| Long ago Tertullian observed that "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." Once again the Twenty-First Century is proving that to be true. Paul Marshall, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom, is documenting that truth in great detail. This month his new "World Survey of Religious Freedom" is being published by Rowman and Littlefield.
In China, despite ongoing repression (in early December, 270 house-church pastors were arrested in the city of Linyi alone), Christianity is expanding at a rate that has few parallels in history. Reliable estimates put the number of Chinese Christians at above 80 million. Similar growth has taken place in Africa, which is now majority Christian and is likely soon to have more Christians than any other continent.
In purely numerical terms, Christianity is the world's fastest growing religion. Two-thirds of Christians and four-fifths of active Christians live outside the West (the area where it is "safe" to be Christian). Isn't it ironic that the church is growing most rapidly in those areas where being Christian is dangerous, and is declining in those countries where it is safe?!
The saints of the world are paying a terrible price in blood for all this growth. In addition to China, violent persecution of Christians continues in Pakistan, India, Sudan, Nigeria, Nigeria, Laos, Iraq, Turkey, Ethiopia, Belarus, and Gaza. Perhaps the harshest treatment of Christians is happening in Burma, Eritrea, and Darfur. In Eritrea, a neighbor of Ethiopia, the number of imprisoned evangelicals is over 2,000. Incarceration is brutal, with underground cells or metal shipping containers serving as especially severe punishment cells. One detention center is more than 200 feet below sea level and can have temperatures over 130 degrees. People die or go insane. In 2005, 161 young people were killed attempting to flee the harsh conditions.
Wouldn't it be appropriate for every Christian congregation to lift up in each service (perhaps in the pastoral prayer) at least one country where the blood of the martyrs is being shed? Would it be too much to ask General Conference to highlight in at least one worship service the plight of the suffering saints, perhaps lighting a candle for each country where Christians are being persecuted? And, of course, all of us can pray for them daily.
Blessings on you,
Bill Bouknight
(Some of this information came from an article by Paul Marshall entitled "Do They Know It's Christmas", December 31st edition of The Weekly Standard.)
|
