Book Description
An Inspiring and Informative Guide to Praying for Persecuted Christians
Headlines today still read of the persecution of Christians in lands we as
Western Christians no little about.
In Please Pray For Us, Johan Companjen has compiled an easy-to-follow guide to praying for the 52 countries where religious persecution is the strongest, from Saudi Arabia to Sudan to Nepal.
This inspiring guide will open reader's eyes to the difficulty faced by Christians living in these lands.
Reviewer: Justin Long from Chesapeake, VA, USA Please Pray For Us provides information about the 52 countries in the world where Christians are most persecuted. With each entry, the book gives a brief description of: the country, church life within the country (including an indication of the growth or decline of the church), current levels of persecution (as well as stories from the lives of the persecuted), and a prognosis for the likely future of persecution within the nation. Each entry also comes with a quick-review statistical box and a map of the nation. In the back of the book are addresses where you can get more information.
This is a constant reminder for the whole church of Jesus Christ to remember the persecution thousands of our brothers and sisters face around the world. Among its various resources, the kit includes music and personal testimonies from persecuted Christians around world, emphasising their desire for us to remember them in our prayers.
For more information on how to order a kit, see http://www.idop.ca.
I have recently created a website that monitors the persecution of modern Christians. The aim of Christian Monitor is to provide up to date media resources on the persecuted Church. It is an information portal to news items that deal specifically with persecution. The website is updated nearly everyday.
We believe that the most important thing we as Christians can do for the persecuted Church is prayer. We believe that prayer should be the center of all that we do in the Lord. Secondly, we believe that Christians need to be aware of modern persecution and remember them and their needs in prayer. Thirdly we believe that if the Lord has placed it on their heart to help in some other way, then they should respond accordingly.
A weekly newsletter on the persecuted Church (which is also available on the website) is also available and if you would like to receive this newsletter please let me know and I will add your email address to the mailing list.
Christian Monitor provides resources and information on Christian persecution and the suffering Church. A call to prayer for persecuted and suffering Christians, for the persecuted Church and the Modern Martyrs who daily die for the Gospel of Christ.
"Cry Indonesia" is a 46-minute documentary of the tragedy of the Christians of the Maluku Islands in Indonesia, featuring songs that have come out of the persecution. Ian Freestone, pastor of the Ruach Neighbourhood Churches in Sydney, comments in the latest Missions Insider newsletter on the impact that the video has had (July 10, 2002): "It has been exciting to get news from all over the world concerning how God is using the Cry Indonesia video. One report is of an Iranian Christian who was once a militant Muslim. He is now an evangelist among Muslims and reported how he was impacted by the video. He has taken the video with him on speaking engagements throughout Europe. He particularly relates to the content of the video because at one time he carried a machine gun, led 10,000 men and was one in spirit with the agenda of groups like the Laskar Jihad. Praise God for changed lives and that modern day Sauls can become Pauls." For information on the Cry Indonesia video and CD pack visit the above web site.
Here are some that have been featured:
Nina Shea contends that more Christians have died for their faith in the 20th century than in the previous 19 centuries combined. In this book she shows what's happening, where it's happening, and what Western Christians must do to stop it. Her attention is specifically focused on China, Sudan, Pakistan, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Egypt, Nigeria, Cuba, Laos, and Uzbekistan. This book is available from Amazon Books. Link directly from the web site above and help earn commission for CMD. Your support is greatly appreciated.
In Sudan Christians are enslaved. In Iran they are assassinated. In Cuba they are imprisoned. In China they are beaten to death. In more than 60 countries worldwide, Christians are harassed, abused, arrested, tortured or executed specifically because of their faith. 200,000,000 Christians throughout the world live in daily fear of secret police, vigilantes, or state repression and discrimination. These are not wild rumours. Nor are these simply Christians who, like so many others, suffer from war or tyranny. Hundreds of millions of Christians are suffering simply because of what they believe. Yet most Christians in the West never hear their stories. In "Their Blood Cries Out," Paul Marshall reveals the reality of this present- day persecution, revealing what we can do to help these brothers and sisters in Christ. This book is available from Amazon Books at a 20% discount. Link directly from the web site above and help earn commission for CMD. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Religious Freedom - "Their Blood Cries Out"
Paul Marshall is a respected journalist whose 1997 best-selling book "Their Blood Cries Out" provides an award winning survey of religious persecution worldwide (see book of the week below). The January 2002 issue of the Missions and Missionaries magazine contains an article by Marshall that surveys religious freedom and persecution around the world ("Global Patterns of Religious Freedom"). If you would like text copy of the article, send me a message: BobHall@cmd.org.nz. For a sample copy of the Missions and Missionaries magazine send a message to: editor@MMconnection.org.
