If you enjoy reading good research and reports about what is happening around the world concerning human rights and religious freedom, then you will be thrilled with the content in this report that was just released from the United States State Department on what the current state of persecution is in the nations around the world.
Here is a brief paragraph, taken from the Executive Summary, about what this report contains.
"The purpose of this report is to record the
status of respect for religious freedom in every country around the
world during the most recent reporting period--July 1, 2007 to June 30,
2008. Our primary focus is to document the actions of
governments--those that repress religious expression, persecute
believers, and tolerate violence against religious minorities, as well
as those that protect and promote religious freedom. We also address
societal attitudes on religion and religious minorities and record
positive and negative actions taken by nongovernmental actors. We
strive to report fairly and accurately, with sensitivity to the
complexity of religious freedom issues."
One of the parts of this report I want to encourage you to read is the section on the Countries of Particular Concern (CPC's) (no not pregnancy counseling centers in this case :))
The countries that are highlighted for this year include: Burma, China, North Korea, Iran,
Sudan, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, and Uzbekistan.
You can read a brief summary of each of these countries by clicking here.
As an extra assignment, I want to challenge you to take each one of these countries, listed above, and pray for each one every day of the week. Since there are 8 you can pray for two on one of those days.
For more information about the other countries in the report, please click here.
