Tue 21 February 12
Join us on our Great Big Adventure from 2-16 July, we only have a few seats left! Get in your application before the spaces run out! Come work alongside Egyptian young people, serving practically and spiritually. Be part of history at this crucial time and help grow a new generation! Awesome!
Trip costs around £1000. For more info email.
Mon 20 February 12
Over the weekend of 2-4 March, we are inviting you to post your prayers on our Facebook page.
Be as creative as you like in writing a prayer for the persecuted church (this is Humpfree, all the way from Egypt!)
This is running as part of SHOCKWAVE, a global movement where young people all over the world will be praying for the persecuted church at some point over the same weekend.
Check out where people will be praying, and get involved!
Mon 13 February 12
The Bible, and church history, is littered with painfully ordinary people doing incredible things; just by making a stand, step by step.
This photo was taken in 1936, of one person refusing to raise his arm to give the Nazi salute. The man was August Landmesser. He had already been in trouble with the authorities, having been sentenced to two years hard labour for marrying a Jewish woman. Little else is known about him.
Little else is known about him.
Just like little else is known about Zakaria Hussein Omar, who was recently beheaded for following Christ in Somalia. Or believers in Iran, arrested for daring to meet and worship in secret.
As I hear these stories, and look at this photo, the ‘upside-down kingdom’ words in 2 Corinthians 6 resound: “Ignored by the world, but recognised by God; terrifically alive, though rumoured to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die; immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all.”
What is in our hands today? How can we use that for God’s glory?
May we be a generation that makes a stand, even if it costs us. May we refuse to live in a world that doesn’t care.
Fri 03 February 12
Here is the February edition of the Open Doors Youth Podcast. Once a month we chat to different leaders and legends and take a look at faith through the lens of the persecuted church.
This time we have a chat to the founder of 24/7 Prayer, Pete Greig; about young people, prayer, and what God is doing around the world.
Listen and subscribe on iTunes or check it out on here in the resources section.
Fri 03 February 12
A Somali believer was paraded before a cheering crowd last month and publicly flogged as a punishment for embracing a “foreign religion,” sources said.
Sofia Osman, a 28-year-old Muslim Background Believer from Somalia, had been taken into custody by Islamic extremist al Shabaab militants in November. The public whipping was meant to mark her release and she received 40 lashes on 22nd December while jeered by spectators.
“I saw her faint. I thought she had died, but soon she regained consciousness and her family took her away,” described an eyewitness.
She has since been relocated. Please pray for recovery and that she would know God’s love and peace in this time.
Thu 02 February 12
Aim to wrap your life in prayer, build it into your everyday life. Sometimes it seems easier to update a Facebook status, or send a text than to pray. Life can be busy; it can be very easy not to pray. But let’s look at that a different way, we can’t afford NOT to pray!
Prayer is a huge part of what Open Doors is all about. As Brother Andrew, founder of Open Doors once said:
Read that statement again! That means through prayer you, me… us… we have the ability to make a difference!! Through our mumbling, stuttering attempts to pray God unleashes something truly unstoppable! A weapon so powerful that no matter the evil, no matter the injustice God is still at work, still writing his story in the most broken, dark and dangerous places on earth. It’s incredible that you and me… us… we get to play a part in this!
This year join us in this prayer adventure – praying for people and places close to home and far away in the persecuted church.
Wed 01 February 12
We’ve put together a new resource, in place of the Prayer Passport this year. It’s packed full of stuff to help you pray, taking you on a day-by-day adventure!
It’s also got brand new information on persecution around the globe, and the World Watch List 2012.
We’re offering this resource for free (yes FREE!) as we really believe in it. For your copy, or to order multiples pop us an email.
Although a donation to cover post would be handy!
You can get a look at the Prayer Journal here…
Wed 25 January 12
An Egyptian church leader told us that many Egyptians don’t know whether to celebrate or to continue protesting.
