This year’s International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church will be marked on Sunday 1 November. TBF Trust encourages our supporters to set aside some extra time on Sunday to intercede for the Lord’s people who suffer for His Name. Suggestions to prompt your prayers can be found in our current prayer diary or our prayer diary archive.

Inspiration from the Apostle Paul

Let us be inspired by the words of the Apostle Paul about the serious business of praying for our brothers and sisters:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

Praying for Turkmenistan on 1 November

The TBF Trust prayer diary requests prayer for Turkmenistan on Sunday 1 November. Here is an expanded prayer request to guide your prayers in greater depth for this, the most closed country in Central Asia.

Turkmenistan is about 90% Muslim. Most Turkmen people follow a mystical kind of Islam mixed with pre-Islamic Turkic beliefs. In a sense, however, the real “religion” of Turkmenistan is the personality cult surrounding President Berdymukhamedov and his predecessors.

Turkmenistan is a strongly authoritarian state, whose people are poor and kept isolated from the world outside. All religions are strictly controlled and the appointment of religious leaders must be approved by the state. For Islam it is even stricter than for Christianity in this regard, as Muslim religious leaders are appointed by the state.

The Christian minority of about 7% (mainly Armenians and Russians, plus a small number of converts from Islam) live, like all citizens, with surveillance and restrictions. They also face a scarcity of Christian literature and insufficient church buildings for legally permitted worship.

After the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1989 there was a surge of church planting in Turkmenistan, but this came to an end in 1999 when Turkmenistan’s borders were closed and severe persecution of church leaders including arrests, fines, imprisonment with beatings and semi-starvation. Persecution by the state eased off some 20 years ago but, even so, no churches have been granted registration during the last two decades. By law, at least 50 adult members are required for registration, but other criteria are not publicised, so applications can be rejected arbitrarily.

Therefore there are very few buildings where Christians can legally meet for worship. In cities, unregistered churches can gather in the buildings of registered churches. Much Christian life, especially in rural areas, is built around families and small circles of friends who gather discreetly in homes, even though it is illegal to meet for worship in a private home. Christian literature is still greatly restricted.

Persecution from the Muslim community continues, focusing particularly on the small number of Christian converts from Islam. Recently two young men who had converted from Islam were subjected to severe violence by their fathers, in an effort to force them to renounce Christ. They were badly beaten and then doused with petrol. Praise God that other relatives intervened at this point to save their lives.

• Pray that the challenges facing Christians in Turkmenistan may draw them closer to the Lord and to each other, and that they may grow in faith, knowledge, love and Christ-likeness.
• Ask God for believers to have boldness in preaching the Gospel, for the growth in faith of new believers and for the education of a new generation of church ministers.
• Ask the Lord to guide seeking hearts so that they can find Christian fellowship and hear the living Word of God.
• Please pray for the registration of churches, and for importing and printing Christian literature to be allowed.
• Freedom of religion is guaranteed in Article 11 of the Constitution. Ask the Lord that, if it is His will, true religious freedom will come to Turkmenistan.

Learning from the persecuted Church

WITH PATRICK SOOKHDEO

Five years ago, on 1 November 2021, Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, who founded TBF Trust with his wife Rosemary, wrote some words that challenged believers in the comfortable West to be willing to suffer and die for Christ as Christians in other places and times have done. It was the foreword to his book Heroes of our Faith, volume 2 (Isaac Publishing 2021) telling the stories of Christian martyrs in 366 daily readings. The extract below comes from pages 18-21. The whole book can be found here.

Martyrdom is the frontline of the spiritual battle in which we are all engaged whether we recognise it or not. Our Christian forebears knew that pagans really hated them. The spiritual powers were pitted against each other and Christians readied themselves for death.

It has been a thrilling and humbling spiritual journey for me to write this book and to see how faith blossomed in the most unlikely of situations, leading to a commitment that defies understanding. Death for the Christian is not misery but victory, and all the more triumphant if it is a martyr’s death. The verse that kept recurring to me during the writing of this book was:

They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.

(Revelation 12:11)

A true Christian is not defined by the purity of their belief in a certain set of doctrines. James tells us that even the demons believe in one God (James 2:19). The Lord Jesus warned us that not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Almost every denomination and Christian group believes that only their way is correct and many believe that no other denominational label but their own will allow entry into heaven. We need to remember, with great humility, Jesus’ words of warning. For in heaven there are no denominations or traditions, only blood-bought saints.

Neither is a true Christian defined as someone who does good works or who belongs to a certain church tradition. We are not saved by our works or by the Church. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). And it is not the Church who died on the cross to take away our sins: it was Jesus Christ who did that (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Hebrews 9:15).

The only test of true Christian faith is a person’s willingness to die for Him. The Christian is the person who loves Jesus and is willing to proclaim Him, if need be, in the face of torture and death, rather than deny Him. This is the ultimate test, for our faith is defined by our choices. Jesus Himself said,

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. (Luke 9:23-26)

Despite the focus of our age on life, pleasure and self-fulfilment, there are still those, in many parts of the world today, who are willing to embrace His cross and tread behind Him that pathway which may lead to an early and painful death.

We cannot judge the heart and intention of anyone else. What we can do is face the question and answer it for ourselves: do we love Jesus enough to die for Him?

Perhaps we feel we dare not answer, remembering that all too often the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). But it is not a question of our strength. Most of us will never be put to the test, and who knows but that God might give us His grace to help us if the test came? The stories in this book show that, in the dimensions of heaven indeed, there could be heightened intervention by God, just as in Bible times. We have already considered the blazing furnace of King Nebuchadnezzar. Recall too the angel who set free Peter from prison (Acts 12:6-11) and the earthquake that freed Paul and Silas (Acts 16:25-26).

It is a question only of our willingness.

“We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19) – and died for us.

Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.¹

¹ Isaac Watts, When I survey the wondrous cross