I was heartened today to see so many people and organizations standing up and declaring their condemnation of what is going on in Nigeria. The State Department is promising to help rescue the girls. The chairwoman of the Black Caucus gave a press conference on the issue, condemning the practice of human trafficking. Christian leaders came together, pledging their solidarity with the persecuted Christians around the world and agreeing that the church in the US needs to be more active. The President has decided to send a team of people, from the United States military geographic command called Africa Command (AFRICOM), to Nigeria to advise the Nigerians.
These are all great things. They are a huge step forward from where we were a few days ago.
But is this enough? The State Department only responded because of political pressure, as did the White House. The help they are sending doesn’t seem to really be what Nigeria needs. I can only pray that the US is doing covert things to help these girls.
The Black Caucus hasn’t said a word about this until it became a human trafficking issue. In line with that, the media only covers this as a trafficking and kidnapping issue. Sometimes they refer to the religious undertones. But really, are they undertones? No. Boko Haram is targeting Christians. Where are the people standing against this?
It looks like the Christians leaders in the US are stepping up to this issue. Today they agreed to stand for the persecuted Church and to be louder in their advocacy. Good. They’ve not been real loud about it, as far as I can tell. Any improvement would be great. But are words enough? What are the details about how the Church will help? As Christians, where can we go to find out how to help? Who is going to mobilize us?
And that leads me to my point. Every person most motivate themselves. You must pray on behalf of those persecuted Christians. You must write letters and be advocates. If everyone assumes someone else will do it, no one will end up doing it. Speak up! Don’t allow this to happen.
Think of these terrorists. How many terrorists are willing to die for something that is not real? How many of them will die for a faith that is empty? You have the life of Christ! You have eternal life with Jesus. We have the power of God. Yet we are afraid to speak? We are afraid to be disliked or made fun of? These Christians are sitting in jail cells, facing torture, being executed, and more. They proclaimed the power of God. And they are not sorrowful because of their fate. They are proud.
I have been reading about the lives of martyrs in the 21st century. Many include statements from their living spouse. These people are proud of their loved one’s martyrdom. They are so proud that their God found their spouse worthy to die a martyr’s death. That meant that they were good Christians. What an amazing faith! Oh, if we all had that kind of faith.
I ask you to please consider helping these persecuted Christians. It’s easy and doesn’t require much time. You can volunteer enough time to write a letter or become a full time volunteer and everything in between. Voice of the Martyrs has a program of letter writing. All you do is write a letter of encouragement and mail it. You can even go on their website and copy/paste phrases in the person’s language to put on your letter. These letters do amazing things. Even if they don’t make it to the person in jail, the person hears from their guards if they are receiving a lot of mail. And many times, the amount of received mail convinces the government to release the person, fearing repercussions. All that from a letter! Surely you have enough time to do just that.
There are many other organizations and many other opportunities. If you are interested, I can help you find the best fit for you. Many websites have prayer lists for you to pray over. Prayer is the most requested bit of help that these Christians ask for. They know God is in control and they covet your prayers. Google “iCommit to Pray” and you can pray specifically for these Christians.
But don’t sit and allow these people to suffer without trying to help, without standing up for Christ.
www.icommittopray.com
www.persecuted.com
www.persecuted.org
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2014/05/rep_marcia_fudge_protests_scho.html
http://voiceofthepersecuted.wordpress.com/2014/05/07/american-christian-leaders-pledge-to-stand-with-imperiled-christian-other-religious-communities-in-egypt-syria-and-iraq/
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/05/07/us-team-military-personnel-federal-agency-experts-to-reach-nigeria-in-coming/
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