Why I am thankful my Pastor in 22 words, getting to the point!

I’m thankful for my pastor because he faithfully preaches the Word of God and he ministers and counsels his congregation and family!

http://twentytwowords.com/2008/11/25/thankful-for-your-pastor-say-so-and-win-him-a-pair-of-tickets-to-dg%e2%80%99s-pastors-conference/

Resources for supporting the persecuted church

Hello all! I am closing out the week of remembering the persecuted church with the following suggestions to encourage you to remember the church year round. :-) Again, like the devotionals, the following information was not created by me, but by another family in our church. There are some excellent ideas in here! I'd encourage you to do a couple. (and maybe one of these days I will get to read and review some of the books they suggest :-) )

Hope you enjoyed the week off from book reviews! I hope to get at least one done this week.

Have a great day!

RESOURCES FOR SUPPORTING THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

There are prayer guides available from many ministries. Or you can just get out the map and a copy of “Operation World.” This book’s goal is to get you to pray by listing specific and detailed information about every country and region in the world. It is available from www.OperationWorld.org.

Here are some additional ways you can support the persecuted church. Please prayerfully consider what you and your family can do today.

1. Log on to these ministry websites to take advantage of free newsletters and magazines:

Voice of the Martyrs – www.Persecution.com
Open Doors – www.OpenDoorsUSA.org
Christian Freedom International – www.ChristianFreedom.org

2. Christmas is coming. Consider purchasing a handcrafted product (from handbags to home décor) made by persecuted Christians in Burma, Bangladesh, Laos, Vietnam and Indonesia. The money goes to support their families. Receive a catalog from www.ChristianFreedom.org.

3. Smuggle a Bible into a restricted country by donating to the Bible League. Contact them at www.BibleLeague.org for more information and a collection box for your children – in the shape of a Bible!

4. Display a prayer map in your home with the persecuted countries highlighted. Accompanying country summaries can be used to lead your children in a brief devotional about a specific country, including the religion, governmental leaders and state of Christianity there. This will help you pray more effectively and intelligently and teach your children to do likewise. You can get these items free from Voice of the Martyrs at www.Perscution.com.

5. Send a letter to a Christian prisoner! You can log on to www.PrisonerAlert.com and read biographies to learn more about our brothers and sisters in chains. The site allows you to write a letter in English and it will be translated into the prisoner’s native tongue, you can print it out and mail it to him/her. Every year, Christian prisoners testify to improved treatment and reduced sentences due largely to the fact that they receive letters from around the world from caring Christians.

6. Send an action pack to Christians suffering in Pakistan, Afghanistan or Iraq. For $5.00, you will receive a preprinted vacuum bag and instructions on what you can include (clothing, toys, sheets, etc.) to donate to our family in these countries. Once full, you can mail it back to Voice of the Martyrs and they will hand deliver it for you. Including your family picture is an added bonus! www.Persecution.com/ActionPacks

7. Sponsor a Burmese child who has become orphaned due to the military junta killing his/her parents. These children have escaped through the jungles into neighboring Thailand and are living in refugee camps on the Burmese/Thai border. Our family is sponsoring our third child now. Your $25.00 per month will go far in changing a life. You can find out more at www.ChristianFreedom.org.

8. Another Bible option – join Bibles Unbound (www.BiblesUnbound.com). Each month, you will receive the names and addresses of five Christians in countries such as Egypt, North Korea, Colombia and China. You will also receive Bibles in their languages. You will personally package and mail the Bibles to these Christians. This program has been hugely successful because mailed items are individually addressed and are not large suspicious-looking boxes. As of today, over 730,000 Bibles have been sent and more than 64,000 Christians are still waiting. Perhaps your family could send a Bible.

9. Select a country for your family to focus on in the upcoming year or month. Make it a unit study if you homeschool, or even if you don’t. Pray for that country. Get to know its leaders and how the church is being persecuted. Consider visiting or going on a mission trip. Consider supporting a Christian cause within your selected country. Find out all you can. For instance, how many Christians are dying there each day? Each hour? Each minute? For instance, in China, a Christian is martyred every 15 seconds. Praise God, a new Christian joins God’s family in China every three seconds! These are the kinds of things we should speak to our children.

10. If you enjoy sewing, obtain a parachute pattern from Voice of the Martyrs
(www.Persecution.com). These patterns come with complete instructions and parachutes made by you will be used to drop Bibles and radios from airplanes into the jungles of Colombia to the FARC guerillas there.

11. Wear a bracelet. Many are available including ones that remind us of countries or individuals or the global persecuted church.

12. Do you enjoy watching film? Watch a movie or documentary about the persecuted church, a specific country or a specific person together as a family and discuss it afterwards. Each year, the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival (www.IndependentChristianFilms.com) awards many film-makers in several categories. Last year’s winner was “A Cry from Iran” about martyr Brother Haik (www.ACryFromIran.com). We collect these films for our family. Other ministries that produce movies and documentaries that are quite excellent include Open Doors (www.OpenDoorsUSA.org) and Voice of the Martyrs (www.Persecution.com).

