a look at persecution.

you may think, that as an American, you have innumerable things to be thankful for. and for that, you are correct. however, for the things we get, we are growing increasingly less thankful for them. think about your faith. you can go to church whenever you want to. you can pray however you want to and wherever you want to. you can sing praises to God in your car, on your roof, or in a grocery store...and no one can stop you. we have freedom in this country, that you should be grateful for.





did you know that there are about 37 restricted countries around the world? that means, christians are persecuted for their faith. out of all 238 countries in the world, 70 million people have been martyred for their faith over the last 20 centuries. they are beaten, thrown in prison, and sometimes killed...if they do not renounce what they believe.





now, just by comparison, we have it fairly well. i have never met someone in America who was beaten because they were a christian...not saying it doesn't happen...just saying it is very very rare.





in Matthew 28:16-20, Jesus commands us (Christians, Christ followers, believers) to "go and make disciples." did you know that 67% of the people in the world have NEVER heard the name of Jesus? i am no math major, but that is a lot. if we are ALL called to do this, why are we not doing it?





you wanna know why? because it is "all about me" in our world today. the number one restricted country has THE FASTEST growing Christian expansion-10,000 new believers per day! they get it. they know that God created them for a bigger purpose. God wants you. He wants to use you. He wants to show you how magnificent He is. He does that through us taking up partnership with Him in sharing the gospel. it is the greatest thing you can do for someone...to share the love, sacrifice, grace, and redemption that Christ is.





what are you doing to reach that 67%?