Persecuted

Last week I had the privilege of being at the Right Now conference in Dallas Texas.  In a question and answer session with Francis Chan, Francis was speaking about his recent experience in India.  When asked what the Church of India thought about the American Church he simply replied, they don't understand it.

He said, they couldn't understand why people would leave their church.  Why would a believer leave their church because they did not like they way their pastor preached?  Why would a follower of Jesus leave their church because they did not like the music?  Why would one leave their church because the children's ministry was not exactly to their liking?  You see for those that follow Jesus in a place like India, they put their very lives at risk to follow Him.  Faith is not something they claim with their lips but rather something they risk their lives for.

This Sunday is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.  This Sunday as we head off to church with not a care in the world many thousands around the world are putting their lives in danger doing the same thing.

May this video produced by K.P. Yohannan, the founder and international director for Gospel for Asia move you like it did me.  May it remind us to not only pray for the 40,000 people that are put to death for surrendering their lives to Jesus, but also help us consider our own journey with Jesus.  May it cause us to fully surrender to the One that did likewise for us.