Don't Forget the Persecuted Church

As I watched a video of a well-known Chinese pastor speaking about Wang Yi, a faithful evangelical pastor in China imprisoned for his faith and ministry beginning in 2018, I couldn't help but weep. He spoke about how so many Chinese pastors refuse to pray publicly for persecuted believers while living in North America for fear of their own safety. One person even told him that he couldn't compromise his own ministry when he returned to China. He responded, "If you can't even pray and advocate for persecuted Christians in the West while living in freedom, what gives you the right to speak about participating in their ministry at all?"

I wept because I feel that I and I imagine many of us have been guilty of forgetting or perhaps intentionally keeping silent about persecuted believers in order to not get criticized or get in trouble or "get involved in politics." But to pray for and remind ourselves about our persecuted brothers and sisters is not politics, it's about what it means to be the Church. Hebrews 13:3 tells us: "Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body."

Let's encourage all our churches to sign up and make Nov. 1 a special day to remember and pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ.

https://idop.ca/