I just finished watching this short video clip by Dalton Thomas and Joel Richardson on behalf of Frontier Alliance International.

Report from Taksim Square in Turkey

This little clip powerfully impacted my understanding of how to pray for the persecuted Christian minority in the Islamic nations of the Middle East. According to Joel Richardson, from his recent visits with Christian leaders in Egypt, God has opened a door for the gospel since the upheavals of the past two years, and Muslims are now coming to Christ in unprecedented numbers. The same is happening in Iran – despite intense persecution, Christianity is growing rapidly as the true face of Islam is exposed. He predicts it will begin to happen in Turkey as well (and Syria?). As Tertullian wrote in 197 AD, “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church”. So instead of praying that the persecution of Christians would stop, let’s pray for our brothers and sisters in these nations to be emboldened and filled with fiery, loving faith in the midst of the persecution. And let’s pray also for the Muslim majority in these nations – people just like us, despite the cultural differences and the lies to which they have been subjected for so long – people with hungry hearts who need the hope that Jesus alone offers.