This morning, we had the privilege of having Rev. Benedict Muthusami of Open Doors International share from the story of Abraham (Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 and Romans 4:13-25).
He started with a powerful video that depicted stories from various Christians around the world who were being persecuted for their faith. The testimony of those being persecuted were especially impactful because we could empathise and relate to some of the things that we are already seeing here in Malaysia.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKggVGYCe4Q&feature=related]
He also shared with us Open Doors’ World Watch List 2012, which ranks countries according to the levels and reported activities of persecution against Christians. The #1 country on the list is North Korea and, alarmingly, it was reported that Malaysia has re-entered the list at #50. He then called us to pray for our brothers and sisters in the persecuted Church. (Click here to download the World Watch 2012 Map – PDF)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BFT8oiidsE&feature=player_embedded]
Indeed, we pray for God’s grace, power and faithfulness that carries us through in spite of persecution!
To find out more about and support the work of the Open Doors ministry, please visit their website at www.opendoors.org.
(And yes, Rev. Benedict does have a striking resemblance to our pastor, Augustin.)
