As persecution of Christians around the world carries on, Southern Baptists to engage in special Day of Prayer

RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – The International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) in Richmond, Va., is collaborating with Nik Ripken Ministries in Shelbyville, Ky., to raise awareness about current religious persecution worldwide with the Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church on June 6.

The SBC-wide observance is a call for Southern Baptists to increase their awareness of and pray fervently for the global persecuted church. In 2020, more than 340 million Christians experienced high levels of persecution and discrimination.

Also last year, 4,761 Christians were killed for faith-related reasons and 4,277 Christians were detained without trial and/or arrested, sentenced, and imprisoned. In addition, 4,488 churches and Christian buildings were attacked, according to data from the World Watch List.

“As our Southern Baptist missionaries take the Gospel to the most difficult-to-reach peoples and places around the world, they are witness to the suffering of those who boldly follow Jesus and are constantly confronted by those who persecute the Lord’s church,” IMB President Paul Chitwood said.

“While our hearts break for our brothers and sisters in Christ who endure persecution and even martyrdom, we often feel powerless to help them — but we aren’t! We serve the One who, as Job declared, ‘makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away.’

“When we pray for those who are suffering, we have access to the One who can sustain them, comfort them, and bring them justice,” Chitwood stressed.

Persecution of the global church comes most fiercely from within a believer’s own family, according to John Brady, IMB vice president for global engagement, but many believers also face intense persecution from opposing religious groups and governments as well.

Family persecution is evident in the life of Naomi (not her real name), a Deaf widow. COVID-19 forced her to move out of her city in Indonesia back home to a remote island. There, she converted from Islam to Christianity after working with an IMB Deaf translation team in her former city.

Her parents were irate. Her father locked her in his home and beat her daily, trying to force her to abandon her newfound faith. Because of her daily beatings, she developed serious health complications.

As she was being treated in a city six hours away, her nine-year-old daughter reached out to her mother’s church leaders for prayer. Naomi eventually recovered, and her daughter was able to see the Lord work in her mother’s life.

Naomi, like so many other believers around the world, still needs prayer. “Don’t pray for our persecution to end. Pray that we will be obedient through our suffering,” a missionary reported a national believer as saying to him.

“Nik Ripken” is an assumed name adopted for security reasons and to prevent the IMB missionary emeritus from being identified and expelled from countries hostile to the Gospel. The author of the book, The Insanity of God, has spent more than two decades studying global persecution and collecting stories from persecuted believers.

“If believers and their churches simply pray to God for persecution to end, the only way for God to answer that type of prayer is to stop people from following Jesus,” Ripken said. “Rather, we pray for persecuted believers to remain obedient through their suffering, and we seek to identify with persecuted believers by sharing our faith in whatever environment we find ourselves.”

Eleanor Witcher, director of the IMB Prayer Office, believes one of the primary prayer needs for the persecuted church is discipleship. “Pray that the roots of new believers (and believers who are weak in their knowledge of the Word) will quickly grow deep in Scripture as they learn to abide in Christ so that these new believers will stand firm under any persecution they may face,” she said.

Witcher emphasized that the needs for discipleship, growth in the Word, and increased evangelism is something that all believers — not just persecuted believers — must cultivate in their own lives.

In praying for the global persecuted church, she said, “First, we pray for ourselves that our perspective will be aligned to God’s will and then we pray for our brothers and sisters who are suffering for the glory of Christ.”

Southern Baptists are invited to join in prayer in the weeks leading up to the Day of Prayer. Specifically, believers can pray for:

— the church to pray faithfully and fervently in accordance with God’s Word and will.

— followers of Christ to consistently study and obey Scripture so they are spiritually prepared when persecution comes.

— church leaders to boldly proclaim the Gospel in the face of opposition.

— the persecuted that they have the strength to live in the power, love, and sound mind that God alone can provide.

— those who are brutalized, that they will sense the Lord’s love surrounding them and respond to those who have injured them with grace and dignity.

— the global church to commit its heart and time in prayer and fasting for the persecuted church.

— each church to keep its focus on the glory of God and growth of His church.

Ripken believes God’s highest purpose in persecution is to call His people to Himself and refocus their attention to the suffering of their Lord. “When followers of Christ suffer willingly for their Savior, it gives their faith value. That kind of suffering also increases witness.”

For more information, visit https://www.imb.org/persecuted/ and sign up to receive a free prayer guide.