The Persecuted Church
PERSECUTED CHURCH FOCUS GROUP
The Persecuted Church (PERSCH) Focus Group
meets every month throughout the year on the Fourth Wednesday at 2.15 pm.
For
people who are not free to meet in the afternoon there is also a meeting on
the preceding Tuesday evening at 8.00 pm. Further details are available at
the Church.
We get up to-the-minute news of the terrible
persecution that is common to Christians in many countries in the world.
This takes the form of discrimination, so that children are barred from
education and their parents cannot get employment, of ostracism form their
families and neighbours, of imprisonment of their pastors frequently leading
to solitary confinement, torture and even martyrdom. Alongside this, there
are outbreaks of mob violence in which Christians are attacked, and their
homes and churches destroyed.
News comes to us via magazines from Barnabas Fund,
Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Open Doors and Release International, who
also send us DVDs that we watch, and Emails.
After digesting the information we pray, in the belief
that this is the command of Jesus, that we should visit those in prison,
spiritually if not physically. We already have His assurance that whenever
we pray in accordance with the will of God, those prayers are heard and
answered.
We also regularly send greeting cards, signed by all
members, to prisoners and we write to MPs and MEPs expressing our concerns,
and calling for action.
Several members of Maidstone Baptist Church have
decided to become Prayer Partners, with each one praying daily for one
individual prisoner and, if appropriate, writing cards or letters to those
of whom we know the address. Everyone wishing to become a Prayer Partner
should contact The Church Office on 01622
686013
A PRAYER FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH
Heavenly Father,
You have asked us to take care of your Children who suffer hardship.
We pray that You will open our eyes to see the needs of our brother and sisters and that You will put compassion
in our hearts. Help us to share the good gifts You have given us with others and act according to Your will.
We lift up to You those who have to pay the price for following You. May Your love and Your presence surround
them at all times. May they take heart and be at peace because they know that You have overcome the world.
We thank You for their faith, that despite persecution and hardship, they place their trust in You. We pray
that their faithfulness will inspire us to follow You more closely and surrender all to You.
In Jesus’ precious Name,
Amen
PERSECUTED CHURCH
In the Islamic world Christians regularly face
persecution and discrimination in employment and the legal system. Pray for
God to move powerfully amongst the people in Islamic countries so that just
and upright political leaders might be raised up and prepared to serve the
whole nation.
“Praise God for 17 new Christians in
Turkmenistan
who were recently baptised.
They have been facing harassment from the
police: ask God to give them wisdom and strength to persevere and grow in
their faith.”
PERSECUTED CHURCH - BURMA
Father God, we lift up those who are suffering religious persecution in Burma. We believe that You will
bind up the broken hearted and release the captives and ask that You would bring freedom to the religious
minorities in Burma. Please help them to be strong and please open the door for true and lasting religious
freedom in Burma.
ERITREA
Please pray for the approximately three thousand Eritrean Christians who are imprisoned in
terrible conditions simply because of their faith and for the thousands of non Christian prisoners held
without charge in similar conditions.
Eritrea is on the brink of severe famine with over two thousand people reportedly dying from hunger and
contaminated food since January. Pray God's mercy, provision, healing and deliverance for the people of
Eritrea.
EVERY PRISONER NEEDS A PARTNER
We are constantly told by Christians who are persecuted and imprisoned for their faith that the most important
thing we can do is to pray for them.
Of course we can give money to the societies that support them, write to our MPs and sign petitions; all this
is necessary but unless we pray nothing much will be achieved.
As members of the focus group for the Persecuted Church we have the names of
many individual Christians who are imprisoned. We invite you to become a
prayer partner for just one person and to pray every day - or as often as
you can - for her or him, to hold them before the Lord. You will be able to
choose your own prisoner, whether male or female and whether in Asia, Africa
or South America. There is - regrettably - plenty of choice.
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Walk with them...
LOVE ON ITS KNEES
THIS IS HIS COMMAND
WALK IN LOVE 2 John 1:6 |
"THERE IS NO
FEAR IN Love,
1 John 4:18
On the face of it, he and I had nothing in common. He was
a Muslim theologian. I was an evangelical Christian - and an exceedingly intimidated one at that. I hadn't quite expected that a call to prayer would lead to a face to face encounter with the very people I longed to be praying for.
I was an invited guest to a meal to celebrate the breaking of the fast. He sat opposite me. I smiled, and sensing the guidance of the Holy Spirit asked the most respectful
question that had been revealed to me in my prayerful preparation: "What revelations of the divine have you had during these last weeks of Ramadan?"
He searched my face for any glimmer of disrespect or foolhardiness. None found, his response will live with me forever. "You might like to know that by my bed is a compendium of the works of C. S. Lewis. No other man has been of greater help in my quest to understand the divine:'
I felt the door open, and with respect and gentleness I shared my story of the Prince of Peace. He listened intently and respectfully. He gave me a contemporary translation of the Quran; I gave him a copy of the Bible, the best one I could afford. (Brother Andrew had prepared me well: "Don't get smart.
If you don't know the answer, say so. Give your testimony, and make sure you take a Bible to give as well”.
As we spoke God did something. There was a palpable sense of His presence presiding over
our discussion in that rowdy community centre - and within me I sensed the beginning of a genuine sense of love for this fellow seeker. We parted as friends.
With all my heart, I long and work for the day when my brothers and sisters in Christ across the Muslim world can have similarly respectful encounters. That's why we pray for them especially during Ramadan.
But we also pray for Muslims. This is love on its knees. We must never buy into the scare tactics of the few that would sow seeds of hatred towards those who now live amongst us. Rather, our love is expressed in prayerful action.
My passion now is that those that I encounter, friend or foe alike, will meet the resurrected Christ in me, not so much in what I say but in
the way that I act. Today I live in the certainty that love casts out all fear!
Eddie Lyle
CEO Open Doors UK & Ireland
