by R. Herbert | Jan 14, 2016 | Persecution, The Church & the World
Yesterday, Open Doors, the Christian aid organization serving the persecuted Church, published its updated “World Watch List” ranking the top 50 persecuting countries in the world. The Watch List is an excellent resource for churches and individuals to see where the most intense needs currently are and summarizing the situation regarding the persecution of believers around the globe.
The list is an important, though sobering publication. The fact that there are a top fifty persecuting nations to list is saddening enough, and the top listed nations among the fifty are guilty of persecution in the extreme. Perhaps not surprisingly, North Korea maintains its top-persecuting rank, and Iraq and the African nation of Eritrea now take second and third place, respectively.
The report does not just rank the most persecuting nations, however – it shows where there has been an increase or decrease in a given nation’s ranking, and provides other useful information. For example, although most people are aware of the incredible level of persecution being inflicted on Christian populations by Islamic extremists, the report helpfully indicates other aspects of this situation that we might not be aware of – such as the fact that as legitimate governments became more fearful of burgeoning Islamic extremism, they themselves are often responding by either boosting nationalism as a counterforce or tightening regulations and increasing surveillance over all religious expression.
There are some glimmers of hope. Some few countries have been downranked – such as Syria, which is down from 4th to 5th place, and Somalia, which is down from 3rd to 7th place – but in a number of these cases the downgrading is a result of the mass exodus of Christians rather than any improvement in conditions. At least one country – Mauritania – has been removed from the list, but it has simply been replaced by another country where persecution is growing.
Overall, the picture painted by the new World Watch list is one of growing severe and extreme persecution, and Open Doors is to be thanked for the work they put into carefully monitoring and documenting the escalating situation. The list is itself a powerful weapon in raising awareness and enabling informed reaction to the problem of intensifying worldwide persecution, and we would highly recommend it to every believer. The Watch List can be freely download from the Open Doors website here , and we urge you to familiarize yourself with the list and to use it for prayer and action on behalf of the millions of persecuted believers around the world.
*You can read an interview with David Curry, President and CEO of Open Doors, on our sister site, LivingWithFaith.org, here.
by R. Herbert | Jun 19, 2015 | Persecution, Updates
Camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan, (Photo: Reuters–Pool)
“…. Make your shadow like night — at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees. Let the … fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer.”
(Isaiah 16:3-4)
Saturday, June 20th is World Refugee Day, and the problems highlighted by this day have seldom been greater than they are this year. Every minute in the world in which we live eight people leave everything they have and flee in order to escape the terrors of persecution or war. Although this may not sound like a lot of people, you just have to do the multiplication to see that millions of people are affected in the course of a year. It is estimated that some 60 million people (roughly equivalent to the entire population of Italy or the United Kingdom) have had to leave their homes, 14 million of them in the past year alone – and half of them children.
People are fleeing persecution and war in many areas, especially in Africa and the Middle East. Groups such as ISIS and Boko Haram are daily terrorizing, torturing and killing people of every age in many areas. Christians are one of the most persecuted groups; as a result, thousands are being forced to flee their homes and livelihoods each day.
Overall, relatively little is being done to help these people in desperate need, though there are some bright spots. In the Middle East, for example, where thousands of Christians are struggling to flee Iraq and Syria to avoid death at the hands of the Islamic State, huge tent cities have been set up in neighboring countries as staging areas for people who can get to them. Turkey is helping with this, and the Polish Government has recently stated that Poland will accept Christians fleeing from ISIS. A number of Christian aid groups are doing tremendous work – with limited resources – in helping move refugees such as the Syrian Christians to areas of safety, but so much more needs to be done to save hundreds of thousands.
What can we do about such a widespread problem? Everyone can do something! This year, celebrities from around the world have released a series of 30-second videos supporting refugees as part of a coordinated campaign for World Refugee Day. If we are able we can support missions such as Barnabas Aid’s “Operation Safe Havens” which is evacuating Syrian Christians in danger. The fund is rescuing Syrians and flying them to Poland and other areas where churches are organizing to welcome them and to find accommodation and jobs for them. Anything you can donate to this cause – however small – can help save lives immediately. Go here if you would like to donate to this particular operation.
Financial support is not the only way we can help rescue those threatened by ISIS and similar groups. Local churches can arrange to receive and settle Syrian or other Christian families, and individually we can contact our government representatives to urge them to involve our government in doing something – or doing more – to restrain the threats and to help those in this great need. And, of course, whatever our situation, we can all pray fervently for those in need of deliverance from danger.
The current refugee crises around the world demand more action and humanitarian involvement than is happening. As Christians we have a special responsibility to those we can help, and especially to our brothers and sisters who are being singled out and slaughtered for their faith. We might well remember the words of the prophet Isaiah, quoted above, in this regard. Not to help the refugees, if it is in our power to help them, is to betray them.
by R. Herbert | Aug 11, 2014 | Persecution, The Church & the World
The #WeAreN Campaign is bringing attention to persecuted Christians in Iraq. The campaign is named for the letter N or “Nun” in the Arabic alphabet (as shown in the illustration) which fanatical Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) militants have placed on the homes of Christians in areas of Iraq they now control.
The letter “Nun” is being used to signify the Arabic word for “Nazarene” (Christian) on Christian homes in much the same way that Jews were forced to wear Star of David armbands in Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
It is unclear what the final fate of many of the Iraqi Christians marked by this sign will be, but already hundreds of Christians have been killed, often in a brutally barbaric manner. If you haven’t already seen the reports, news services have confirmed the fact that ISIS is routinely beheading men, women and children and numbers have been crucified, while thousands of Christians are being driven from their homes and possessions. This is in addition to the desecration and destruction of Christian churches and tombs.
The #WeAreN campaign now underway has helped fuel protests across the United States and in many parts of the world against these horrendous crimes and in support of the multiple thousands of Christians being victimized by ISIS. World leaders are being urged, by means of active demonstrations in many cities around the globe, to stop the anti-Christian genocide, and we see increasing support for counteraction as tens of thousands of people change their social media photos to images of the Arabic “N” in identification and support.
US President Barack Obama has begun to act in regard to this situation. Although the response has been slow in coming and is still small, it is to be hoped that leaders of the US and countries around the world will quickly escalate support for the Christians and others in Iraq who are being targeted by ISIS.
In addition to participating in the #WeAreN campaign, Christians everywhere can pray for their brothers and sisters in Iraq. As Christians we should also pray for those who are committing this kind of persecution in Iraq and in other areas in the world. We need to pray that the eyes of these people might be opened to see the evil of what they are doing, and to turn from it.
by R. Herbert | Nov 2, 2013 | Persecution, The Church & the World
I had no sooner uploaded a blog post late last month on the seemingly endless number of special days that now exist (pointing out the very worthwhile National Forgiveness Day, however), than I became aware of another very worthwhile “day”. November 10 is designated as International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted (
http://www.persecution.org/). Often people think about the persecution of Christians as something that happened in ancient Rome or in the Middle Ages, but in the past 100 years an estimated 35 million Christians have been killed for their faith, and the problem is ongoing in many parts of the world – it is real and it is now.
Although we can rejoice when facing unavoidable persecution (Matthew 5:10-12), that does not mean we should ignore the needs of those in peril in this way. In some cases there are things we can do to aid those in danger because of their faith (see the persecution.org website “Take Action!” link for suggestions), but according to the organizers, the number one thing persecuted Christians ask for is prayer. As the website reminds us, even when we can do nothing physically, we are equipped to meet that need! This day is not only an opportunity to pull together on behalf of those who face persecution, but also a good reminder that the need is ongoing and that there
is something we can do about it.
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