The theme for this year’s International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) is ‘Unite in Prayer.’
“Most Christians in the West don’t realize that more than 380 million Christians around the world face high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith in Jesus Christ,” says Andrew Croft, the Engagement Manager with Open Doors Canada. “IDOP is all about helping people remember them and pray for them.”
Each year, Open Doors puts out the World Watch List, which is the top 50 countries around the world where it’s hardest to be and profess people’s Christian faith.
“Jesus says in Mark chapter three that anyone who does the will of My Father is my brother or my sister. So these are our family members. When our family members are being mistreated because of their faith, it should matter to us.”
North Korea is continuously the number one country for Christian persecution.
"In North Korea, it's illegal to be a Christian and own a Bible. If you do own a Bible, you're likely to do something like bury it in your garden and dig it up when you want to read it. That's because if you're caught with a Bible, you and your entire family are likely to be thrown into prison."
Another place that is difficult to profess your faith in Jesus is in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the most Christians are killed than any other places in the world combined.
"There are more Christians in Sub-Saharan Africa than any other region of the world. But unfortunately, they're facing real incredible violence right now. Extremist groups are targeting Christians with impunity. Sixteen point two million Christians are displaced in Sub-Saharan Africa, many of those because they have faced violent persecution."
The official IDOP is on Sunday, Nov. 2 and Croft is inviting Canadian Christians to get involved.
"Praying is the number one thing our persecuted family asks for," says Croft. "We believe in the power of prayer. Another thing that Open Doors is in the middle of right now is, we have a petition called Arise Africa, where we are trying to help our brothers and sisters in Sub-Saharan Africa."
Open Doors is looking to get one million signatures on their petition and they're currently a quarter of the way there.
