Last year, as you may know, I attended the “Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians” in Washington, DC. I was so moved by what I heard and saw that I knew I had to do something.
I asked a few local pastors and Christian leaders to meet with me over lunch to talk about what we might be able to do in our area.

We decided on a “prayer gathering” on the “International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted” on November 7th. We had about 500 people gather and we prayed – we talked about the needs of various areas and then we prayed! We didn’t talk about prayer, sing about prayer, preach about prayer – we prayed. It was a thrill for each one there – we felt God’s presence in a powerful way. It was thrilling!

Since then, we have met on a monthly basis to pray for our local pastors as well as to look to this year’s International Day of Prayer which is November 4th. It has been so rewarding to gather early on a Tuesday morning without coffee or “goodies” (until today thanks to my sweet friend, Peggy) and just pray for our churches to be aware, for pastors to be bold preaching God’s Word and especially those who suffer persecution simply because they love Jesus.

What a joy it was to see Andrew Brunson step off that plane in Germany on his way home! It’s what we have been praying for. And then to see him humbly kneel beside the President to pray for him. Tears streamed down my face. But for every Andrew Brunson there are 100s more. He was fortunate to be an American where the government would not forget him – not leave him behind. There are so many whose governments are the very ones oppressing and persecuting. It is dangerous to be a Christian in certain parts of the world.

According the the World Watch List, North Korea is #1 for persecution of Christians. That’s no surprise! (I am hoping that will soon change due to the opening of N. Korea to diplomacy.) Afghanistan is number 2. Somalia is number 3.

Let’s pray for our brothers and sisters who are suffering.