Christians in Crisis (CIC) is a global ministry of prayer, advocacy and aid for the persecuted church. CIC leaders have a vision to raise up 500,000 intercessors to pray daily for the more than 200 million persecuted Christians worldwide. CIC is also organising Houses of Prayer worldwide in which Christian families gather to pray for those suffering from persecution.
For more information visit http://www.christiansincrisis.net. (Prayer for the Persecuted Church).
Youth Specialties (YS) offers a youth-directed curriculum to raise student awareness and prayer support for the persecuted Church. The "Student Underground: An Event Curriculum on the Persecuted Church" (Open Doors with Brother Andrew) includes an underground church service simulation, a Leader's Guide, an award-winning, 60-minute "Behind the Sun" video, along with promotional and "secret police" fliers. Produced by Youth Specialties in partnership with Open Doors with Brother Andrew - the leading mission agency working with persecuted Christians around the world - Student Underground gives you five easy-to-lead, flexible sessions. It will make an awesome overnight missions event, weekend retreat, or five-week youth group series. Thousands of Christians around the world are standing strong in their faith - even in the face of persecution, torture, and death. Seeing their stories can empower your young people to live more radical lives for God - right here, right now. This curriculum will open your high school students eyes and hearts to the truth. And mobilize them to pray for oppressed Christians around the globe. Student Underground aims to open high school students' eyes and hearts to the persecuted church and mobilise them to pray for oppressed Christians around the world. The curriculum aims to make teenagers aware of the plight of persecuted Christians worldwide, and then equip them with the wherewithal for whatever degree of involvement they choose for actually helping their oppressed brothers and sisters around the world.
Reports of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom are now available through the Internet. Go to http://www.uscirf.gov to find not only the recent report but also a list of comprehensive policy recommendations on Sudan and other countries on which the President has been asked to act.
The Shatter the Silence newsletter also offers a list of web sites of groups involved in working with the persecuted church. It is the kind of handy list that you might want to tuck away for future reference. If you would like a copy of the list let me know BobHall@cmd.org.nz.
Voice of the Martyrs is an organization that focuses on reaching people in areas where the church is persecuted.
300,000 churches pray for the persecuted church
Over 300,000 churches in at least 130 countries took part in the 5th International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) on 12th November 2000. The main service was at Melbourne, Australia. Current persecution of Christians is increasingly a topic of international attention, according to the World Evangelical Fellowship's Human Rights Commission. At present, some 200 million Christians are persecuted because of their faith. Despite persecution, Christianity often grows fastest where human rights are least respected. More information is available in the Internet at www.idop.org.
Underground Church Student Curriculum Kit (YS):
http://www.youthspecialties.com/free/underground/
Christianbook.com (to order BHP Prayer Guide):
http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product/?item_no=24167
Bethany House Publishers: http://www.bethanyhouse.com
Connections: Faith & Spirituality, another Christian Web site, provides "Persecution & the Church," an extensive resource of topics related to suffering believers--articles, links to humanitarian aid, human rights, justice, refugees, organizations and much more. This valuable collection will help you better understand how to pray and what you can do to assist the suffering believers in the persecuted Church.
International Christian Concern: http://www.persecution.org/
Persecution & the Church: http://www.rockies.net/~spirit/spiritconnect9.html
Connections: Faith & Spirituality:
http://www.rockies.net/~spirit/spiritconnect.html
Beth-Nimrah: http://www.rockies.net/~spirit
Continuing with the theme of persecution, I noticed that Open Doors NZ have a few relevant books on sale that might be worth checking out. Hidden Sorrow Lasting Joy by Anneke Campanjen shares the moving stories of 22 Christian women living where it is illegal to live openly for Christ. Eyes of the Tailless Animals by Soon Ok Lee provides prison memoirs of a North Korean woman. And Please Pray For Us by Johan Companjen, President of Open Doors, presents current situations and prayer requests of persecuted believers around the world. The book looks at the 52 most hurting nations of the world and profiles their history, politics, religious beliefs and persecution accounts. All three books are priced similarly (NZD$20.00 plus $2.00 postage). To order copies send a message to opendoors@compuserve.com.
On December 7 Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) issued a report on the situation of the unofficial Protestant Church of China. The report is based on first hand evidence gathered in China by a CSW delegation which met with a large number of representatives from different groups and areas. The team heard evidence of widespread persecution, including frequent and exorbitant fines, torture, internment in labour education camp and even murder. For a copy of the report send me a message <BobHall@cmd.org.nz>. For information on the work of CSW visit their web site.
SOURCE: To: 'IMBnews' <headlinenews@list.imb.org>
International Christian Concern (ICC), a coalition of concerned Christians, exists to raise public awareness "for religious liberty and for assisting believers persecuted for their faith." Subscribe to a free newsletter and access a prayer request bulletin, news reports, human rights reports and country profiles of persecution in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Order online from a collection of persecution-related books that include "Foxe's Book of Martyrs," "Don't Keep Me Silent," and "Their Blood Cries Out."
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