IDOP SUNDAY

"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified." (Isaiah 63:1-3)

"Pray for us ..." This is the request of persecuted Christians around the world. Today, more than 200 million believers are suffering for their faith in Jesus Christ. Each year, Christians in more than 130 countries stand in prayer with our persecuted sisters and brothers through the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP). Join with us as Christians across the world unite in prayer for our brothers and sisters who suffer because they declare their faith in Christ.

Burned out churches, arrests, beatings, bloody attacks... these are not the scenes that we associate with the word beauty. For many of our brothers and sisters in Christ, they live a life of continual intimidation and persecution such as we in the West have never experienced.

Yet, in the middle of the most gruesome and ugly examples of human behavior rises something so unexpected, it is completely beautiful. It is the genuine faith of one put to the ultimate test, standing as a testament to the love of their God and Savior, and as a witness to the Gospel of Christ.

And joy instead of mourning? How do we dare suggest this to those who have suffered so much? The loss and devastation of these for us is unimaginable. But we see in their faces this strange joy, a joy not of this world.

This strange joy . . .  is found by the widow in India whose husband was beaten to death by a mob because of his conversion to Christianity and is now left without the means to make a living and without the gentle hand of her lifelong friend, but she reads through the Psalms every day and finds Hope.

As our persecuted brothers and sisters are called to stand in the face of great adversity, so we are called to pray. And as we do, may our dedication to pray match their dedication to stand.

Join us on November 4, 2012 and pray. 

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