Let me start this by stating something painfully obvious: I am not perfect, nor am I the greatest example of a "good" Christian. I fail daily and struggle with my flesh every minute of every day, but for years (since high school) now I have been very aware of the struggles of my brothers and sisters (in Christ) in other countries. When I say struggles, I'm talking rape, maiming, imprisonment, torture, and death for the crime of being Christian. I have heard a passing mention (from pulpits) of our brothers and sisters "in chains" and how we should pray for them but that tends to be as far as some U.S. churches want to go.
The sad truth is most American "Christians" don't want to be upset in the least with all that stuff "going on over there". However, now that a United States citizen is imprisoned in Iran (in 2012) for his "criminal" christian actions, a large group of U.S. Christians are crying out for his release. This is good that people are protesting and demanding his release, and I don't want to sound like I'm scolding anyone for this,
but where is the outrage for ALL persecuted Christians? Have you dared to look, or seek out just how many of our brothers and sisters are actually in chains, worldwide? Have you, honestly, not known just how bad the persecution is today? What do we do now? What can WE do? Does this make you feel guilty? Good, it makes me feel horrible. I, having known this information, have not spent enough time praying or getting the word out and I will have to answer for that. Now, what about you? Do you want to do more, know more? This is the best place to start that I know of: www.persecution.com this is the Voice of the Martyrs website.
V.O.M has been serving the persecuted church since 1967 and was founded by Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand. They offer many opportunities to serve the persecuted church and they also offer a free magazine every month with articles and updates on our B.A.S.I.C. (Brother and Sister In Christ).
Please understand where I'm coming from with this. I don't want to condemn or attack anyone or belittle anyone, but instead I want to help open everyone's eyes
to how big our christian family is and how we need to be lifting each other up. My fear is this, that Pastor Saeed will be released (that will be AWESOME) and once he comes back home we go back to our "usual" churchy routines and forget all about that little bit of nastiness. Please everyone remember:
and do SOMETHING!
