ICC Note: The Meadowbrook Baptist Church in Gadsden, Alabama welcomed a 28-year-old Middle Eastern Christian on Sunday. The woman, who remains unnamed, spoke on the persecution she experienced growing up in the Middle East as a Christian, including social seclusion and threats to her family. There is “no justice for Christians” where she comes from. At the end of her time speaking, she specified that the Church should not pray for the end of persecution but rather the endurance of the Church. She detailed how persecution leads to Church growth when Muslims see how Christians love despite the hatred they receive.

08/10/2016 Alabama (Yellowhammer News): A 28-year-old Christian woman from the Middle East spoke at Meadowbrook Baptist Church in Gadsden, Alabama, on Sunday, and what she told the congregation may catch some American Christians by surprise.

She began by detailing the persecution she and her fellow Christians have endured in her country (which we won’t name, for security purposes).

When she was growing up as a student in public school, the Muslim teachers would ridicule her and make her sit in the back of the packed classroom. Muslims have continuously tried to shut down her father’s shop. They threatened to pour acid on her face and kill members of her family. They stole her family’s land. And the police and courts have repeatedly refused to protect or defend them.

“There are verses in the Qur’an that say Muslims should take the side of their Muslim brother in a dispute with a non-Muslim, even if he is wrong,” she explained. “There is no justice for the Christians.”

With all of that in mind, her answer to the question, “How can Christians in America pray for Christians in the Middle East?” may surprise you.

Here’s what she said:

“Do not pray for the persecution to stop, because the church is growing when the Muslims see how we love them anyway. Instead, pray that God would give us the strength and courage to endure it so that He will be glorified.”

When asked how the persecution was impacting the Christian church in the Middle East, the young woman opened her Arabic bible and read Exodus 1:12.

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