Pracitcal Ways You Can Help The Persecuted Church right from America

Today I want to have a heart to heart about the persecuted church. 

To be honest, living in America (or away from persecution) makes it sometimes hard to relate to those suffering so much. But the truth is, many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are suffering persecution and the Bible commands us to remember them. 

My sister is the first one who shared with me about the persecuted church when she showed me the yearly calendar provided by VOM with various ways to pray for those suffering. 

In 2012 I moved to South Korea and started learning more about North Korea and the persecution there, particularly the Christians who are persecuted. My heart went out to those suffering and I started being researching and learning more about the persecuted church. 

Then when we came here to Thailand we met a Christian family who has fled here from Pakistan. God opened doors for us to help them a couple of different ways during our time here and honestly, we have just been so blessed by their faith and friendship. I haven't posted much about them for safety reasons but if you want to pray for them shoot me an e-mail and I'll share more with you. 

I share all that to remind me and to remind you that we need to be supporting our brothers and sisters in Christ. I think two of the most important things we can do is to remember and pray. 

Dave and I pray for the persecuted church on our Missionary Monday prayer night and I highly recommend adding them to your prayer list. If I have them written down I will see it and make it more of a priority. 

I think to pray effectively we need good and practical information. I have a three resources that I want to share with you today. All three are great ministries helping the persecuted church. 

1. Voice of the Martyrs

VOM was started by Pastor Richard Wurmbrand who himself suffered much persecution. He moved to America and founded VOM to hep the persecuted church. 

VOM has a whole section called Get Involved where they list some great ways you can help the persecuted church. They also have a really neat thing called Action Packs where you can donate money and they will send a package to Christians who need basic supplies (towels, blanets, etc.). The pack only costs $30 so I'm hoping to do that once I get home. 

There is also a Prayer Map where you can click on the countries and it will give you an overview of that country. Burma (Myanmar) is even on that list! 

VOM is on Instagram and they send occasional updates with prayer needs. It's a great and easy way to stay informed. 

Lastly, they have a Prayer App just to pray for the persecuted Christians! 

2. Open Doors USA

Open Doors was founded by Brother Andrew who is known for smuggling millions of Bibles into the persecuted churches. 

I think my favorite feature is their World Watch List with the top 50 countries with the most persecution. I like it because once you click on a country it not only gives you an overview but lists a few ways you can specifically pray for that country. 

3. Mute No More 

Mute no More does a really good job of informing about prayer needs. They are on Instagram and they only post when there is something that needs immediate prayer needs. It's nice to have something specific to pray for. 

Mute no More has a Prayer wall where you can sign up to pray for the persecuted church. Their goal is to have people praying 24/7. 

Lastly, there is a short little book about a Christian family in North Korea called These are The Generations by Mr. and Mrs. Bae, told by Eric Foley. It's a short read and is so informative and eye opening. The faith these Christians amazes me. 

So I hope through this little post that you will be reminded and encouraged to remember our brothers and sisters and to lift them up before the Father.