For much of the world a terrible reality is just now becoming known. And the reality is that millions of Christians are being subjected to intense persecution for their faith. In her recent book In the Lion's Den, author Nina Shea writes: "The shocking untold story of our time is that more Christians have died this century simply for being Christians than in the first 19 centuries after the birth of Christ." In a recent article Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family says that an estimated 160,000 Christians have lost their lives for their faith in the last twelve months alone.

The Family Research Council in Wash. DC reports that the Islamic fundamentalist government of Sudan has reinstated Islamic law calling for the conversion of all Sudanese to Islam and has declared a "holy war" against the Christians in Sudan. Over a million have died in this conflict. There are confirmed reports of the crucifixion of the male populations of entire villages. Human rights groups have documented government sponsored kidnapping of Christian children who are then sold as slaves in other parts of the country and forced to give up their Christian faith. Young Christian women are raped and forced to be concubines. Horrors continue to be documented by the United Nations Human Rights Commission which confirms the selling of women and children into slavery and also the crucifixion of children as young as seven.

In Saudi Arabia, one of the countries we defended in the Gulf War, it is illegal to pray a Christian prayer, and Christian worship even in the privacy of one's own home is forbidden. Just last May two Filipino Christians were beheaded in S.A. for having Bible study and prayer.

In China an estimated 50-100 million Christians are meeting illegally in private homes defying a government ban on such gatherings. Hundreds of these house church leaders are serving sentences in "reeducation" slave labor camps.

And time prevents me from telling you about similar stories in Pakistan, Egypt, Vietnam, Nigeria ...

You probably haven't heard any of this on the evening news. For whatever reason, the media elite continues to ignore these atrocities. But there is no excuse for Christians to ignore what is going on. Even those of us in mid-America who feel so far removed from persecution of this sort must not be indifferent to the plight of our Christian brothers and sisters in faraway places.

For Jesus says at the last day God will commend us if we remember his people who are in prison. He will say to us, "I was in prison and you visited me." In the book of Hebrews we are told to "remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering."

How can we remember these suffering brothers and help them?

1. We can pray. One authority on the subject says that "they are dying of hunger and disease, or being slaughtered in war. They may be cold and naked, yet their request is always for prayer." God invites us to pray and promises to hear our prayers. How can we be so indifferent that we fail to pray?

2. We can speak out and let our voice be heard. We are citizens of the most powerful and free society in the world. We have freedom of speech and the right to lobby for what is moral and right. Consequently, we must speak out against the extermination of people of faith. We must contact our legislators and leaders. We must write letters and make phone calls. We must vote. We must tell our neighbors. If we remain silent, nothing will change, and no one will be safe.

On behalf of the suffering church this is Stan Bryan of the Cherryvale church of Christ asking that you remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.