Christians, on the other hand, “are very encouraged by what the Lord is promising and what He is already doing. The spirit of prayer and unity we are experiencing is unique and amazing.”
Egyptian Christians have met every night since Sunday to pray and last night 3,000 joined together from all denominations in the Cave Church, where they prayed from 10pm till 6am today.
“We will be praying for our nation in this very critical time. For peace and protection…for the unity of the church and that we will experience His presence, that He will be revealed to many people in Egypt, especially the majority faith. Pray with us that His will, plans and desires for Egypt be done on earth as in heaven. We need your prayers!”
You can join the movement calling for God’s freedom in Egypt and across the Arab world – use your voice
This summer we’re taking a team to Egypt to get alongside children and young people across the country. You can help build the future! Get in touch with us for more info.
Mon 23 January 12
Jars of Clay is an event for the whole Open Doors family to get together, dream, and explore how each and every one of us has a role to play in God’s plan for His Church. The youth team will be running a special seminar so come say hi!
The low-down…
Date: Saturday 10 March 2012
Time: 10am – 5pm (doors open at 9:00am)
Venue: Telford International Centre, St Quentin Gate, Telford TF3 4JH. (Accommodation available at nearby hotels if needed)
Price: £20 (lunch and refreshments included)
Looking forward to seeing you there!
This is instead of the Brave and the Bold weekend this year for young people!
Thu 19 January 12
Here is the first ever Open Doors Youth Podcast! Once a month we chat to different leaders and legends and take a look at faith through the lens of the persecuted church.
This month we talk to the man himself Brother Andrew, and reflect with UK & Ireland CEO- Eddie Lyle.
Listen and subscribe on iTunes or check it out on here in the resources section.
Mon 16 January 12
Over the first weekend of March we’re calling for young people across the nations, across the time zones to stand shoulder to shoulder with persecuted Christians. We want to send a huge SHOCKWAVE of prayer across the planet. Asking God to move and write his story in the most dangerous places on earth to follow Jesus.
The idea is that you (wherever you are) can join with us and make a difference! Pray with some friends, youth group, CU, or get the whole church praying! We’re asking for people to make some space over the 2-4 March to pray.
We’ve put together a stack of creative prayer resources:
We’d love to know if you’re going to be part of SHOCKWAVE, let us know here…
And make your mark on our SHOCKWAVE prayer map!
Tue 10 January 12
One year ago young people took to the streets to protest. To demand change. A movement for freedom led by young people and mobilised by technology.
Throughout the start of 2011 the Arab Spring swept across North Africa and the Middle East. Unimaginable scenes played out on our TV sets and computer screens.
The story is still being written. The future is uncertain. The church needs strengthening!
We love God and love his church, and we warmly invite you to join us!
Mon 09 January 12
North Korea has again been highlighted as the most dangerous place on earth for Christians to live in the Open Doors World Watch List for 2012.
Nowhere in the world is Christian persecution so fierce as in North Korea. Christians have to hide their faith; Christian parents can’t even share their beliefs with their children until they are old enough to understand the dangers. Owning a Bible could get you killed, or sent to a harsh labour camp. Christians are routinely arrested, some murdered and others sentenced. But despite the risks, the church is growing and there are an estimated 400,000 believers.
“The history of the last 50 years has proved that walls erected by man which oppress even the most basic of human rights will not survive. Christians around the world are praying for a new beginning for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” Eddie Lyle, CEO of Open Doors UK.
Muslim-majority countries including Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Iran, represent nine of the top ten countries where persecution is most severe and where indigenous Christians have little freedom to worship. The reality for Christian believers from a Muslim background is that they must live as ‘Secret Believers’, hiding their faith from the government, their community and even their own families. While many thought the Arab Spring would increase their freedom to exist, to choose and to worship, this has so far not been the case.
