We are coming up on the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. With that in mind, here are a few excerpts from recent prayer sheets that I prepare weekly. The quotes and stories are from real people who live each day with faith that stands apart from the people around them.

10/23/2024 Nigeria — A week ago, Pastor Eli Abdullahi Tinau attended a memorial service honoring 29 Christians who were killed by Islamic Fulani extremists in 2015.

The victims, who had sought refuge in a classroom at LGEA Primary School in Nkiendoro, Miango district of Bassa County, were brutally murdered after militants bypassed the military’s protection. Two survivors were critically injured, and one later died from gunshot wounds.

Pastor Tinau, 35, has come close, many times, to being a victim of Fulani extremist attacks himself. It’s simply part of his work as a missionary from Katsina state. Tinau, who also pastors the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Nkiendoro, which is about 60 miles from Jos, doesn’t let the threat of violence or even death deter him from sharing the gospel with the Fulani. So far, Tinau has led two Fulani to Christ.

10/25/2024 Somalia — As Mohammad Abdul led a Christian worship gathering on the evening of Oct. 5 in his home in Somalia’s Lower Juba Region, four Muslim relatives waited outside for the event to end.

As the worship ended, his relatives confronted Abdul, asking him why he was worshiping God differently.

“My prayer is a secret between me and my Lord Isa [Jesus],” Abdul told his relatives. “Why should I pray in public? That’s just a way to please men. In my time of worship, I should please only God, who is in the heavenly places. Isa, who saved me, knows my heart, and I am happy in my heart, so leave me alone.”

His relatives then assaulted Abdul, hitting him with a blunt object and slapping him in the face.

I have followed stories of persecution for years, and now weekly, and there’s something about these stories that never fails to encourage me and disturb me, all at the same time.

I don’t know why this comes as a surprise, but for me it still does after all these years. We Christians find inspiration when other Christians die for their faith. We pray and do what we can to stand with them, but the impact of a person giving their all in the face of opposition does something nothing else can.

More than any temporal advancement, becoming the head of a company, being elected to public office, even gaining recognition and praise in a field of music or another artistry, those who die for Jesus’ sake have launched people into missionary service and deeper walks of faith. Many of my older friends recall the five young men who died at the hands of the Waorani in Ecuador and how their sacrifice changed the way people thought about missionary service. There is a church there today.

So, for this special time of prayer, I’ve collected a few quotations from people who have known the fellowship of suffering through the ages.

If we are the sheep of His pasture, remember that sheep are headed for the altar.
—Jim Elliot

When you're able to love, you're able to sacrifice yourself for the truth. Since I learned that lesson, my hands do not clench into fists.
—Sabina Wurmbrand

Lord, open the king of England's eyes!
—Wiilliam Tyndale

You can kill us, but you cannot harm us.
--Justin Martyr

My desires are crucified, the warmth of my body is gone. A stream flows whispering inside me: Deep within me it says, Come to the Father. Near to the sword, I am near to God. In the company of wild beasts, I am in company with God. Only let all that happens be in the name of Jesus Christ, so that we may suffer with him. I can endure all things if he enables me. I am God’s wheat. May I be ground by the teeth of the wild beasts until I become the fine white bread that belongs to Christ.
—Ignatius of Antioch

Our life is seed, sown in the earth to rise again in the world to come, where we will be renewed by Christ in immortal life. I did not frame this body, nor will I destroy it. God, you gave me life, you will also restore it.
—Jonas of Beth-Lasa

Perhaps you can add your own expression of faith, expressing your love and commitment to Jesus. Ours is not theirs, but in prayer in some small way, theirs can be ours.

Father, Maker of all things, every soul;
Son, shepherd who sings, bruised triumph, names on scroll,
Spirit, new life brings with the burning coal.
Let all who have breath praise the surprise
And rejoice in awe as we see the dead rise.
Ours the suffering, the grave, the skies,
because by faith “. . . some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.” (Hebrews11:35)