As Anglicans, we have been taught about the power of prayer in the Kingdom of God. But do we realize such prayer should focus on fellow Christians, and especially on those who are persecuted for their faith?

It’s sobering, but also joyful, to learn about the persecuted church around the world. At the Anglican Persecuted Church Network, we organize prayer for the persecuted church and coordinate for action.

According to church tradition, June 29 marks the martyrdom of the Apostle Paul. This year, Christians around the world will take time on June 29 and throughout that weekend to honor the legacy of those who have sacrificed their lives for the advancement of the Gospel.

November 6, 2022, and November 13 — for those who cannot participate on the previous Sunday — mark the 27th annual commemoration of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

According to church tradition, June 29 marks the martyrdom of the Apostle Paul. This year, Christians around the world will take time on June 29 and throughout that weekend to honor the legacy of those who have sacrificed their lives for the advancement of the Gospel.

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?

We live in tumultuous times. But we can take comfort, as do our brothers and sisters in hostile areas and restricted nations, in trusting that our loving heavenly Father holds each of us in the palm of His hand.

With the birth of the Son of God came the birth of persecution for His name. And 2,000 years later, there are more Christian refugees who are suffering for Christ than ever before.…

Twenty years ago, I heard a strong message on Christian radio from the Word of God that changed my life. The Lord used it to wake me up to what is happening to millions of my brothers and sisters in Christ and stir me to action!

I want to introduce you to a special young woman. Right now, she is in the midst of an uncertain and unthinkable storm. Her name is Leah Sharibu.

God’s first choice for where humankind should live was a garden. The soil in the Garden of Eden was completely fertile and every kind of flower, tree and plant imaginable grew in perfect conditions.

In 2005, Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) received a desperate request by a young Ugandan from the Acholi Tribe for help as his community had suffered frequent attacks by the Lord’s Resistant Army (LRA).

In just a few short decades, the global landscape has dramatically changed. The Center for the Study of Global Christianity, an academic research center that monitors worldwide demographic trends in Christianity, estimates that between the years 2005 and 2015, 900,000 Christians were martyred - an average of 90,000 Christians each year.