This Sunday, 13 November, is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. The recent beheading of three young Christian girls while on their way to school in Indonesia has given added urgency to this call to prayer. Christians in parts of Indonesia have been subjected to escalating "terrorism, intimidation and persecution".
From the site of the International Day of Prayer (IDOP) for the Persecuted Church:
As followers of Jesus we are called to understand the signs of our time and to pray accordingly.
There are many signs, but let me mention just a few: globalisation, natural disasters, international political uncertainty, terrorism, conflicts, a growing gap between rich and poor, and – most significantly – there is a growing spirit of hate against Christians. As a result of that spirit of hate, more than 200 million Christians today do not have full human rights. The reason: they confess Jesus as Lord and Saviour!
What’s more, because the Church is growing like never before in history, the number of Christians under attack is growing exponentially. Seventy thousand people enter the Kingdom every day, millions of new churches will be planted during the next ten years, and multitudes of these Christians will suffer simply because of their allegiance to Christ.
The IDOP site has a persecution map showing the parts of the world where believers are most severely persecuted. See also here.
via BreakPoint. More resources and info here.
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