In a number of countries persecution has increased significantly. In Sudan, where the creation of a new nation – South Sudan – left Christians of (North) Sudan isolated, President Omar al-Bashir has vowed to make the country more Islamic. In Nigeria Christians have frequently been the targets of murderous attacks by Islamist group, Boko Haram, which have claimed the lives of hundreds of Christians. In Egypt, a bomb attack on the Church of the Two Saints in Alexandria on New Year’s Day 2011 and the Maspero massacre in Cairo in October, where Coptics were peacefully protesting against church closures, resulted in the deaths of nearly 50 Christians.
Despite this, the church of Jesus Christ is growing in many places. One pastor in a Gulf state confided:
Thu 05 January 12
Islamic extremists threw acid on a church leader on Christmas Eve shortly after a seven-day revival at his church, leaving him with severe burns that have blinded one eye and threaten sight in the other.
Pastor Umar Mulinde, 37, a sheikh (Islamic teacher) before his conversion to Christianity, was attacked on Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) outside his church in a village near Kampala, Uganda. From his hospital bed in Kampala, he told Compass Direct that he was on his way back to the site for a party with the entire congregation and hundreds of new Christians when a man who claimed to be a Christian approached him.
“I heard him say in a loud voice, ‘Pastor, pastor,’ and as I made a turn and looked at him, he poured the liquid onto my face as others poured more liquid on my back and then fled away shouting, ‘Allahu akbar [God is greater],’” Umar said.
His face, neck and arms bore deep black scars from the acid, and his lips were swollen.
A doctor told Compass that acid burns cover about 30 percent of his face and has cost him sight in one eye.
“We are doing all we can to save his other remaining eye and to contain the acid from spreading to other parts of the body,” the doctor said.
“I was born into a Muslim family, and although I decided to become a Christian, I have been financially assisting many Muslims, as well as my relatives who are Muslims,” he said. “I have been conducting a peaceful evangelism campaign.”
Mulinde said Muslim extremists opposed to his conversion from Islam and his outspoken opposition of sharia (Islamic law) courts in Uganda, known in East Africa as Kadhi courts, attacked him. On Oct. 15, area Muslim leaders declared a fatwa against him demanding his death.
“I have been receiving several threats for a long time, and this last one is the worst of all,” Mulinde said.
Pastor Umar is married and has six children ages 14, 12, 8, 6 and twins who are 3.
Sun 01 January 12
An estimated 200,000 to 400,000 Christians are part of North Korea’s secret church. An estimated 50,000 to 70,000 Christians are held in prison camps.
Defiantly Communist, North Korea built a bizarre quasi-religion around the founder of the country, Kim Il-Sung and his successor Kim Jong-Il. Anyone with ‘another god’ is automatically persecuted. Kim Jong-Un the new leader of North Korea is all set to rule in the same way.
Kim Jong-Il assumed power after his father’s death.
It was Kim Jong-Il who made the camps grow. Not only are there several ‘mega camps’, like Yodok and Hoeryong which hold more than 50,000 prisoners, but there are also dozens of smaller camps.* More than 1 per cent of the population of North Korea wakes up in these hellish places every day. Among them are between 50,000 and 70,000 Christians, who are considered ‘enemies of the state’.*
Another estimated 300,000 Christians have to hide their faith. Even possessing a Bible is enough to get you executed or imprisoned for life with your entire family. According to Open Doors contacts, Kim Jong-Un will not change that policy. “Since he came closer to the helm, North Korea has stepped up its attempts to uncover any religious activities,” says Brother Simon, Open Doors’ main contact for North Korea. “There have been more house raids, more spies trained to infiltrate religious and human rights networks, and one South Korean Christian was murdered in China because he helped refugees. People in North Korea, Christians too, fear what he is capable of. He will do anything to keep hold of power.”
Open Doors calls on Christians to pray fervently for North Korea and its citizens. “We hope 2012 will see real change politically and economically,” says Brother Simon. “We pray for freedom for all citizens, so that they are free to live how they want and allowed to believe what they want. We want those prison camps to open up so we can embrace our brothers and sisters who have suffered there in terrible circumstances.”
