Praying for the Persecuted

Sunday after Sunday during Prayers of the People, the Anglican liturgy exhorts us to pray for The Persecuted Church. And so, we pray:

“We pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are persecuted for their faith that they may live their lives in peace and quietness.”  Lord, in your Mercy . . . Hear our prayer.

About three years ago the Daughters of The Holy Cross at Anglican Church of the Redeemer in Chattanooga, Tennessee began to sense an increasing desire, perhaps even a calling, to put faces and facts into these prayers. Who are the persecuted? Where are they? What specific suffering do they experience?  What is the reality of need behind our prayers for them?

Picture of part of the Daughters of The Holy Cross gathered together with their priest Rev. Philip Hanner. It was the Daughters of The Holy Cross that initiated the Lenten Focus on the Persecuted Church. Rev. Jarrod Hill, the Assoc. Rector (not pictured here) was also very instrumental, especially in the designing of the map that was used as a corresponding activity for the children each Sunday.

Of course, our church regularly supports our missionaries, and as we become aware of their specific needs, we endeavor to do what we can to help meet them. But did we really understand, from our relatively safe and secure pews, the reality of persecution and suffering for Jesus’ sake?

And so, in consultation with our priests, it was decided that during the six weeks of Lent 2021 there would be an added focus on Christian persecution. We selected six of the 50 countries on the Open Doors World Watch List and sought information and insight from organizations like New Wineskins Persecuted Christians Network, Open Doors, and Voice of the Martyrs. For each selected country we developed a bulletin insert that gave documented information and statistics about the specific challenges Christians face in that country along with prayer requests relevant to each situation. For the front of the insert we used the material from Open Doors World Watch List 2021; on the back we provided child friendly facts about each country to help Sunday School teachers and parents engage the children with our focus. Also, because our priests were enthusiastically behind the effort, they often used country specific examples from the pulpit.

Front of the bulletin insert used to focus on persecution in India.

Back of the bulletin insert used to focus on persecution in India.

Feedback from the congregation in terms of a raised conscious and interest regarding the realities of Christian persecution encouraged us to repeat the process during Lent 2022 with six other countries on the World Watch List. The New Wineskins One Mission Conference to be held September 22-25, 2022, at Ridgecrest Conference Center, NC will be a wonderful place for all of us to learn more! Check out the conference details at www.newwineskinsconference.org.

Children in Sunday School engaged in the map activity used for Sunday School lessons during the six weeks of Lent 2021. The idea was to have the children find the focused country on the map and color it the color of the country flag. The teachers adapted the content of the insert as appropriate to the age of the children in the class. They also used larger maps to help the children get the big picture. According to the teachers, the kids “got into it”. There will be upgrades for the maps if these activities are done again.

Sample map used for Sunday School lessons with the children during the six weeks of Lent 2021.

Click here to access a higher-resolution file of the India bulletin insert used by the Daughters of the Holy Cross during the six weeks of Lent: newwineskinsmissionarynetwo.box.com/s/m6p1segtmm55e2c80oeey98zu7ydz5wc