Those who previously were uninformed about – or closing their eyes to – the severity of what Christians around the world face have found it hard to avoid reality in recent years. Groups like ISIS,...
Yesterday’s devotions focused on Hungary, an advocacy partner for the Suffering Church. I mentioned their museum exhibit, Cross-in-Fire. The exhibit is both spiritually and artistically powerful....
Advocacy partners amongst fellow churches and groups here at home help persecuted Christians. So do partners amongst fellow churches on the ground where persecution occurs. And then God does...
I discovered on Facebook today (writing on Friday, March 27) that it is my friend Alexander Ogorodnikov’s birthday. I’d already been planning to include Alexander, “Sasha,” in my devotions. So this...
In the remaining days I have left to share my thoughts on advocacy for persecuted Christians with you, let’s explore some additional characteristics that make an effective advocate.
Yesterday I shared the story of Iranian Christian martyr Bishop Haik Hovsepian Mehr. I also mentioned the friend for whom he, a persecuted Christian himself, became an advocate: Mehdi Dibaj. Today I...
In these Lenten devotions focused on the Suffering Church we have seen powerful Biblical examples of advocacy. Those examples are in the Hebrew Scriptures through the stories of Abraham, Moses,...
I talked about the role of praying the Psalms in a previous one of these Lenten devotions. As advocates and intercessors for the Suffering Church, we can see the Psalms as a great aid to spiritual...
This past Sunday, March 22, Archbishop Ben Kwashi and Archbishop Foley Beach issued a call to GAFCON to pray and fast to intercede against the spread of COVID-19; the locusts moving across East...
Jesus, The Advocate, is our model for advocacy. And Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to us as another Advocate. Jesus calls Him “another comforter,” but as many have said, sometimes God comforts us in our...
This Lenten devotions series is unusual, I admit it. Is it appropriate to talk about advocacy – whether political or social – during this Holy season?
Is it proper to take inventory of our failures...
Jesus, the perfect example of advocacy for us as we seek to be advocates for our persecuted brothers and sisters, revealed how much God cares about justice. “Will not God bring about justice for His...
As followers of Jesus, forgiven and redeemed by His blood, and already embarking on the Eternal life we will experience more fully in Heaven, we are instructed by Paul to be “imitators of Christ.”...
For today’s devotions, coming on the day we celebrate Patrick, Bishop and Apostle to the Irish (461 AD), it may look as if I’m taking a detour from talking about the Suffering Church – but not really...
Last Friday we looked at the overall plight of Christians in Pakistan. Christians are oppressed, persecuted, arrested, and killed. In an ideological sense, Christians are dhimmi – second class...
In a population of over 180 million, Pakistan’s Christians make up only about two percent. They’re disenfranchised, harassed, and persecuted. Many suffer from grinding poverty. Education and...
Long before the rest of the world began getting insomnia thinking about “Nuclear Iran,” Christians in that Islamic Republic lost more than just sleep. For decades, Iranian Christians have lost human...
There is one example of advocacy from the Hebrew Scriptures that is quite different from all others. It’s the only one that actually uses a word that can be translated as “advocate.” It is also one...
