Remember Ambassadors

Last week, the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) released its report on displaced persons in Iraq.  Millions of Iraqis have lost their homes in the past couple of years, but perhaps the most striking aspect has been the displacement of Christians.  An astronomical percentage of Iraqi Christians have been forced to flee their homes, many being forced to seek refuge in foreign nations.

And aside from being the hardest hit, these Christians are not able to go home.

Returnees mostly go to neighbourhoods/districts/ governorates where their communities represent the majority and which often are not their original homes. To date, only a few families returned to areas under control of other communities. No members of minority groups (e.g., Christians, Sabaean-Mandaeans and Yazidis) have been reported to be among the returnees.

Read the full story from UNHCR.

Remember ministered to a number of these refugees last year in our Middle East Survey Trip.  From their stories, it is obvious why the Christians are not returning to their homes–they can't.  They cannot return without risking their lives.

This woman, for instance, is a widow that we met in Amman, Jordan.  She and her four children came to know Jesus Christ, and were forced to leave their homes to avoid persecution.  When living in Amman, however, the learned that three times the Jordanian authorities had refused entry to a man who was coming to the country with the intention of killing all of them for their faith.  This wasn't just any man, though, not just some Islamic radical bent on violence…

It was her brother. 

That is the kind of persecution faced by our brothers and sisters in Iraq.  They have lost their homes, been abandoned by their families, and they often have nowhere to turn.  Will you lift them up in your prayers? 

When I wrote my last post about praying through Ramadan, I thought that it would be great to provide a whole series of prayer requests throughout the month to encourage believers to pray.  With banquet preparation in full swing, I don't have the time to do that, but today I found a terrific resource that I encourage all Christians to use to guide their prayers.  30 Days Fire provides daily stories on different areas of Islam that need prayers.

Please visit!

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  (Ephesians 6:12)

Tomorrow is the first day of Ramadan, Islam’s holiest month, which is devoted to religious observances.  Pious Muslims will abstain from eating throughout the day, and will pray for their salvation.  All across the world, men, women, and children in spiritual darkness will seek eternal security.

What a time for us to pray for them!  They are seeking salvation where it cannot be found, combating darkness with more darkness.  Let us pray for the light of the gospel to break forth.

And let us remember those that are the lights—Christians who have chosen Jesus Christ instead of safety, families, and sometimes their lives.  Courageously standing, they are the epitome of Philippians 2:15: “in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.”  Because of that light, they are the beacons of eternal hope, but that light also marks them as targets of persecution.

The real enemy is not the club-wielding mob, the corrupt government official, or the scorning family member.  These agents of persecution are in bondage to the spiritual wickedness in high places, and they need our prayers, too.  The real enemy is spiritual, and that is why your prayers make a difference.

"At least 7 Islamic countries apply the death penalty to those who convert from Islam: Sudan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Mauritania.  But in other states, like Egypt, converts are condemned to prison, not as apostates but for contempt of Islam, as Hossam Bahgat, a member of the Egyptian Initiative for personal rights, explains."

(Read the full story from AsiaNews here.  There is also an excellent op-ed piece on this subject in the Washington Times, available here.)