URGENT SUPPORT NEEDED FOR PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS

I’m rushing this letter to friends like you in the worldwide Body of Christ with an urgent request—one I pray you’ll respond to quickly. Let me explain the situation and what you can do to help. Right now, more than 360 million Christians around the world face persecution. By the end of today, 16 will have been murdered. This month 425 Christian churches will have been attacked. Our persecuted brothers and sisters face discrimination, humiliation, physical attacks and worse—all for following Jesus. And while I wish I could say that their plight has gotten better in recent years, it hasn’t. Quite the contrary, in fact. During the pandemic, we saw all governments take much more authority in the name of public health and national emergency. This is something I think we can agree was needed for a time. But authoritarian governments used COVID as a cover to try to eliminate any groups of people that they considered a threat to their authority. When people were locked down, the Christians were somehow “missed” in food distribution or in government aid. Churches were closed illegally. And in some instances, Christians were blamed for COVID. Authoritarian governments have continued to use the power they gained during COVID to repress and persecute religious minorities, including Christians. I know. I’ve seen it firsthand. And it’s ugly. Dr. Janet Epp-Buckingham WEA Director of GLOBAL ADVOCACY (R) and Bp. Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher WEA Secretary General speaking with U.S. Ambassador for Religious Freedom (former) Sam Brownback.

Which brings me to this letter to you today—and my urgent request: As Director of Global Advocacy for the World Evangelical Alliance, I want to ask you to give a generous donation to defend our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ. You can do this in two ways. The FIRST is by giving a generous donation by December 31 to help build a $250,000 Global Advocacy Fund. By doing so, you’ll empower the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) to expand its capacity to be a biblical voice for the voiceless in the halls of power that affect the lives of many of the 600+ million evangelicals around the world. When you give today…  ●       You’ll support our global advocacy offices and team members at the United Nations in Bonn, Geneva and New York City, where the WEA holds Special Consultative Status at the UN. ●       You’ll empower our “quiet diplomacy” efforts, where we leverage relationships we’ve built over time with influential world leaders. ●       You’ll help train national church leaders in many of the 143 countries where our national evangelical church alliances are WEA members. ●       You’ll help raise awareness in the media and amongst Christians worldwide whom we call to prayer. Sometimes change is quick, and sometimes it takes a while. But I’m proud of our smart, courageous, wise and persevering advocacy team as they truly do affect real, long-term change—and save lives.

An example of this is in August 2021 when Afghanistan fell to the Taliban. John Girgis, WEA’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, worked with leaders in numerous countries… including U.S. government and military leaders and even private contacts with airplanes and other critical resources… to get Christians out of the country before the Taliban got a hold of them. Several thousand of our brothers and sisters were safely evacuated from an area where, moments later, a suicide bomb was detonated. Your gift today will help build our Global Advocacy Fund so that more lives like these can be saved! The OTHER WAY you can support persecuted Christians is by sending a Note of Encouragement when you give your donation. We’ve made it easy to do - just type your message in the “Write us a comment” section below where you choose your gift amount and will populate the Note of Encouragement and forward it on. CLICK HERE. Through our partner churches on the ground in countries where religious freedoms are routinely violated and Christians persecuted, we’ll deliver your note to a friend or family who needs it most. As 1 Corinthians 12:26 reminds us, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (ESV). By donating, you’ll stand with a fellow believer, letting them know that someone is praying for them. Please give a generous donation by December 31 to help build the $250,000 Global Advocacy Fund.  Thank you for giving as God leads.  The persecution of Christians is a worldwide problem that demands a worldwide voice—an evangelical, biblical voice. This is what you’ll empower when you get involved today, so thank you for doing whatever you can to defend our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ. Please respond soon, as our suffering family is in urgent need. Speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves, Janet Epp-Buckingham Director, Global Advocacy Over two billion Christians in the world today are represented by three world church bodies. The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) is one of those, serving more than 600 million evangelicals belonging to churches that are part of 143 national Evangelical Alliances in 9 regions. Launched in London in 1846, the WEA unites evangelicals across denominations for prayer, evangelism, mission, theological education, religious freedom, human rights advocacy, relief, and engagement in a wide range of social issues. It speaks with one voice to United Nations, governments, and media in public or through behind-the-scenes diplomacy on issues of common concern to the Church. For more information, visit worldea.org. DONATE