Day 2: I am thankful, grateful, full of praise because I was born in a country that lets me worship as I choose. I have a black T shirt that has a bold red cross on the chest and the words "This shirt is illegal in 51 countries." On the back there is a large cross with scripture reminding us to pray for the persecuted church. When I wear this shirt it starts a lot of great conversations. It always surprises me that there are so many people who think that in this day and age you can worship as you please everywhere in the world. Some are downright shocked that there are places where people have to worship in secret for fear of persecution, prosecution, bodily harm, or even death. I know that this is a heavy subject, and I didn't post about it to be a downer, but to raise awareness. I know a lot of us are moms staying at home with our children, and this is where God wants us to be, and we are not called to go to that missionary battlefield, but we can be very powerful support just right here in our own hometowns by praying and teaching our children and others about this, and becoming more aware ourselves. A great place to start is the Voice of the Martyrs. They have a website to raise awareness and they also send out a free monthly newsletter by snail mail if you sign up. (Sometimes you can find free copies of these newsletters at your local church.) If you look in the middle of the newsletter there is a pull out poster type map of the world that lists different areas around the world that need prayer for the underground church. This is an excellent resource. It also contains more specific information about each individual country that will help to guide your prayer rather than just saying a quick blanket prayer.
Also, November 9th is being designated as a National Day Prayer for the Persecuted Church. There is an article about this here. Todd Nettleton, VOM’s Director of Media Development, is quoted in the article as saying "Scripture instructs us to remember those in bonds as though we were bound with them. This special day of prayer is one of the ways corporately we do that."
Wow, that's a powerful statement.
