My Journey Begins Now: International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church

Yesterday at church 11/11/07 was the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. We watched a part 3 of a series we've been watching on Sunday nights that is put out by The Voice of the Martyrs - it is called Underground Reality Vietnam and it is about 8 teenagers who smuggled Bibles into Vietnam last summer. (I was thrilled that we watched this final episode yesterday because I was in CA the night they showed Part 3 and I was so bummed to have missed this!) This trip was a life-changing event for these teenagers from the USA and Australia. There is a short video on the website - go check it out.

Watching this video really puts you under conviction for how much we take for granted

the freedom to worship when and where we want
the freedom to pray when and where we want
the freedom to talk about Jesus Christ whenever we want to
the freedom to carry a Bible

and all of this without fear of persecution...yet so many of us don't do it. We don't sing loud because we might sing off-key or we don't feel like it. We don't pray out loud because others might make fun of the words we use or we don't feel comfortable praying in front of others. We don't talk about Jesus because we don't want to make others around us uncomfortable or we might lose our jobs. We don't carry a Bible because it's just a burden...

Christian Persecution that merits the attention and assistance of The Voice of the Martyrs has been identified and defined in two categories:

Restricted Nation: this includes countries where government policy or practice prevents Christians from obtaining Bibles or other Christian literatur. Also included are countries with government-sanctioned circumstances or anti-Christian laws that lead to Christians being harassed, imprisoned, killed or deprived of possessions or liberties because of their witness. These countries are: Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Brunei, China, Comoro Islands, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Burma, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tibet, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen
Hostile Nation: This includes large areas in nations where governments consistently attempt to provide protection for the Christian population, but Christians are victims of violence because of their witness. These countries are: Chiapas (Mexico), Colombia, Gaza & the West Bank, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Turkey

What can you do to help?