Persecution

Open Doors has compiled a list of 2007’s 50 worst countries for Christian persecution. Those considered to have severe limitations or worse are:

1. North Korea :: severe persecution
2. Saudi Arabia :: oppression
3. Iran :: oppression
4. Somalia :: oppression
5. Maldives :: oppression
6. Yemen :: oppression
7. Bhutan :: oppression
8. Vietnam :: oppression
9. Laos :: severe limitations
10. Afghanistan :: severe limitations
11. Uzbekistan :: severe limitations
12. China :: severe limitations
13. Eritrea :: severe limitations
14. Turkmenistan :: severe limitations
15. Comoros :: severe limitations
16. Chechnya :: severe limitations
17. Pakistan :: severe limitations
18. Egypt :: severe limitations
19. Myanmar (Burma) :: severe limitations
20. Sudan (North) :: severe limitations
21. Iraq :: severe limitations
22. Azerbaijan :: severe limitations
23. Brunei :: severe limitations
24. Cuba :: severe limitations

Persecution

Yesterday was the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Last night our church met and spent some time praying for our brothers and sisters throughout the world who are suffering for their faith in Jesus. I did a little reading on Saturday and discovered that over 200 million Christians are suffering from persecution. They define this persecution as being interrogated, arrested, tortured, or killed. I also read a story of a man who has faced persecution every day since he became a Christian. I realize that I'm in the exact opposite place. In all of my years of being a Christian, I've never truly experienced persecution. This obviously makes me question "Why?" The second question I have to ask myself is, "What am I now going to do with this knowledge?"

During our prayer time, Adam was becoming a bit of a distraction, so I took him to the back room. I asked him if he would like to pray with me. He said yes, and so we sat in the floor, held hands, bowed our heads, and I said a thirty second prayer. When I said Amen, he looked up and smiled at me. It was one of those truly great moments for a dad.