In many parts of the world, the pressure is intense for men, women and children of Muslim backgrounds who have chosen to follow Jesus. I’ve shared before about cultures in which secret police infiltrate meetings to try and identify Muslim background believers, singling them out for unusually harsh persecution.

We recently found out about a group of Muslim background Christians in Central Asia who were meeting in a secret house church. Though they bothered no one, they were outed by members of the community.

A local TV station aired reports about the believers being “sorcerers, witches and fortune tellers,” and called for the community to fight against them “for the purity of the Islamic religion.”

When the group of Christians was brought to the police station, their interrogators spent hours insulting and humiliating them, beating them and even using a stun gun to further intimidate them into recanting their faith.

One of the women in the group, whom we’ll call Hannah for security reasons, is a mother of four. The interrogators spent more time with her because she hosted the secret house church. However, she endured their persecution without renouncing Jesus.

This is why I so often ask you to pray with us for persecuted believers.

You never know when a young mother like Hannah or even an entire family might be suffering horrible persecution for their faith somewhere in the world.

In fact, pick any minute of any day, and you can be sure that someone is being severely persecuted for their faith in Jesus. Open Doors estimates that 11 Christians die each day as a result of persecution for following Jesus.

When you partner with LRI to provide emergency relief and assistance for believers like Hannah, your compassion means so much to them. Sometimes, things become so bad they need a way to escape to a safer region, and your generous support helps make that possible.

Our Christ-centered partners also offer trauma counseling, literacy training and job training for people starting over; restoration assistance to rebuild churches and homes that have been destroyed; and provide Bibles, Bible study materials and discipleship training for new believers.

Will you give generously today to help Muslim background Christians who are facing harsh persecution for their faith?

Your prayers and generosity are a lifeline. Thank you in advance for standing with LRI to pray for and care for our hurting family all over the world!

God bless you,

Mathew D. Staver
Founder and Chairman

*Representative names/photos for security reasons.