More than 660 Australian churches will spend at least part of their service this Sunday standing in “solidarity” with persecuted Christians in Iraq and Syria.
The Australian Christian Lobby – which is promoting the day as ‘Solidarity Sunday’ – said at least 664 churches would take part in the day which falls on the first of two Sundays being recognised worldwide as the International Days of Prayer for Persecuted Christians.
SYMBOL OF SOLIDARITY: One of the T-shirts to be worn in services this Sunday.
Lyle Shelton, the ACL’s managing director, said that the rise of the so-called Islamic State (IS), has “brought terrible destruction and disruption to the lives of so many Christians, Yazidis and Muslims”.
He said he hoped that the day would be be a great encouragement to Christians in the Middle East. “We also acknowledge that it is not just Christians suffering under IS, but that IS has also killed many Muslims and attacked anyone who does not share their extremist views.”
The ACL has provided churches with T-shirts depicting the Arabic letter ‘N’, standing for Nasara or “Nazarenes” – a symbol which IS has daubed on the property of Christians in occupied areas and which has subsequently been adopted by Christians all around the world as a sign that they stand in solidarity with their persecuted brethren.
Meanwhile, churches all around the world will spend the next week lifting up the persecuted church in prayer as part of the International Days of Prayer for Persecuted Christians.
In a statement issued this week, Open Doors Australia – which has a range of resources available on its website for churches to download and use on the morning of the 2nd or 9th November – said that over the course of many years, it’s found the number one request from members of the persecuted church to their fellow believers “is to be lifted up in prayer”.
“Our brothers and sisters suffering for their faith in countries like Iraq, Nigeria, North Korea and Syria tell us what strength and peace it lays on their hearts to know the worldwide church is praying for and with them.”
Keep an eye out for a special series of reports on the lives of persecuted Christians to be run on Sight next week, thanks to Open Doors Australia.
