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Article by Cathie
Butler
Persecution of Christians today?
uh..... YEAH! There are definitely Christians being
persecuted all across the world today. We don't know
about it because we spend too much of our time wrapped
up in our "own world."
There is something called a "World Watch List"
(abbreviated WWL), it is a list that ranks countries
according to their level of persecution against
Christianity - 1 being the worst. The WWL is compiled
from a specially-designed questionnaire of 50 questions
covering various aspects of religious freedom.
(Questions range from legal to actual situations to the
role of the church, etc. Example questions: Does the
constitution and/or national laws provide for freedom of
religion? Are Christians being killed because of their
faith? Do Christians have the freedom to print and
distribute Christian literature? Are Christian meeting
places and/or Christian homes attacked because of
anti-Christian motives?)
This year's list:
1. North Korea (Asia)
2. Saudi Arabia (Middle East)
3. Iran (Middle East)
4. Maldives (off the coast of India)
5. Bhutan (Asia)
6. Yemen (Middle East)
7. Afghanistan (Middle East)
8. Laos (Asia)
9. Uzbekistan (Asia)
10. China (Asia)
**We need to pray for the Middle East and Asia!!!**
China was brought to my attention by a group called
"Voice of the Martyrs" (VOM). This is a group that
publishes a monthly newsletter about persecution across
the world. Right now they (alongside the China Aid
Associates) are distributing prayer bands that have
"Pray for China" printed on them in English and Chinese.
They are asking that all Christians wear these during
the Olympics. (That encouraged some of my research about
China that led me to the WWL. According to the WWL,
Christians have been persecuted even more because of the
Olympics. Many foreign Christians, living in China as
missionaries, have been expelled from China. It seems
that the Chinese government is trying to prevent foreign
Christians from engaging in mission activities before
the Beijing Olympics.) VOM wants Christians to wear the
bands to remind us to pray for our persecuted brothers
and sisters in China. Chinese Christians will be wearing
a similar band and will be praying for us as well!
I ordered some prayer bands myself and have tried to
encourage other Christians to get involved. Since I
received the email about the prayer bands, I have
received one about the president. President Bush
organized a historic 45-minute meeting to "discuss his
concerns about human rights in China," ahead of the
Olympic Games next month. Bob Fu (president of the China
Aid Association) said the President seemed very
concerned about the worsening situation for rights in
China. Bob gave the President 5 prayer bands and the
addresses of 4 house churches where he would be welcomed
to attend Sunday service. The President said he would
talk with the press and the Chinese people about the
importance of religious freedom. Please pray that our
President will have a positive impact in China for our
persecuted brothers and sisters!!!!
You can order prayer bands at 800-747-0085 (over 500,000
have been ordered!) or, more importantly, just PRAY!!!
(Pray for America while you're at it, we need it as
well!!!)
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