“You can’t kill a Christian. You can only change his address.”
This statement was given by Pastor Duke Downs and was posted in Voice of the Martyrs, a nonprofit Christian organization attempting to help persecuted churches around the world.
I love the truth in that statement and I am humbled that there Christians around the world that take it to heart and are willing to die for their faith.
Yousef Nadarkhani, a 34 year old Iranian Pastor was arrested over two years ago for converting to Christianity. Even though he was never a Muslim, he is being held on these charges because of his parent’s faith.
Youself, a husband and father of two boys, was given the opportunity to renounce his faith in Christ, but refused.
While I am proud of Yousef, my heart goes out to him and his family. I write this post, pleading with you to pray for this brave man of God. Pray he will be released, for continued faith for him and his family and most of all, pray that God will be glorified in this whole ordeal.
When Peter was imprisoned, 'the church was earnestly praying to God for him" (Acts 12:5) The church needs to do the same for Yousef.
I’d like to also ask those of you who tweet to dedicate a daily tweet to publicize this case. In your tweet, include “Tweet for Youcef”, stating the number of days he has been imprisoned (currently 867) and end with #ViaOfficialACLJ”.
We need to take a stand against persecution based on religious beliefs. I applaud Fox news for their coverage this past week and I have to thank Franklin Graham of Samaritans Purse for helping to get the story out. The last time CNN wrote on this case was in October, 2011.
May we never forget to pray nor please the cause of those suffering for their faith.
This is what is on my heart today as I open the link for On Your Heart Tuesday. I would love to hear what is on your heart. Please link below and take a moment to read at least one other post and leave a kind comment.
If you want to read a fun post on shoes from around the world, go here!