Brother Andrew, the author of the best-selling book God’s Smuggler and founder of Open Doors, has issued an urgent call for “all Christians to be involved with the Persecuted Church.” His challenge was delivered at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 14.
“Every Christian has the responsibility of being involved with the Persecuted Church,” said Brother Andrew. “It is not an optional extra of the Christian life.”
He urged Christians to obtain information about the persecuted church, and speak out on behalf of Christians who are suffering for their faith. “We must speak out on their behalf,” he said. “If we know it, we have the responsibility to speak out and do something. Every door is open to every Christian in the world, because of this concept that we are all members of what we call the Body of Christ. If we fail, then they may die, feeling forgotten and betrayed by us.”
He continued, “There is no excuse for Christians not to get involved in helping their suffering brothers and sisters. The defense so many Christians use is that the ‘gates of hell will not prevail against the Church.’ But it is such a lazy attitude, for where the Church realizes that half of the body of Christ is suffering, being hacked to pieces, being tortured, shut off from communication, excluded from every influence and affairs of the nation, we cannot sit back and say and do nothing.”
Brother Andrew urged Christians to move beyond their comfort zones to help their suffering brothers and sisters in other lands. “We must be brave, asking God what He wants us to do. We must go to places where faith costs the most, identify with the Christians, and conflicts like the deportees and those in the refugee camps, still all over the Middle East. Like conflicts in Vietnam, or Laos. Wherever those conflicts occur, we must go there with every bit of help and see what we can do. There is always something we can do.”
During the news conference, Wybo Nicolai of Open Doors announced that Saudi Arabia now tops the list of countries where Christians are persecuted, followed by Sudan (South), Somalia, Iran, Sudan (North), China, Yemen, North Korea, Morocco and Comoro Islands.
Saudi Arabia, which is estimated to have 600,000 Christians in its ex-patriot population but has outlawed Christianity, recently beheaded two Filipino Christians for sharing their faith.
