Prayer for the 21 South Korean Christian Hostages???

On July 19 twenty-three South Korean Christians on a bus in Afghanistan were hi-jacked and captured by the Taliban and taken as hostages to negotiate the release of captured Taliban prisoners in that country. The South Korean Christian group were in Afghanistan to provide humanitarian aid to that country. Two of the hostages have been killed by the Muslim group after deadlines in negotiations came and passed without the release of any Taliban prisoners. There are still 21 hostages in captivity after almost two and half weeks have passed.

Have you or I spoken up about this situation to our church leaders, the media, and possibly Muslim groups in our areas to pray and encourage a huge outcry about this situation and hopefully gain the release of these innocent Christian brothers and sisters??? Have we even prayed for them???

Why is it that the media finds the brief incarceration of Paris Hilton worthy of 'round-the-clock vigils but spares little ink and little air time to tell the world more about these two men who gave their lives while serving the people of Afghanistan??? Even more disturbing than lack of media coverage, though, is the tepid response of the churches to the plight of their brothers and sisters from South Korea. No matter what issues currently occupy Christians in the U.S., they should shift their focus to Afghanistan right now and join the churches in South Korea in vigilant prayer for the remaining hostages.

I'm afraid Christians here in the U.S. are too comfortable and think only of their families and their church families to be too concerned about Christians in other parts of the world who suffer persecution almost on a daily basis. We ourselves cry out about us being persecuted if someone slams the door in our face when we are out knocking on doors to share the gospel and invite people to church!!!!!

We need to open our eyes to pray for Christians in other countries who suffer daily at the hands of other religious groups and government officials. We also need to keep alert to changes in our own laws here in the U.S., i.e. so called "hate-crime" bills and other intrusions into the church. The name of Jesus and God's Word, the Bible, are fast becoming targets to those who want nothing else but to shut the mouths of Bible-believing Christians in today's society.

Click on the title link above to read some current news about the South Korean Christian hostages, or look for other articles about this situation using online resources.

Let's also lift these fellow Christians up in prayer tomorrow at our churches.