Persecution of Christians

There was an in-depth article on the persecution of Christians worldwide in the latest Sunday Times, it begins like this:

Praying for a miracle
It’s not just Muslims and Jews who have faced persecution in recent years. An estimated 200m Christians in 60 countries are now suffering increasing victimisation. So why isn’t the West doing anything to protect them?

and you can find it here.

The countries named in the article where there is overt persecution of Christians are
North Korea
China
Bhutan
India
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Tajikistan
Kenya
Ethiopia
Sudan
Nigeria
Israel
Palestine
Somalia
Egypt
Eritrea
Turkey
Iraq
Iran
Saudi Arabia
Pakistan
Indonesia

In many of these places it is state policy, with Saudi Arabia and China among the worst offenders, though the West is timid in condemning them because of their oil and economic power. And there are plenty of other countries that could be added to this list: Malaysia, Laos, Algeria, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and so on. Open Doors publishes a 'World Watch List' with an analysis of how bad it is for Christians in various countries.

On Sunday we celebrated Pentecost in Yeovil with several churches getting together, and remembering the day when all the people of the known world heard the gospel in their own languages. Today there are languages where the gospel is rarely spoken, the Christian voice is being suppressed or driven out.

So do something: pray, write to your MP or to Gordon Brown citing the Sunday Times article or the Open Doors research. Speak up for your brothers and sisters.