Secret Church

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During Ramadan, Pray for Christians Too Posted: 18 Jul 2013 10:01 PM PDT As we intentionally pray for Muslims during Ramadan, let’s also remember to pray for our fellow believers who live and work alongside them. It should go without saying that we need to pray for the global Church, but perhaps the following statistics will give us appropriate zeal for lifting up these precious brothers and sisters in Christ. According to World Watch List, of the 50 countries where Christians are most persecuted, 37 have a Muslim majority. Of the top 10… 9 are majority Muslim countries 7 are over 90% Muslim 4 are over 99% Muslim. The 9 majority Muslim countries in the Top 10 account for approximately 13% of the world’s Muslim population, the highest volume of Muslims residing in the denser countries of Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh (3 of which appear on the World Watch List's Top 50). Here are the Top 10 countries where persecution of Christians is worst, along with the estimated percentage of Muslims and estimated number of evangelical Christians in each country. North Korea - Under 0.1% Muslim - 246,400 evangelical Christians Saudi Arabia - 92.41% Muslim - 88,620 evangelical Christians Afghanistan - 99.85% Muslim - 8,442 evangelical Christians Iraq - 95.91% Muslim - 53,371 evangelical Christians Somalia - 99.67% Muslim - 4,263 evangelical Christians Maldives - 99.04% Muslim - 235 evangelical Christians Mali - 87.38% Muslim - 93,630 evangelical Christians Iran - 98.65% Muslim - 116,678 evangelical Christians Yemen - 99.92% Muslim - 4,275 evangelical Christians Eritrea - 50.26% Muslim - 111,400 evangelical Christians In total, nearly 481,000 evangelical Christians live in these countries of “extreme persecution,” without even counting those in North Korea. We put all this before you as an encouragement to pray for Christians who live in these Muslim areas (either as native residents or foreign missionaries) with increased urgency. What we are not saying is that Muslims are our enemies. On the contrary, we know that the vast majority of Muslims are peaceable and friendly toward people of all religions. Muslims are, first and foremost, our neighbors, and out of love, we want to proclaim to them all the fullness of Jesus Christ. Yet it remains that most of the countries in which Christians experience the greatest amount of opposition in the world are Islamic, so during Ramadan, when religious fervor is high and proselytization by Muslims is heightened, we must pray for Christians in these areas. We must pray that they endure persecution with their eyes set on Christ and their hearts full of compassion for their Muslim neighbors. Sources Used: World Watch List, Operation World, The Pew Forum

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