By Brian Mills, Senior Advisor to the IPC

In recent days and weeks the catalogue of stories about Christians being persecuted seems to have increased in momentum.

Last week it was Mozambique, where Heidi Baker described how people were being beheaded, women were being raped and villages were being burned to the ground as Islamist terrorists went on the rampage.  The week before it was about some churches in Indonesia being targetted by Islamist suicide bombers, with many deaths.

Last month it was about registered churches in Algeria being closed by the authorities, and followers of Jesus being restricted in what they are able to do.  Bombs going off in Afghanistan with the main targets being those who are NGO’s from other nations.  Many of the stories don’t get picked up by Western media.   But on a daily basis Christians are killed or put in prison for their faith somewhere in the world.

Ministry leaders are experiencing increasing difficulties for their NGO’s and those serving Christ to obtain visas to travel into some of the most needy countries.  Sometimes it is because of the dangers facing foreign workers, sometimes it is because foreign workers are not welcome.  Sometimes the visits of foreigners puts added stress on indigenous followers of Jesus, in addition to the dangers they face constantly.

North Korea, so much in the news recently, has for many years been the number one country for persecution in the world.  We are seeing how the situation there is beginning to change, and the hope is that this will help the thousands of Christians held in concentration camps there to find freedom.  The prayers of God’s children, both in S. Korea and also from many other nations, over many years, and the many prayer assignments conducted in the DMZ, have built up to the stage that now we are beginning to see an unprecedented change in the spiritual atmosphere.

One of our friends in a Middle Eastern country – a remarkable woman of faith and enterprise - faces daily death threats from those who don’t want to see Christians succeed in their task and mission to refugees and to people of the majority population.

So how should the church around the world respond?  What difference can ordinary Christians make?

There are three main ways in which agencies devoted to helping the persecuted church operate.

1. Advocacy. These make representations to governments, the UN and the world’s media on behalf of some of the worse cases of those who are discriminated against or are in prison, sometimes on trumped-up charges, because of their Christian faith. Some cases grab the headlines.  Many more are kept out of the limelight because of the sensitivities.  They need prayer.
2. Aid. These agencies seek to raise money and other resources to help impoverished churches and Christians function in the face of adversity. In many countries followers of Christ are unable to get jobs and face daily discrimination. Some are in refugee camps, and some are reaching out to those in refugee camps who are fleeing conflicts. The aid given is many faceted – from food to medical supplies, to finance for micro-businesses, to educational supplies for children, and for the supply of Bibles. They need prayer.
3. Advance. These are the agencies that through personnel, resources and training help and equip indigenous leaders and believers in Christ to reach out with the Gospel, develop disciple-making movements and plant churches. Some of the most exciting stories of the growth of the church are coming from countries where persecution has been intense. In several Moslem countries the atrocities committed by Moslem against fellow Moslems is causing many thousands to turn away from Islam. The door is opening wider for the Gospel to be shared – but the spiritual climate is at least uncertain, and sometimes extremely dangerous.  They all need prayer also.

So when we pray, what do we pray for?   Most Christians seem to pray out of a sense of solidarity with those who are going through the fires of persecution.  We are moved by the latest stories to hit the headlines.  We pray for those who are suffering.   We pray for those who are in danger or who are in prison, because of their faith. We pray for those seeking to reach out, despite the difficulties.   Some of the stories of those who against all odds are doing this are deeply challenging to those in non- persecuted parts of the church globally.   Some of us pray for Christians to escape persecution, or to survive despite persecution.  But is that the right prayer?   Some pray that those we know will be kept safe – is that it?

Followers of Jesus in countries where persecution is rife accept being persecuted as part of the normal Christian life. They know that Jesus said “If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15.20). Many of them are praying for weak Christians in the West, who don’t get persecuted, nor live in danger, but where faith is compromised in many dishonouring and not so subtle ways.

However, let me ask - do we pray as Jesus instructed us to pray?  “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5.44-45). Paul picked this up in Romans 12.14, when he wrote “Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse”.

What a difference would be made if the church around the world started blessing the persecutors – be they Governments, adherents of Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism, or Islamist or any other kind of terrorists?  The example of Egyptian believers  - when a number of Arab followers of Jesus were publicly be-headed by ISIS followers - is an outstanding example of this.  Instead of bemoaning their plight, they started forgiving their persecutors and blessing them in word and song. The results are being seen in a rich harvest of souls in Egypt today.

Instead of being fearful of persecution, let’s focus on those doing the persecution, whatever their motivation may be.

By all means let us continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in general who are persecuted for their faith, but let’s also re-focus our praying on those mainly responsible for the persecution, that God would open their eyes and give them encounters with Him.  He once did it with someone called Saul of Tarsus!   And He can do this again and again in many situations around the world.

Brian Mills, Senior Advisor to the IPC