13. Choose to read a book – fiction or non-fiction – about the persecuted church each year. Perhaps you will choose to read one aloud to your family. Several great books will be on display to give you some ideas of what we have read as a family. Although we know there are many others, this may be a good starting point for you. Some are devotional readings that take less than five minutes a day.

Here are some recommendations from our personal library:

The Battle for the Chinese Bible – Nora Lam
any book by Watchman Nee
any book by Richard Wurmbrand, including Tortured for Christ
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs – John Foxe
Extreme Devotion – devotional book
Jesus Freaks – devotional book by D.C. Talk
Christians in the Shadow of the Kremlin – Anita Deyneka
any book by Corrie Ten Boom
Hidden Sorrow, Lasting Joy – Anneke Companjen
Sister Freaks – devotional book by Rebecca St. James
The 100 Most Important Events in Christian History – Kenneth Curtis
The Pilgrim’s Progress – John Bunyan
Bold as a Lamb – Ken Anderson
Safely Home – Randy Alcorn
Called To Die – Steve Estes
God’s Smuggler – Brother Andrew

Devotional for the Persecuted Church--day 7

Here is the last day of the devotional. I will be putting some more information on the Persecuted Church later today. Have a great day!

Day 7 – Nigeria battles greed and corruption. Islam has been given preferential treatment over Christianity in the past. Shariah law was implemented in 12 of Northern Nigeria’s predominately Muslim states. Christians fear the recent election of a Muslim president may lead to more violence against Christians.

Christian – 52.6%,
Muslim – 41%
Islam, President Umaru Musa Yar’adua

Radical Muslims continue to attack Christians in Northern Nigeria. In April, a mob dragged teacher Christianah Oluwasesin out of her classroom, beat her to death and burned her body. They were incited by the rumor that the teacher touched a Koran, which was among other books she took from a student during an exam. In other cases, young women are kidnapped, forced to convert to Islam and forcibly married to Muslim men. Churches, Christian schools, homes and businesses were burned and destroyed by angry rioters during 2007.

PRAYER: Pray the Holy Spirit will bring understanding, conviction and salvation to persecutors. (2Cor 4:3-6)

Devotional for the Persecuted Church--day 6

Here's day 6, one more day to go!

Day 6 – Indonesia is a collection of 18,306 islands; 6,000 are inhabited. The government forces people to carry an identification card that includes their religious status. The government promotes a belief called “Pancasila,” which means all may freely choose to follow Christianity, Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism, but in reality, Muslims receive preferential treatment.

Muslim – 80%,
Christian – 16%
Islam, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

Forty-one Indonesian believers were recently imprisoned. They were charged under Indonesia’s religion abuse laws. Fundamentalist Muslims obtained a video of a prayer meeting where these believers held a copy of the Koran and prayed for Muslims. The Muslims perceived it as blasphemous. All 41 Christians received five-year prison sentences. During the last 40 years, evangelicals have grown from 1.3 million to 11.5 million. The increase of Christian persecution has brought about a greater unity among the Body of Christ, the growth of a national prayer movement and a commitment to outreach in Indonesia and beyond.

PRAYER: Pray for the release of pastors and other believers who have been falsely accused and imprisoned (Luke 6:27-28)

Devotional for the Persecuted Church--day 5

Here's day five! Have a great day!

Day 5 – Burma (Myanmar) is well acquainted with struggle. Officially, Buddhism is no longer the state religion, but it is actively promoted by the military regime. All those who advocate improved human rights are harassed or imprisoned.

Buddhist – 82.9%,
Christian – 8.7%
Buddhism/Military dictatorship, Sr. Gen. Than Shwe

The government of Burma continues to discourage, harass and use other, more severe, forms of persecution on any group or belief they consider harmful to the state. Christianity is high on their list for eradication: all the while the government claims freedom of religion. A secret memo entitled “Program to destroy the Christian religion in Burma” details point by point instruction s on how to drive Christians out of the state. It calls for anyone caught evangelizing to be imprisoned. Churches are being burned. There are forcible conversions of Christians to Buddhism and Christian children barred from schools. Ethnic Christians, in particular are singled out for repression because of the government’s goal to create a uniform society of one language, one ethnicity and one religion.

PRAYER: Pray for boldness and courage for believers in the face of fear (Isa 40:29-31)

Devotional for the Persecuted Church--day 4

Here is day four of the devotional, have a great day!

Day 4 – Sudan is Africa’s largest country. Since 1983, there have been approximately two million deaths and four million people displaced due to war genocide. A separate conflict broke out in 2003 in Darfur, where peacekeeping troops struggle for stability. The conflict is spreading throughout the region to neighboring countries. A 2005 peace agreement appears to be falling apart between the Muslim government and the southern Christian faction.

Muslim – 65%,
Christian – 23.2%
Islam, President Umar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir

In spite of, or perhaps because of, the persecution in the last 20 years, the church in Sudan has continued to grow. Life continues to be difficult as the country struggles for stability.

