I am very encouraged to read a report coming from The Assyrian International News Agency concerning Chris Hayes, who is the Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, as once again, he is speaking out for religious minorities that are suffering persecution in Iraq.

A few years ago I learned about Eritrea when a few women were imprisoned for their faith. In fact, earlier this year we shared about the release of Christian women from prison and also at the same time were informed that there are at least 2000 Christians in prison in Eritrea now.

"Prayer is the pulse of life; by it the doctor can tell what is the condition of the heart. The sin of prayerlessness is a proof for the ordinary Christian or minister that the life of God in the soul is in deadly sickness and weakness." - Andrew Murray

"I would not trade this time for the world. It was the sweetest time I ever had with Jesus." ~Vietnamese pastor, speaking of 3 months in solitary confinement.

Psalm 147:3 says, "He heals the brokenhearted, And binds up their wounds." This is a passage of scripture that I do my best to keep before my eyes because it is very easy, to feel sad when I read about Christians being persecuted, but even more so, when I see any person who is being abused and not taught the truth about their value in God's eyes.

More sad news coming out of Nigeria today, as we see another bomb being set off near a church killing more innocent bystanders.

Christians in China are under a lot of scrutiny and pressure from governing authorities. Our friends at China Aid have been doing stellar coverage on what has been happening with the Shouwang Church. Here's a snip from part of today's blog post: