Equip Your Church to Support Persecuted Christians
How can you and your church engage with Christians who suffer persecution, in a practical, prayerful and meaningful way?
Using our church ministry resources, running a prayer event for the persecuted, partnering with us directly or simply receiving one of our speakers on a Sunday are all methods to equip your Church to stand together in steady fellowship and lasting love.
Together, Serving Persecuted Christians
With the support of your church, we can make a lasting difference for persecuted believers worldwide.
If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.
Voice of Persecuted Christians exists to strengthen the global Church – particularly in places where Christians suffer for Christ and the gospel. Your church involvement can play a vital role in that calling.
As your church engages with those who suffer, the voice of persecuted Christians will inform and bless your own discipleship.
How You Can Get Involved
Here are some realistic and, sustainable ways that you can build your church’s engagement, leading to a long-term church partnership if that’s what your congregation wants. Starting with the easiest steps for everyday members of the church, through to more church ministry resources for the leadership and also providing guidance if your church is ready to organise events and go further still.
Please Note: We understand that every church operates differently. Please speak with your church leaders before launching new initiatives and consider how these suggestions best support your existing ministry priorities.
Get your church to pray for the persecuted
Ask to pray on a Sunday or share some prayers in a small group. This is the easiest way to remember our brothers and sisters who suffer for Christ. For many, this may be the first time they will have heard about the persecution so many of our brothers and sisters endure. Not sure what to pray for?
Share a story in your small group
Our free quarterly magazine features three in depth stories every issue which digs deeply into the suffering our brothers and sisters experience. For shorter stories see our Voice of the Persecuted – share those stories that move you and encourage your church to pray for the persecuted.
Give out more copies of the magazine
We believe the magazine is one way that we can grow in fellowship with our brothers and sisters who suffer for Christ, by reading their stories we are moved to pray and remember. Why not ask the office to send you a few extra copies so you can give them away on a Sunday morning to your friends?
Put up a prayer map in your Church
We have a superb A2 Prayer Map which is ideal for your mission notice board! It shows the scale of Christian persecution and practical prayers that anyone who reads it can use to help bring us closer in fellowship.
For Leaders or to ask your Leaders
We serve persecuted believers through three complementary approaches.
Invite a Speaker
This is one of the easiest ways to experience the first person voice of persecuted Christians from around the world. Our experienced speakers have met with and served our in country partners, and can bring your church engaging biblical truth coupled with their testimonies. Why not invite your nearest speaker to speak at your church on Sunday morning?
Start a regular persecuted church prayer meeting
Through our magazine, regular emails and prayer shield, we provide plenty of resources to help you always have something to bring or send out. You could even start by collecting the prayer shield for a country and pray through that in a meeting.
All our prayers requests come from our partners who are on the ground in country.
Share video content at church
We have a playlist on YouTube of shorter videos (10 mins or less) and of longer videos which you are free to share in your church service or at a small group meeting.
If you need to download a video because the internet connection isn’t great or you don’t have an account for YouTube, we also post these videos on Vimeo to facilitate that.
Whole Church Engagement
Every November we provide extensive resources to mark the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP). These include a short video that you can show in a church service or a small group meeting, testimonies, and prayer pointers.
Fundraising Events
Could you or your church run a fundraising event to raise money for the work of equipping persecuted Christians with the tools they need? You could arrange anything from a bake sale to a games night. In fact, we have put together an A to Z of ideas for possible fundraisers that you could arrange. Feel free to come up with your ideas too!
Building One Body
Your church may feel moved to connect with one particular international project to support our persecuted brothers and sisters on an even deeper level. Our Building One Body programme makes that possible. With regular updates, visits from frontline project workers and even video calls, this may be just what you are looking for.
Host our International Partner Speaker Events
Every year we invite one or more of our international partners to the UK to share the first person voice of persecution. We would be delighted to consider your church as a possible venue for this. These events are great ways to engage your church, but we always encourage you to invite other local churches and friends. These are typically larger events, and we may seek your help with parking, resources and volunteers. Could your church host such an event? Contact your nearest Engagement Manager to talk it through!
Need Support or Have Questions?
If you’re developing church engagement and would value guidance, our team is here to help. Whether you’re building church partnerships, exploring church fundraising ideas, or using our church mission resources, we can support your next step.
Email us at info@voiceopc.org or call 01689 823491 to discuss how your church can strengthen its response to persecuted Christians.
Together, we can grow meaningful church involvement that makes a lasting impact.
