Churches worldwide to pray for persecuted Orissa Christians
ICC Note
"A few months ago, in Orissa state's Kandhamal district in India , I met several widows of Christian leaders who were killed in the recent anti-Christian violence. They had lost everything: their homes, their possessions and their husbands. “We have lost everything except our faith,” one told me, clutching her baby,"
By CT News Desk
08/20/2009 India (Christian Today India)-Christians in Orissa would be remembered and prayed by over half a million churches in 150 countries this November.
In recent years, the modern church has also set apart the month of November to remember and pray for suffering believers through The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP)— an initiative of the Religious Liberty Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance.
"There are many countries in the world today where Christians are martyred for their faith. The world watched in horror the unbridled violence that was unleashed on Christians in Orissa state, India last year. There are other places in the world, such as North Korea , where acts of persecution take place, but we often don’t see or hear the full story," says a statement on the website.
It continues that "The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church is a time set apart for us to remember thousands of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world who suffer persecution, simply because they confess Jesus Christ as Lord."
Says Godfrey Yogarajah, Executive Director of the Religious Liberty Commission of WEA, "Every time I ask a persecuted Christian what we can do for them, the answer is always the same: please pray for us."
"A few months ago, in Orissa state's Kandhamal district in India , I met several widows of Christian leaders who were killed in the recent anti-Christian violence. They had lost everything: their homes, their possessions and their husbands. “We have lost everything except our faith,” one told me, clutching her baby," he recalled, urging Christians to unite in prayer for the persecuted church.
