Persecution Blog

Faith is a Hope and a Certainty of What Is Not Seen

What drives a Christian to stand for their faith and not recant their faith in Jesus Christ?  I think one of the answers is genuine faith, which does not disappoint and which also has a certainty that what they believe is real despite the fact that we often cannot see it.

Remember when Jesus said that you are blessed if you believe and yet have not seen? That is faith.

In an article posted by the Record-Courier we see the following quote

According to "Voice of the Martyrs," thousands of people died for their faith this past year. Unbelievable, persecution still exists in these modern times. But the common thread is that for those who suffer for their faith is a hope and a certainty of what is not seen. Hebrews goes on to give us those many examples of faith; then we read about the power of faith and the results of faith.

Hebrews 11:16 (By faith)...They were longing for a better country...a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Read the full article titled What is faith question needs an answer

Extreme Devotional Thought

Today is Friday, so let us end the week with another inspirational thought from the great book Extreme Devotion.

"If we Christians don't continue to share the gospel and push the envelope, the envelope will close in on us.  If we maintain a "silent witness", there will be no witness, and Christianity with die in America." - Ray Thorne - Missionary to the Persecuted Church, p.196 Extreme Devotion

Egypt: Convert Released from Mental Hospital

As a marriage and family therapist I always find stories that discuss mental hospitals and Christians in the same sentence.  A few weeks ago there was a man in Egypt who was thrown into a mental hospital because he left the faith of Islam and became a Christian. 

And I would like to thank Compass Direct for the good news on this story because the man was finally released! PTL! 

Release of 12 Religious Prisoners Confirmed

Christianity Today has posted this today. This is great news to have confirmed!

Churches Under Fire
On May 5, JOHN HANFORD, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, announced an agreement with Vietnam and confirmed the release of 12 religious prisoners as part of a special amnesty, Compass Direct reports. Six Hmong Christians and Mennonite church worker LE THI HONG LIEN were among them. The agreement acknowledges recent progress in Vietnam's religious-rights policies, including a pledge to allow hundreds of disbanded churches to reopen. However, Human Rights Watch reported that state security forces continue to force Montagnard Christians to recant their faith.

A Mission to Support the Persecuted Church

World Net Daily has a great article called Group Tireless in Supporting Persecuted Church .  Here are a few highlights...

Damare, a young slave boy was nailed to a board and left for dead as "punishment" for attending a church service. Miraculously, Damare survived the torture and says he has forgiven his tormenter – because Jesus was nailed to a cross and forgave him.

It's Christians like Damare The Voice of the Martyrs is committed to helping as it tells his story and countless others to Western believers who can scarcely imagine being tortured for their faith.

While solid numbers are difficult to ascertain, it has been estimated that as many as 160,000 Christians are martyred each year worldwide.

Yes, you guessed it - the group is The Voice of the Martyrs and Persecution Blog would like to thank World Net Daily for such a great article.

Finish reading the article now.

Christian Persecution Around the Blogosphere

The subject of Christian persecution is a hard subject to think about everyday, but I believe with all of my heart that we must remember those who are being persecuted unjustly. And I am very encouraged by some of the blog posts I've been reading lately that discuss persecution and justice for those treated unfairly. 

If you know of any other stories, please share them with us.

A blog called Blue State Conservatives has written a post called Subsidizing Oppression: Challenging President Bush to Challenge Vietnam .  USMC_Vet writes about how we should remember the victims and be very careful who we do business with.  Good call!

World Peace Advocate, a very interesting blog has posted a reminder that we should be praying that the media would care about and report more on persecution in the media.

To Speak Out asks the question - Where's the outrage?

Faith, Love & Happiness write a lovely post called  Her Last Prayer and mentions VOM and Jesus Freaks by DC Talk.

Thank you everyone!

Torture & Terrorism Course

On Monday 27th June, three Tibetan torture victims will testify their experiences under the Chinese government. Opening Judge Baltasar Garzón´s prestigious course at El Escorial, entitled “Torture and Terrorism” the Tibetans will reveal the ongoing horror of China's abuse of the Tibetan people and their continued impunity by the international community. The conference will unite two generations of Tibetan torture victims with Tibetan experts on China´s repressive actions in Tibet , Dr José Elías Esteve Moltó, legal expert on Tibet in international law and other international experts and victims of torture.

May all humans someday learn to love one another as Jesus commanded.  Read the rest of the article here.

Jail or Apologize for the Truth?

Remember the The Racial and Religious Tolerance Act I wrote about a few days ago?  Well it looks like two evangelical pastors have been convicted under this act.The Racial and Religious Tolerance Act

Why?

Because they "vilified" Muslims.

Australian Christian pastor faces jail after refusing to apologize for vilifying Muslims

Would you apologize?

Pastors Under Persecution

I am constantly amazed when I read stories like this because here in America we have no idea how free we truly are.

World Net Daily is reporting the following in an article called Pastor faces 8 years in jail:  Charged with leading unregistered church  .

An Uzbekistan pastor facing up to eight years in prison for leading an unregistered church is asking for the prayers of fellow Christian believers in the West, says the Voice of the Martyrs, an organization fighting for the persecuted church around the world.

Finish reading and please pray.

Praying for the Persecuted Church

Every week Voice of the Martyrs sends out a weekly email asking for prayer for those who are being persecuted for their faith. You may sign up to be on this email list by going to www.persecution.com

Here are a few of the prayer requests from this weeks newsletter.

(Compass Direct)  Pray for Jordan
A Jordanian court rejected a last-ditch appeal this week from the Muslim guardian fighting for custody of Christian widow Siham Qandah's two minor children. The June 13th decision reconfirmed an earlier verdict from Amman's Al-Abdali Sharia Court two months ago, which revoked the legal guardianship of Abdullah al-Muhtadi, the maternal uncle of Qandah's daughter Rawan and son Fadi. According to Qandah's lawyer, this final verdict from the appellate court cannot be appealed. It effectively cancels all other pending cases regarding permanent custody of the children. Al-Muhtadi has been ordered by the court to repay misspent funds he had withdrawn from his wards' inheritance accounts without judicial approval. Qandah may now select a new guardian for court approval to oversee her children's legal affairs until they reach maturity at age 18.

Praise God that this was His marvelous doing (Psalm 17:7)! Pray the Lord will guide Qandah in finding the guardian that He has chosen to care for her children. Pray God will protect Qandah and the children from any retaliation on the part of Muslim extremists.