Christian persecution

2021 “Day of the Christian Martyr”

Posted on June 28, 2021 by pastorappreciationblog

June 29th is Day of the Christian Martyr.

This year, the witness, testimony, and example of Rocio Pino will be honored.

“Knowing the risks, she and her husband chose to live and share the Gospel in a
dangerous area …”

We share this year’s “Day of the Christian Martyr” video so that we may be inspired by those who came before us. We ask that we pray for all of our Christian Brothers and Sisters serving Christ faithfully in places where they experience a daily threat of public humiliation, opposition, and violence.

The first request these courageous men and women ask is for us to pray that they will love their enemies and remain faithful to God’s call to be a witness for Christ to those who hate them.

And, let’s pray for our own commitment to Christ, that we may be a bold and faithful witness no matter the opposition we face.

Maybe it’s because I was in South America a couple of years ago, and saw just a glimpse of what it is like “over there;” maybe it’s because Rocio was murdered on my birthday; maybe it was knowing that this happened in front of her husband and children. Maybe it’s a combination of all this, but I just can’t get Rocio’s story out of my mind.

Maybe … I never should.
I hope I never do.

“Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body” (Hebrews 13:3).

I think about how I take so much for granted … think about what I had to worry about today … And, then, I think of Rocio’s family. And, so many other families that aren’t blessed to live in the United States.

Let us always … as we survey what is happening “over here” … not forget what has been happening for so long, and continues to happen to our Brothers and Sisters, “over there” …

We combined resources supplied by The Voice of the Martyrs (https://www.persecution.com/) to present this video:

HEROES OF THE FAITH, HISTORY CHANNELS, MINISTRIES WE SUPPORT, PRAY FOR THE PERSECUTED, VIDEOS, POWER POINTS, AND PHOTOS TO SHARE

Continue to “Remember Those in Bonds” Video: “Solitary Prayer”

Posted on November 30, 2017December 31, 2017 by pastorappreciationblog

We have been honored to share the story of Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, founders of “The Voice of the Martyrs.” Here are links to stories we’ve featured on our blog:

https://pastorappreciationblog.com/2015/03/09/heroes-of-the-faith-richard-and-sabina-wurmbrand/
https://pastorappreciationblog.com/2017/03/08/the-power-of-posts-part-five/

Pastor Richard Wurmbrand left his apartment and headed to church one Sunday morning in February 1948, but he was kidnapped off the streets by Romanian secret police. He would spend 14 years in Communist prisons.

When he came down with tuberculosis and appeared close to death, guards moved Pastor Wurmbrand into the “death cell.” But he didn’t die. Instead, he survived and was eventually ransomed out of Romania. After arriving in the West, he immediately began to tell the story of his imprisonment and of the many Christians still suffering in Communist prisons behind the Iron Curtain.

In October 1967, those stories were typed up and mailed out to Christians who wanted to know more. It was the first issue of what later became the Voice of the Martyrs newsletter.

Something else happened in 1967: The book “Tortured for Christ” was released:
Pastor Richard Wurmbrand’s dramatic testimony shocked the world when it was first released in 1967, and many believers today cite it among the most influential books they have ever read. Pastor Wurmbrand endured months of solitary confinement, years of torture, constant suffering and the anguish of brainwashing simply because he refused to deny the name of Jesus Christ. The book is the story of how one man’s faithfulness and suffering led to a worldwide network of support for persecuted Christians.

Today, the ministry that Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand founded is actively helping Christians in 68 countries, providing direct aid to the persecuted, sending Bibles to those in hostile areas and restricted nations, and assisting front-line workers.
The ministry also continues to tell the stories of these believers, just as Richard did.

Each year, for The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP), they create a video created specifically for this Day. For this year’s observance, the video told a story from Richard’s personal testimony of those years in Communist prisons. “Solitary Prayer” was filmed in Romania, in the very prison where Pastor Richard Wurmbrand spent three years in solitary confinement. It is a story that reminds us to pray not only for our persecuted brothers and sisters, but also for their persecutors.

“Solitary Prayer” features excerpts from the new “Tortured for Christ” movie, which is set to be released in Spring, 2018. This will be a significant event.

We purposely waited to share this video, as an admonishment to pray, every day, and to “remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them” (Hebrews 13:3).
Note: This is powerful:

MINISTRIES WE SUPPORT, PRAY FOR THE PERSECUTED, VIDEOS, POWER POINTS, AND PHOTOS TO SHARE

Real Look at a World “N” Need: Same Family, Different Block-The Video

Posted on April 9, 2016December 31, 2017 by pastorappreciationblog

Whether it’s our business, our ministry, our writing, or our personal life, it is our primary desire and purpose to bless, edify, encourage, and inspire. There’s just no better way to do that, than to share stories of individuals, who, with God’s help, overcome great obstacles and difficulties, even great tragedies, to “make it out.” I try to write much about the reason we are allowed, through God’s great mercy and grace, to “make it out” … so that we, then, can “go back” and help others “out.” Paul wrote that we are delivered, that we go through trials and tribulations, in order to, yes, build our faith, but also to be in a position to best help and understand others, during their trials and tribulations.

There’s just no better way to illustrate all of this, than to share with you real stories, of real Christians, around the world, who are going through, and have gone through, things that we just can’t possibly imagine. The horror … and, the hope …

The last couple of weeks, we’ve focused on our Christian brothers and sisters, facing the most horrendous of circumstances … unimaginable to most of us … just because they profess to be followers of Christ. They, literally, make a life and death decision … when they make the decision to follow Christ …

I’d like to share with you a new video from The Voice of the Martyrs, whose work and ministry we are proud to support. This is to promote a new book, which features stories of those who made the decision to follow Christ … the same decision made by our brothers and sisters for centuries …. To follow Christ … at any cost …

Are you “N?”
Hebrews 13:3, 6.

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