As Christians we we are called to be alert and on watch1. The commandment to watch in the New Testament in the Greek means literally to stay awake, to be sleepless. In other words we need to be constantly vigilant, on guard and fully awake to do what the Lord requires of us. We can be on watch through prayer for fellow Christians who face persecution, restrictions and injustice because of their faith in Jesus.
There are 365 million Christians world wide who are denied access to jobs and education, are arrested, attacked, and even killed for following Jesus. There are more persecuted Christians today than any time in history.
As a church, we support the efforts of a number of established and reputable agencies working to support Christians and churches in difficult situations around the world, including:
The map below gives some idea of the extent of persecution of Christians around the world.
- e.g. Colossians 4:2 and 1 Peter 5:8, among others ↩︎