IDOP Ideas Coming In
We asked on the VOM Facebook Page for people to share creative ways their church honored persecuted Christians on the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Many churches marked this day last Sunday, November 2. Many more will do so this coming Sunday, November 9.
We are always pleased to see churches doing creative things to honor our brothers and sisters and to make IDOP a significant day on their church calendar. Here are some of the ways that people shared this year. Perhaps your church can use some of these ideas as you encourage church members to pray for our persecuted family, and even build on these ideas to create a unique experience for people at your church to "Remember those in bonds..." (Hebrews 13:3).
Andrew H. Our church, The Way, met as a simulated "underground" gathering last night, having invited our people by mailing them a part of the Bible they were supposed to bring with them - and no other Bibles or technology. We huddled in a darkened room, talked about the persecuted church, prayed for our brothers and sisters in harm's way around the world, sang without instruments, and celebrated the Lord's supper. It was a great and memorable night.
Justine R. Inspired by Old Testament stories of the Israelites building an altar of remembrance to the Lord, we wrote the names of the countries from the World Watch List on 50 rocks and Scripture verses on 50 more rocks and built an altar in our chapel in order to honor what God has done, is doing, and will do in establishing His kingdom across the earth. We had about 70 congregants at our prayer meeting for the persecuted church last night :)
Katie N. They handed out barbed wire bracelets to remind us to pray for the persecuted…
Mary Beth. We showed the video Liena's Prayer, held up signs of the 53 restricted and hostile nations all around our church and the entire congregation went to each location and prayed for our brothers and sisters in these nations. In the foyer, we had banners hanging with the map of the world identifying those nations plus, a table with free materials from Voice of the Martyrs.
Carol. Entered dimly-lit sanctuary with photos of persecuted believers on big screen. Tonight we're bringing flashlights to the service replicating underground church....
Martha. This day, as in the past 7 years or so, New Beginnings Church of the Nazarene walks a mile from the community ball fields to the church. Along the way we pause to pray for the Persecuted Church, specific areas, families of those in prison, and the persecutors of our brothers and sisters. No matter the weather we walk! What an honor!
Charlene G. We put up a display in the hallway with the timeline of VOM and magazines , books and prayer cards and set up a room for prayer with 5 tables for praying for the Persecuted Christians. During Children's church we read about Richard Wurmbrand and explained to the children how some Christians are being persecuted.Then we took them into the room with the tables set up for prayer and prayed .Each child made a prayer magnet with a child or family being persecuted so they could remember to pray for them.
Lisa Dawn C. Our pastor based his sermon around the persecuted church and being one with them as the body of Christ. He shared statistics from several of the riskiest countries in the world and showed Liena's Prayer. Then the congregation joined into small groups and each group prayed for a certain country.
Branden C. My wife and I wore our I-Am-N shirts to church, which sparked curiosity and we were able to share about VOM and the persecuted church. We also prayed throughout the day.
Keisha L. Our whole service was geared towards the persecuted. Music was all about prayer. Sermon was Remember the Persecuted. We also showed Liena's Prayer video. Passed out literature. Men from congregation came and prayed for the persecuted in the pulpit. Tonight we will be packing up Syrian Outreach Packs to send out and will be praying over them.
Jee T. We had one session of service as it would be like in a country where worship would be done in secret. The rule was that no one can bring their Bible to church, since many do not have the same luxury. It made us feel so incomplete for the very first time to thirst for the Bible, but knowing it’s not conveniently available. No one sat on pews and everyone just sat huddled together on the floor in one room. During the second session, we presented stories of persecution from ten countries so that it would be more personalized. Liena's video was played during Syria's story. We lifted each country up in prayer.
JoAnn R. A bell was wrung every 90 seconds denoting the death of a persecuted Christian throughout the service at Adventure Christian Community.
Aletheia G. We shared about the top ten countries on the watch list and prayed at the end of service . We also taught the kids about persecution in Sunday school. They are starting their own Kids of Courage project to raise funds and help native missions tire spreads the gospel . They are passionate about spreading awareness!! Praise God
Diana B. During both services, the entire congregation broke up into groups of 5 or so and prayed through each of the 10 specific prayer requests provided by The Voice of the Martyrs. Everyone was given a handout of those requests and encouraged to continue praying for the persecuted church.
Caitlin N. The youth/young adult group acted like they were part of an underground church. As they walked up, they greeted people in the congregation saying, "Hey, good to see you!" "Glad you're safe," etc. Then they had a time of prayer requests where each person mentioned one person or story from the persecuted church and had a picture of them up on a power point (VOM was cited). Then a youth leader urged people to commit to pray (both for those already being persecuted and the persecution that is spreading to the US) and request the VOM newsletter…
Thank you to everyone who helped make IDOP a special day at your church. Please share other creative ideas in the comments to this post.