From the emails:
"Oman
There are a few countries on the World Watch List that we can’t share stories from. Even if we were to use different names, the Christian population is so small, that the story could easily be traced back to the individual. For their security, we are providing a different way to pray for the country this week.
Here are the top 10 things to know about what life is like for Christians in Oman:
- The law prohibits religious discrimination but all religious organizations must register.
- All public school curriculums (grades K-12) include instruction in Islam.
- Almost the entire Christian population (around 35,000) is made up of expatriates; indigenous Christians number only a few hundred.
- Foreign Christians are often tolerated and allowed to worship in private homes or work compounds.
- The government records religious affiliation on national identity cards for citizens and on residency cards for non-citizens.
- Muslim Background Believers (MBBs) risk persecution from family and society, but the government may intervene on request from the family. In such cases, these believers are often treated as psychiatric patients.
- MBBs can lose their family, house, and job and can even be killed.
- There are some government limitations on proselytizing and printing religious material. Non-Muslim groups are prohibited from publishing religious material, although non-Muslim religious material printed abroad may be imported after government inspection and approval.
- The Protestant Church in Oman (PCO) is the fruit of the active presence of RCA, a branch of the Reformed Church of America (RCA), which started its work in Oman in 1893.
- Currently PCO, under the combined leadership of the Reformed Church of America and the Anglican Church, ministers to over 1000 believers from 60 countries.
Syria
In April 2011 a war began in Syria with peaceful protests against the regime. The war has escalated and Christians have found themselves in the center of it all. Two archbishops were captured and another leader in the country has been killed. The overall war is for tolerance and pluralism. If the government wins this war there is no more hope for any type of religious tolerance in Syria. Many Syrians have been displaced, fled to neighboring countries, or have been killed.
Full story here...http://www.persecution.org/2013/06/01/syrias-future-tied-to-freedom-for-captured-christian-leaders/
Eritrea
Christians in Eritrea, Africa are being heavily persecuted. The Christians are being forced into traumatizing events like being held inside metal shipping containers with no access to ventilation or toilet facilities. Some of the Africans that try to flee are captured and brought to the desert and sold. Those that they capture are also tortured to death. Sometimes their organs are removed so that they can be sold. The Eritrean government will deny any of these reports. The president says he fears religious freedom for the worry that it might lead to a Christian nation.
Full story here...http://www.persecution.org/2013/06/02/christians-in-eritrea-face-extreme-persecution-thats-getting-worse/ "
When I read the news about Christians in other countries in the world...it makes me question myself and the church who live in parts of the world where persecution is almost non-existent why we are not all the more eagerly using this freedom we have to share the gospel with as many people as possible. I think sometimes that our lack of persecution is exactly what keeps us in a state of lukewarm Christianity. This is a scary thought. I pray for my heart all the time that I will treasure Christ like the man who found the treasure in the field...
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." Matthew 13:44
I want to treasure the Lord in the same way! I want to eagerly give everything away for him, but I often struggle to even leave my comfort zone to share the gospel or reach out to someone in need. Because of this I even pray sometimes that God will cause difficulties in my life that I will become stronger in faith... In Luke 14:31-33 Jesus says “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the
same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples"
The question I ask myself when I read such passages as this is "Will my faith stand through the fire of persecution?" Am I ready to really pick up my cross and follow Jesus? My brain screams yes, but my heart feels reluctant sometimes because of the great cost I know it will take. With this I realize how lukewarm my faith really is sometimes!!!!!
What I understand is that if I am afraid to share the gospel, or to do something for God, it is because I do not count him as worthy of my sacrifice...and I am really ashamed of the gospel. Paul says in Romans 1:15-16 "That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile."
Maybe you struggle with the same feelings, or maybe Satan has so weakened your faith that you do not even think about such things. So I will pray that God will work mightily in my heart and in your heart to give us courage and love for him, that we will give anything in order to glorify him and share the gospel. Please, I also ask you to pray for the persecuted Christians in the world. Proverbs 31:8 "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute."
May God bless you today!
