According to a shocking new report from Crux—the Sunday religion magazine published by the Boston Globe—a Christian is martyred every hour every day. To date, the magazine has published 13 deeply researched stories about Christians who have been killed because of their faith.
In a piece published in December, John L. Allen speaks about what he calls the new martyrs of Latin America and how Christians in Colombia and El Salvador are at a high risk of being killed. In fact, the deaths are so common that few journalists bother reporting these deaths anymore. Allen writes:
One might say that this phenomenon is not as alarming here in Uganda, Christians in Colombia who stand up to the violence are remarkably at risk. They face danger not for their religious beliefs, but for preaching against the drug trade and the killing in ways that infuriate both gangs and paramilitaries of left and right.
Though estimates vary widely, even low-end counts suggest that one Christian is killed for motives related to the faith somewhere in the world every hour of every day.
El Salvador has the highest accounts of homicide per capita globally, the same situations occur in the Central African Republic and Somalia, ongoing persecution in Asia, Hindu militants in India and Boko Haram in Nigeria.
In these pieces are story after story of Christians who go to church in the morning and don’t know if they will make it back home alive.
In may 2013, Vatican spokesman Archbishop Silvano Maria Tomasi announced in a radio address to the United Nations Human Rights Council that, “Credible research has reached the shocking conclusion that every year an estimate of more than 100,000 Christians are killed because of some relation to their faith,”
The Bible clearly states that Christians will be persecuted. It still happens today in many different forms, from as simple as being mocked to as serious as murder. Be that as it may, you should not let persecution discourage you from being a Christian. Accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior is one of the most important things you will do on this Earth. You shouldn’t avoid it just because of the persecution.
Although life may be hard for you at times because you are a Christian, be strong. Christian persecution may not be avoidable, but as Christians, we can endure it.
You can try to get through those trials by reading Bible verses. 1 Peter 4:16 – Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
editor@ugchristiannews.com
