This Easter and Passover, Remember Those Suffering Persecution

This week is Holy Week, a special time as Christians around the world reflect on Christ’s final days – his triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, His suffering and crucifixion on Good Friday, and His resurrection from the dead on Easter.  It is also Passover, a holy time for the Jewish people as they celebrate their freedom from Pharoah’s oppression and God’s justice being done to the enemies of His people.

In America, where our religious freedom is secured and cherished, it is often easy to take for granted how easy it is for us to celebrate these holiest of days.  For many around the world, this joyous time is marked by fear and danger.  As we celebrate, we should also consider and pray for those who suffer persecution at the hands of tyrants and despots.

In Nigeria, Christian communities live under constant threat of attack by entities ranging from the Islamic State in West Africa, to Boko Haram, to Fulani herdsmen. Between October 2020 and September 2021, nearly 5,000 Christians were killed and thousands were kidnapped and held for ransom.  The Biden Administration removed Nigeria from the Department of State’s “Countries of Particular Concern” list, a designation the Trump Administration had given Nigeria for good reason.  The situation has only worsened since then – we should lift up Nigerian Christians suffering persecution in prayer, and call on the Biden Administration to put Nigeria back on this list.  It pressures the Nigerian government and opens them up to sanctions should they allow this persecution to continue. This is an issue the ACLJ continues to raise with the U.S. government and at the U.N.

In China, millions of Christian believers are persecuted and oppressed every day.  The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has gone so far as recently introducing a new law which restricts the use of the word “Christ” on social media. The law requires that authorization, and even specific training, must be acquired before publishing a post with any Christian references in it.  Bibles are required to be reviewed, censored, and rewritten in order for public churches to teach from them.  Home churches started by individual Christian communities, who only wish to practice their faith outside the corrupting influence of the CCP, are rooted out and shut down with force. The CCP cannot allow an authority greater than themselves to dominate the hearts and minds of its people, for they know their system of government is corrupt and devoid of moral purpose.  We must pray for and continue to advocate on behalf of Christians who suffer persecution in China at the highest levels.

We should also keep Christians in Ukraine in our prayers. As servants of Christ, many Ukrainian Orthodox Churches have become essential places of shelter, safety, and goodwill in a time of war and suffering. A dear friend of mine, Father Oleg Sknar, built a military hospital outside his church in Kiev, where he has helped to heal the wounded and minister to soldiers returning from the front lines of battle – both Ukrainian and Russian.  He has done this under constant threat, both from the war raging around him, and threats against his life emanating from the Russian Orthodox Church, which Vladimir Putin has turned into a political cudgel with which to stomp out his political enemies. Father Oleg, and the millions of faithful believers across Ukraine, wanted none of this.  They wanted to worship and serve the Lord, not a lowly tyrant like Putin. That’s why Father Oleg was the first Ukrainian faith leader to sign the Tomas, the document which granted his church independence from Muscovite rule.  We should pray for the continued courage, strength, and faithfulness of the Ukrainian faithful this Easter.

Lastly, we should pray for the people of Israel, who in recent weeks have suffered a terrible wave of terror attacks perpetrated by cowardly Palestinian terrorists.  We must pray that Israeli security forces have the vigilance to stop these heinous attacks before they happen, and pray for those who have lost loved ones in the wake of them.  Israel is one of America’s strongest and best allies, a bastion of democracy and religious freedom in the Middle East.  We must ensure that our common adversary, Iran, does not have the tools and wealth it requires to carry out even more devastating attacks on Israel and the United States. And we should stand against acts of antisemitism wherever they occur.

America has always stood as a beacon for freedom, and we have always stood against the scourge of religious oppression and persecution. As we celebrate Easter and Passover in the coming days, let’s remember those who celebrate in spite of their persecution, and dedicate ourselves to lifting that threat from them.  The ACLJ is actively engaged in this work, and we should all help where we can.  Have a blessed Easter and Passover!