US Christian leaders ranging from Southern Baptist Convention President DJ Greear to Sojourner’s founder Jim Wallis and Bill Johnson, senior leader at Bethel Church in Redding, California, appear in a new series of prayer videos released by persecuted church advocacy Open Doors.
The videos feature the leaders praying for Christians in specific countries where they face discrimination and persecution and the campaign was launched last Friday, head of the observance in the US of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church last Sunday. The day is also observed on other Sundays in November in other nations.
In a statement released last week, David Curry, CEO of Open Doors USA, said the goal of the initiative was to “bring together leaders from diverse Christian communities and to unite in prayer for courageous believers who live out their faith at great risk to themselves”.
“Our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world long to know they’re not alone, that they’re not isolated. We hope God will stir hearts in a unique way through these videos, and we ask Christians to pray earnestly, as if something terrible is happening, because it is. Not just on the International Day of Prayer, but year-round.”
Open Doors US also provides “Pray for the Persecuted” prayer app via which Christians can receive prayer requests from those in the persecuted church three to four times a week.
