bill would amend the Terrorism Prevention Act of 2011 by making paying ransoms a felony punishable by a minimum of 15 years in prison.

Critics of the proposed legislation believe it misses the point. They argue that the fundamental problem at play is the lack of effective security measures  and law enforcement, not desperate parents trying to get their children back.

The Nigerian government has had an inconsistent narrative on kidnappings and ransoms over the years. Though it officially condemns the practice, the government regularly pays ransoms. Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State even publicly boasted that he is in contact with certain Fulani militants and paid them to stop specific attacks. Whatever the truth of that claim, however, attacks have increased under el-Rufai’s governorship.

Pastor Forced to Flee Village in India Following Brutal Attack by Radicals

 For more on how you can pray for persecuted Christians in India, click here: Ways you can pray for Persecuted Christians in India

11/02/2021 India (International Christian Concern) – According to Morning Star News, a pastor in India’s Bihar state was forced to flee from his home village after being attacked by radical Hindu nationalists. The radicals reportedly used violence, threats, and other forms of opposition to drive this pastor out of his home and shut down his church.

On September 28, Pastor Raj Masih was attacked by 25 radical Hindu nationalists as he was purchasing vegetables from the market in Simri village. The radical reportedly surrounded Pastor Masih and took him to a secluded location where they savagely beat him.

“The dragged me for about a kilometer as they shouted and abused me in extremely filthy language,” Pastor Masih told Morning Star News. Once in a secluded area, the radicals punched Pastor Masih in the stomach, kicked his chest, and struck his back with fists and shoes.

“They kept repeating, ‘Stop Christian prayers. Shut down your church. If we see you conducting prayers, we will not spare you alive,’” Pastor Masih told Morning Star News. “They kicked me very hard on my chest.”

“I returned home bruised that night,” Pastor Masih continued. “My children saw me and were frightened. Since we lost my wife to COVID-19 in April this year, I am all they have.”

Following the attack, Pastor Masih decided to take the extreme step of leaving the village and temporarily halting his ministry.

“For the first time in nine years of ministry in Sirmi, I took this extreme step of taking a break from the Lord’s work there,” Pastor Masih told Morning Star News. “My children, ages 12, 9, and 7, have missed their school for more than a month now, but I thought it is enough if I am alive for them. I need to care and provide for them.”

Even though Pastor Masih left the village and halted his ministry, the radicals continued to harass him and his congregation. The radicals continued to send Pastor Masih threats through text messages and phone calls. Videos of Pastor Masih praying or sharing the Gospel were regularly posted on social media accompanied by posts urging Hindus to resist Christian preachers.

“The believers are very scared to gather,” Pastor Masih told Morning Star News about his congregation in Sirmi. “For now, it is only an attack on me, threats, and warnings, but they are afraid this will be followed by the worse. There have been past cases of brutal attacks and murders of pastors and believers in Bihar.”

“I do not know when we will be able to return to Simri,” Pastor Masih explained to Morning Star News. “We are waiting on the Lord to make a way for us. The worship services stopped completely in Simri.”

Across India attacks on Christians and their places of worship continue to be reported in greater number and severity. According to a report recently released by human rights activists, over 300 attacks on Christians have been documented in the first nine months of 2021. If this trend continues, 2021 will go down as the most violent year experienced by Christians in India’s modern history.

The Truth- why people hate Jesus’s followers

 So this awesome sister in Christ posted this video on the real reason for why Christians will receive hate.

It is very good. She goes through a text of scripture in 1 Kings 22 where Ahab declares his hatred for a prophet because he only spoke what was evil towards him(I.e. the truth). She basically brings this up to say this: we as Christians are going to receive hate because we speak the truth.  That’s not surprising because we as Christians are United to the Truth (John 14:6) who was nailed to the cross for speaking the truth. We should should also consider that the devil, the father of lies is called the ruler/prince of this world. So naturally, we as Christians are going to get a lot of haters because we are speaking against lies and the unregenerate love their lies greatly. 

Simply put, one of the simplest ways to have persecution coming your way is to speak the truth. Speak the truth about what God says particularly concerning marriage, gender and sexuality and expect persecution to come your way. The unregenerate are trying to suppress the truth (Romans 1:18) so when they hear it spoken, they will try to marginalize those who do.

Of course this is no license to be a jerk towards other people. The Christian is to speak the truth in love. The point is that even when speaking the truth in a loving fashion people are going to hate on us Christians. Something we shouldn’t be surprised about.

Persecution Headlines in the Past Months

 I have been AWOL for the past several months on this blog and while I was AWOL a lot of torment has been heaped on our brethren in Christ. Take a look:

1. Canadian Pastor Imprisoned-

As we all know COVID-19 has lead to social distancing. And social distancing has lead to many building closing. This includes churches. Some have insisted on continuing to open the doors of their churches so people could meet together, fellowship and hear the Word of God. Pastor James Coates was one of those people. And this lead to him being imprisoned for 35 days. During that time, James wrote an Apostle Paul-like letter to his church encouraging and admonishing them. For more on this pastor, see here: Pastor Arrested and then later released.

2. Canadian Churches burned:

For some weird reason someone decided to burn churches in Canada. Regardless of the reason, it is a sign that western churches are not immune to the sort of thing churches in places like Pakistan and the Sudan have to deal with on a daily basis. For more see here: Christian Churches set on fire.

3. Taliban cracks down on Afghanistan as troops from USA are pulled out

America has been waging a war on terror in Afghanistan almost ever since 09.11.01 when the Twin Towers came crashing down. In August, President Biden called the troops out and as a result that Taliban started cracking down on the country and as they crack down, our Afghani brethren in Christ will be inevitably targeted. This article is proof of it: Afghani Christian woman murdered for reading her Bible.

4. Christian Missionaries to Haiti kidnapped

Haiti has gone through A LOT. In June there was coup d'etat where the President was murdered. Then after that there was ANOTHER earthquake which caused many of them to seek asylum in countries like the US (and get treated like trash). To make matters worse, 17 missionaries were kidnapped and are being held for ransom by the gang leader there. See here for more on this issue: American Christian missionaries kidnapped and held for ransom.

Needless to say, there is a lot we as Christians need to be praying for as of now. And don't worry, I will make it an effort to post more regularly on this blog from now on.

A Close Look at Egypt’s Relentless Abuse of Coptic Christians

 Our Egyptian brethren in Christ have received MAJOR persecution from Muslims. Let's take a closer at it in this article:

For those of us who have followed the struggle of Egypt’s Coptic Christians, particularly during the presidency of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi, there’s been both good news and bad news. In Defense of Christians (IDC), an international religious freedom watchdog, presented a webinar on January 15 focusing on that long-suffering Coptic community.

The webinar featured remarks from distinguished and well-prepared speakers—including US Congressmen Brad Sherman (D-CA) and French Hill (R-AR), US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Commissioner Nadine Maenza, USCIRF policy analyst Kurt Werthmuller, and Hudson Institute scholar and Coptic author Samuel Tadros.

Ten years ago this week, Egypt’s Copts optimistically greeted the “Arab Spring,” which spread rapidly across the country, dangerously elevated the Muslim Brotherhood, and ushered in the brief presidency of Mohamad Morsi. Several IDC webinar speakers offered a smattering of applause for President Sisi’s efforts to recognize and correct abuses suffered by Egypt’s Copts during and after that period., They noted that Sisi has taken several such steps since his landslide election in 2014(Keep reading).