I want to take us out of our comfortable American Christianity for the next few blog posts. The quotes below speak for themselves. All of the quotes are from the Voice of the Martyrs 2014 Calendar.  I keep it on my desk so I’ll be reminded each day of my brethren who are living Matthew 5:10-12.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

  • “Don’t pray that our borders will be opened. Pray that heaven will be opened.”- Vietnamese Pastor.
  • “Don’t pray for protection; pray that I will understand what He is trying to teach me.” – Pastor Steven Khoury, Israel
  • “I was afraid and had fear. But when I attended the prayer meeting and heard that people were praying for me, I was encouraged. That moment, I decided to go back and preach in the same area. My fear is gone.” – “Qabil,” Pakistani evangelist.
  • “I was happy to go through all this because now I am stronger spiritually. People prayed for me to escape. Their prayers saved my life.” – “Abdi,” Somalia
  • “I know those who have worshiped in jail; when they come out they never can repeat that experience. Prayer in jail is different than when you pray outside.” – “Mohammed,” Christian formerly imprisoned in Iran
  • “When you gather in your happy families, remember us. … we ask you, always in your meetings to carry us before our almighty God in prayer, so that we can endure also this hard blow in our young lives and even unto death remain faithful in our hearts and trust in our Lord.” – Ahura Sloboda, Soviet Union, 1969
  • “After going through what I went through, seeing other Christians go through suffering, having Christians encourage me and pray for me, it all brought me closer to Christ.” – Awuna Sunday, injured in a bomb attack at a church in Nigeria.

If you would like to have specifics to pray, click here: Pray for the Persecuted.

If you want to read actual stories and get news, check out Voice of the Martyrs at: www.persecution.com

Here’s a great dramatization from Voice of the Martyr ministries:

 

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