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“They have so much to teach us”: Canadian Christians encouraged to support persecuted Church

According to Open Doors, more than 365 million Christians are persecuted today. The ministry invites Canadian Christians to stand with them in prayer for their One with Them event. Reverend Gary Stagg is the Executive Director of Open Doors Canada. The Open Doors ministry, founded in 1955, operates throughout the world and helps persecuted Christians. “We still provide Bibles and Christian literature, but we do so much more,” Stagg says. “We offer trauma counseling, discipleship, and we provide help to people who need it. Basically anything the persecuted Church asks of us.” Every year, Open Doors publishes what they call the World Watch List. This is a document listing the 50 countries in the world where it is most difficult to be a Christian. With the exception of one year, North Korea has held the top spot for 20 years. .embed-container { position: relative; bottom padding: 56.25%; height: 0; hidden overflow; maximum width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } A few years ago, Stagg came up with an event called One with Them. “This is a call to the Canadian Church to those who are held captive because of their faith. It began one morning while I was reading the Scriptures, in Acts chapter 12, it basically says, so Peter been held in prison but the Church prayed fervently for him him This struck me because we tell stories of persecuted Christians and often these stories are of people being kidnapped, put in prison or held captive in their own. homes Then we often forget them It struck me in prison and being forgotten” The official event will take place on Sunday, June 23. ministry also offers a live online event at 6:00 p.m. CST Stories of Persecuted Christians “A young girl was kidnapped a few years ago, at the age of 14, along with a few hundred other girls from her school in Nigeria. “, says Stagg. “All the other girls were released and sent back to their parents. Leah Sharibu was the Christian of the group and she did not renounce her faith, which is why she is still held captive by Boko Haram.” Sharibu has been held captive because of her faith for 6 years now. She was able to do write a letter and send it to her parents during this time “She said, 'You taught us, at the breakfast table during our devotional times, that God is close to those who suffer. I'm experiencing it right now.' She spoke about experiencing God's presence in the midst of the rapture.” For more stories about the persecuted Church, watch the full interview above.