As we saw yesterday, every Christian will face a degree of persecution in their lives. However, some Christians will experience more of this persecution than others. These individuals belong to what we call the persecuted church. The persecuted church faces much more severe treatment for their faith than we do here in U.S. But this does not give us the right to just sit back and enjoy our religious freedoms while our brothers and sisters are tortured and even killed for their faith. Instead, we are called to minister to these people, doing whatever we can to help them.

"Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body."

                            -Hebrews 13:3

We are instructed by this passage of Scripture to have a compassion for the persecuted church that is as great as if we were actually in bonds with them. As fellow members of the body of Christ, we are like one big spiritual family (Romans 12:5) and should care for them just like we would care for our earthly family. If our mother, sister, or brother was being victimized, would we just sit back and watch, and perhaps offer up a prayer every so often? No, we would do whatever we could to end that oppression, and to encourage them during their trial. This is the manner in which we are to minister to our persecuted brothers and sisters in the faith.

"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?"

                            -James 2:14-16

While prayer is one of the most powerful weapons in a Christian's arsenal, many times I'm afraid we use it as a cop-out for actually putting forth and effort to do something about a situation. Instead of making an effort to help the persecuted church directly, oftentimes people just say "Well, I'll pray for them.", even though they are capable of doing much more. Through wonderful organizations like Voice of the Martyrs, you can serve Christians overseas without even leavng the comfort of your own home. You can write letters to Christians in Prison (postage only costs about $0.94 last time I checked), send blankets to those who are without any, and even help smuggle Bible's into restricted nations.

If you haven't yet supported persecuted Christians directly, can I encourage you to prayerfully consider doing so? It is an investment that will, no doubt, reap eternal rewards (Matthew 6:4).