"The persecuted church is our friends and family"

Below is a letter sent to us by a couple living overseas. We've been receiving news of their activities for several years now. Recently the situation in the place where they were living began to deteriorate to the point where they had to leave. Their letters have never mentioned specifically where they were because the government was always distrustful of Christians and foreigners. I've removed their vague references to where they were serving.

O God,do not keep silent:
Be not quiet, O God, be not still.
See how your enemies are astir,
How your foes rear their heads.
With cunning they conspire against your people;
They plot against those you cherish. (Psalm 83: 1-3)

Do to them as you did to Midian... who became like refuse on the ground. (vv9, 10)
Make them like tumbleweed, O my God,
Like chaff before the wind (v. 13)


The Psalmist often expresses the cries and longings of our souls. Over the last months scripture like Psalm 83 have become alive to us as we have left our home and experienced the joy of the freedom of the West coupled with the sadness of leaving family, friends and coworkers behind.

Over the past two months almost all foreigners have been forced to leave the country we were serving in. Even diplomats with embassies have not been issued visas.

In addition, there has been increased persecution against Christians with more arrests and beatings around the country. Some of our staff have already been arrested, beaten and sentenced to short jail terms. Other believers have been severely beaten for holding prayer meetings.

We return to the Psalms and cry out for our God's justice to reign over the evil of this world. We wish that all the people in the world could truly understand and believe in Jesus. We wish the leaders in [CA] would not see Christians as a threat. The persecuted church is our friends and family. We ask for your continued prayer for those who face the daily fear of the enemies of the Lord. Pray they would be comforted and strengthened in the love and knowledge of Jesus Christ who is the hope for all generations. Psalm 83 ends with these words: "Let them know that you, whose name is Lord, that you alone are the Most High over all the earth." Let this be our prayer for [CA].

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K for the first time is experiencing religious freedom. After going to church and worshiping openly the first time since 2005 we are all appreciating what the USA has done over the last centuries to ensure freedom.