PRAYER: Pray that those who are persecuted will have opportunities to share Christ with their persecutors (Colossians 4:3)

Devotional for the Persecuted Church--day 3

Here's day three! Be sure to check out the previous posts for this devotional. Have a good day!

Day 3 – Iran’s state religion is Shi’a Islam, and the followers of all other faiths are treated severely. The government has specifically taken an increasing anti-Western and anti-Christian stand. Iran has been called the world’s number one producer of terrorism.

Muslim – 99%,
Christian – 0.3%
Islam, Supreme Leader Ali Hoseini-Khamenei

In 2007, the government organized a highly-coordinated crackdown that included the arrest and interrogation of Christians, along with the confiscation of thousands of Bibles. Pastors are forbidden to preach in Farsi (the official language) and can only use the Armenian language. Mission organizations are not allowed to enter Iran. Open witnessing to Muslims is banned, and the government sends spies to monitor Christian groups. Believers are discriminated against in education, employment and property ownership. Muslims who leave Islam can receive the death penalty. After decades of existing under government oppression, Iranians are hungry for spiritual meaning, as well as freedom from their oppressive government. Christian programs, broadcast by satellite, have received very positive responses. Hundreds of callers ask for more information about Christianity or pray with a counselor to receive Christ. House church leaders are nearly overwhelmed caring for these new believers. Careful attention is being given to training Christians into mature believers and integrating them into a fellowship.

PRAYER: Pray for God’s grace and strength for persecuted believers to forgive their persecutors (Rom 8:11)

Devotional for the Persecuted Church--day 2

Hello all! Here is the day two devotional for the persecuted church. Be sure to read the previous posts on the subject to get more of a "background" of why I'm doing this. :-) Have a good day!

Day 2 – China was declared the People’s Republic of China in 1949 by Chairman Mao Zedong, who quickly sought to purge society of anything that would point to religion. In recent years, living standards have improved in urban areas while little has changed in the countryside, promoting discontent. Political controls remain tight. Rural areas have not seen any economic prosperity; a lot remains unchanged, promoting discontent. The human rights record in China is one of the worst in the world. Its system of “re-education through labor” detains hundreds of thousands each year in work camps without even a court hearing.

Non-Religious/Other – 49.6%,
Chinese – 28.5%,
Christian 7.3%
Communism, President Hu Jintao

The year 2007 marked the 200th year of Protestant mission work in China. Again in 2007, church property and Bibles were confiscated. Christians were harassed, questioned, arrested and imprisoned. More Christians are in prison or under detention in China than in any other country. The house church movement (unregistered churches), which comprises approximately 90 percent of China’s Christians, endures unimaginable persecution, yet stands on its commitment to preach the gospel, no matter the cost. A major crackdown against unregistered church groups continued in 2007. Beijing house church activist Hua Huiqi was released after serving six months imprisonment, while many other house church leaders remain in detention. Christians in prison are routinely beaten and abused.

PRAYER: Pray their faithfulness, even in suffering, will be the magnet that draws others to Christ (Ps.91)

Devotional for the Persecuted Church--day 1

Hello again! Our church is having families/individuals do a seven day devotional for persecuted Christians. I am including them here on my blog for you too. I did not create these at all, the information was created/provided by another family in our church. I hope you enjoy them! In addition to the daily devotional, I will be including other information later this week.

Day 1 – North Korea is one of the most repressive and isolated regimes in the world and denies every kind of human right to its citizens. The country’s previous leader, Kim Il Sung, founded an ideology called “Juche,” which is enforced in every aspect of the culture. Government-organized religious activities exist solely to provide the illusion of religious freedom.

Non-Religious – 64.3%,
Traditional ethnic – 16.0%,
Chondogyo – 13.5%,
Christian – 1.7%
One-man dictatorship / Communism. Chairman Kim Jong I

North Korea is the worst perpetrator of persecution against Christians in the world. Despite harsh conditions, Christians are quietly adding to their numbers daily. Hearts are longing for truth and for a loving relationship with their Creator. Local Christians continue to stand strong under this relentless persecution. The exact number of Christians is unknown. The government considers Christians to be a stability threat, so they are hunted all over the country. Christians must practice their faith in deep secrecy and are in constant danger. Many North Koreans, including Christians, have fled to China. Some Christians have returned to North Korea to share the gospel. Any North Korean refugee sent back to North Korea faces torture, imprisonment and often death. Underground Christian Son Jong Nam has been in prison for more than two years, awaiting public execution.

PRAYER: Pray for faithful disciples, people who will be faithful, no matter what the cost (1 Cor 4:9-14, 16)

International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church

Hello all! Today is International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. I hope to write more about it later. But in the meantime, my fellow blogger/church friend, beat me to it. :-) Be sure to check it out!

http://thereformeddoug.blogspot.com/2008/11/international-day-of-prayer-for.html

We had our Sunday School hour in church today dedicated to remembering and learning more about persecution, etc. I hope to include more about it later. This would also be a great week for me to review that Voice of the Martyrs book, if I have time. :-)

In the meantime, please remember our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, in prayer today, and throughout the year!