The Persecuted Church

This past week was the International Day of Prayer for the persecuted church. According to the Voice of the Martyrs:

Around the world today Christians are being persecuted for their faith. More than 70 million Christians have been martyred for their faith since 33 AD. This year an estimated 160,000 believers will die at the hands of their oppressors and over 200 million will be persecuted, arrested, tortured, beaten or jailed. In many nations it is illegal to own a Bible, share your faith, change your faith or allow children under 18 to attend a religious service.

Hundreds of men and women are in prison serving sentences that range from a few months to life. They are not criminals who have robbed or murdered other citizens but Christians who were put on trial for their faith in Christ and found guilty. They could have avoided prison by simply denying allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, they are literally “doing time for God.”

You can be an encouragement to many of these prisoners by writing letters to them and to government officials on their behalf. The VOM Prisoner List, called “Doing Time for God,” will give you instructions and addresses for a ministry to Christian prisoners in restricted countries. This is a wonderful opportunity to spend time praying, writing and entering into the fellowship of sufferings with these Christian prisoners. You will be “doing time for God” by sharing His burden for those who suffer for His sake.

It is very difficult to get accurate, up-to-date information out of many of the restricted nations where VOM works. We have done our best, through in-country contacts and other sources, to make this list as complete and accurate as possible. It is not an exhaustive list of Christians in prison in a given nation. The information was accurate at the time of posting, but circumstances for a given prisoner may have changed.

“I was in prison, and you came to me”
---Jesus (Matthew 25:36)

Here is a list of some of those currently in prison for their faith.