PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS SHARE PRAYER REQUESTS IN 24-HOUR NEW YEAR’S EVE FACEBOOK EVENT
Mosa, an Egyptian Christian, did not deny Christ as police electrocuted him, beat him unconscious, and knocked out his teeth. Today, Mosa lives a humble life with his wife and children. Still, he has health problems and thinks about how to provide for his children. He has asked VOM workers for prayer, so Voice of the Martyrs Korea has made him the focus of Hour #17 of its 24-hour New Year’s Eve prayer campaign.
“Always the number one request we hear from persecuted Christians like Mosa is for other Christians to pray for them,” says Voice of the Martyrs Korea representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley. “So once each hour, for 24 hours beginning at 6PM on New Year’s Eve and continuing on to 6PM on New Year’s Day, we will be posting a prayer request from a persecuted Christian on our Facebook page, and we invite Korean Christians to pray for that request. We encourage them to write their prayers for these persecuted Christians in the comments section of each Facebook post.”
Representative Foley said that Voice of the Martyrs Korea did its first 24-hour New Year’s prayer campaign last year, and the response was strong. “We post each prayer request at the top of each hour. Some people checked in each hour for 24 hours and wrote brief prayers. Others prayed for the whole hour for each prayer request. Some churches and small groups made this their New Year’s Eve event. Others prayed on their own, setting their phone alarms each hour overnight to wake up to pray for each request. It was very moving, and we believe it moves God’s heart as well and makes a definite impact in the lives of persecuted Christians.”
In addition to Mosa’s prayer request in Hour #17, Representative Foley says this year’s 24–hour campaign includes requests from persecuted Christians in China, Uzbekistan, Laos, Nigeria, Uganda, Iran, Pakistan, Nepal, India, Eritrea, the Arabian Peninsula, Colombia, Tajikistan, and Cuba.
“This prayer campaign is unprecedented because we will be praying for specific persecuted Christians by name, using their specific prayer requests, and we will be providing actual photos from these Christians to help us pray,” says Representative Foley. “These are not vague, general prayer requests for Christians in hostile and restricted nations. These are specific requests from specific brothers and sisters whose stories we know and have verified. They are partners with us and with our sister Voice of the Martyrs organizations around the world.”
Mosa, an Egyptian Christian, is one of the Christians who will be prayed for during Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s 24-hour New Year’s Eve prayer campaign.
Hundreds of Iranian Christians imprisoned during 2020 will be prayed for during Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s 24-hour New Year’s prayer campaign.
Representative Foley says that preparations for the 24-hour prayer campaign began in early fall. “First, we and our Voice of the Martyrs sister missions had to identify persecuted Christians who were willing to share. Then we had to gather their prayer requests and related photos, carefully sanitizing them by changing names and blocking out details that could put them in danger. Then we had to translate the requests into Korean, Chinese, and Russian for each of our Voice of the Martyrs Korea Facebook pages.”
“The amazing thing is that not only are we praying for persecuted Christians; they are praying for us, too,” says Representative Foley. “For example, in Hour #14 we will be praying for Christians in Iran. Hundreds of Iranian Christians were imprisoned for their faith this year. Intelligence agents arrested believers in multiple coordinated raids. Yet, the Iranian church continues to grow. And it continues to pray for the church around the world.”
The campaign will begin at 6PM December 31 on Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/VOMKorea.kr/, with a new prayer request being posted every hour until 6PM January 1. Voice of the Martyrs Korea will also be running the prayer requests in Chinese and Russian on its associated Facebook pages for those languages. For more information about the campaign, contact Voice of the Martyrs Korea at 02-2065-0703.