Today (or next Sunday, depending on your source) is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. This evening our community group hosted a time of prayer for Christians in many countries who are being harassed, oppressed, persecuted or even killed for their faith. Here are some good links with general information about the persecuted church (there are many others):
http://www.idop.org/prayerrequests.html
http://www.persecution.com/
On a related subject, a few years ago I discovered Partners International, an organization which, through their "Harvest of Hope" catalog allows donors to designate small or large contributions for specific projects in specific countries like a bicycle for a pastor in China or a well for an African village. It is a really fun and meaningful alternative gift idea. (One year for my mom's birthday I gave a pig to a family in China.) Anyway, if you're sick of buying junk for people who don't need anything, consider a contribution through Harvest of Hope. You can browse through their whole catalog (http://www.harvestofhope.org/) or choose from gifts that build local churches or aid pastors (http://www.harvestofhope.org/categories.php?category_id=3) often in areas where there is persecution or at least resistance to the gospel.
2 comments:
What a memory this will be....I think we all have lemonade stand memories from childhood. (But I don't remember the wearing winter jackets with hoods at my stand :-)
Oops! My previous comment ended up in the wrong place; so it is repeated in both your last posts. Sorry!!
But since I'm here, it was amazingly timely to read about the Harvest of Hope organization's gift idea because we are planning the same thing at our church through World Vision. So yes, I would love a gift in my name from Harvest of Hope. thanks!
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