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Praying for the persecuted

'Acts Chapters 7 and 8' (NIV)

Every year, the first Sunday of November is a day of remembrance in churches around the world for the persecuted church. It is a time to recall and pray for Christians in nations that experience restrictions on worship, social isolation and public shame, and even violence, torture and death for their faith in Jesus. You might be surprised to learn that persecution is worse today than at any other time in history, particularly in North Korea, South Asia, the Middle East and North and Sub-Saharan Africa. For more see  https://www.opendoors.org.au/world-watch-list/

This has impacted Australians. Missionaries, Ken and Jocelyn Elliott, were abducted from Burkina Faso on January 16, 2016, where they ran a 120-bed clinic in the province of Soum. Ken's wife, Jocelyn, was quickly released, but now the elderly doctor from Perth has been held for 6½ years by an Islamist group in the neighbouring country of Mali. Pray for his release.

We can become too unaware of this in Australia. The freedoms we enjoy here and elsewhere in western countries is uncommon, as Christians and people of all religions in this country have the opportunity to meet, speak and worship publicly. This might be under threat, as reactions to Christian and other religious beliefs become viewed as contentious and even harmful. But this is so far from the experience of many Christians overseas and perhaps some are too quick to label it as persecution.

So what will you do this Sunday 6 November? Prayer is a good start, but also there is the chance to recall the story of Saul in the Bible book of Acts. Here in chapters 7 and 8 we are introduced to Saul, standing by and approving the murder of the Jesus follower Stephen who dies by stoning at the hands of an angry mob who are upset at his message. 

Yet, a chapter later, it is Saul who is being confronted by the risen Jesus and is converted to the Christian faith. Saul is renamed Paul, and became the leading messenger of the early church taking the good news into all the eastern Mediterranean and eventually to Rome itself. Why? Because faith in Jesus brings forgiveness of sins and the sure hope of life with God forever. Despite persecution, this is a message many are willing to proclaim today.