15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
be appalled at their own shame.
16 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who long for your saving help always say,
“The Lord is great!” Psalm 40:15-16
I return to the list of persecuted Christians again.
- India
- Sri Lanka
- Tunisia
- Bhutan
- Algeria
- Mali
- Palestinian Territories
- United Arab Emirates
- Mauritania
- China
- Kuwait
- Kazakhstan
- Malaysia
- Bahrain
- Comoros
- Kenya
- Morocco
- Tajikistan
- Djibouti
- Indonesia
- Bangladesh
- Tanzania
- Niger
This time the list is of nations that mildly persecute Believers.
Persecution can take on a lot of forms. Imprisonment is one major form. getting fired from your job is another. Being shunned and ignored by neighbors (because the government tell them to dissociate) is a third common form of persecution. In some nations, authorities will come to churches and snatch the pastor and burn the church to the ground, and sometimes with the people still in the buildings!
So, there is real persecution going on in the world. We do our Brothers and Sisters a disservice when we try to hide from or ignore these realities.
Again, choose a nation from the list and pray for that land. Probably you do not know anyone there, but that’s fine. The Lord knows your heart, and obviously He knows what is going on in those lands. Pray also that you will not grow cold and calloused to these things. If we don’t pray for the Persecuted Church around the world, who will?