Dear Friend of the Persecuted Church—

            The events of this week reminded me of the warning Jesus gave His disciples:  “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”  (Matthew 24:7)

            Doesn’t that sound like our world?  You’ve heard about the cyclone in Burma, a natural disaster which has created a huge famine, and the hampered relief effort that is opening the door for unbelievable pestilence.  You heard about the earthquake in China, killing thousands.  And you may have even heard of the fighting in Sudan.  Everything Jesus foretold has come to pass.

            But as I read that passage and thought about the magnitude of the suffering each one of these disasters has brought forth, the next verse caught my eye.  “All these are the beginning of sorrows.”  (Matthew 24:8)

            The beginning of sorrows?  What could be worse than war, and famine, and plague, and earthquakes?  The answer is simple.

            Persecution.

            “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.”  (Matthew 24:9)  Wow.  Targeted, specific, deadly attack, leveled against the children of God, pouring out affliction so intense that even the biggest natural disaster is only the beginning of sorrows.  So is there any hope for the children of God?

            “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”  (Matthew 24:13)  Ah, friends, these words of Jesus are not idle.  We see the proof of His warnings all around us—and we have the proof of His promise inside us.  That proof can give us strength to endure to the end, that we might be saved from the suffering.

            Will you pray today that our brothers and sisters in Christ would endure to the end?

Yours for the Body of Christ,

Gabriel J. Waddell
Executive Director

PS: Pray for Remember’s China trip, currently underway!  For more information, check for updates on Remember Ambassadors.

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