With Crossroads Prison Ministries, any follower of Christ can get involved to encourage incarcerated men and women with God’s Word. Crossroads makes the process simple and addresses several concerns for potential ministry partners.

First, some people think that prison ministry can only be done by going into the prisons themselves.

This misconception keeps many Christians from even considering prison ministry as a discipleship opportunity.

Paige Deur, Crossroads’ content and social media specialist, says, “If you are looking at prison ministry, in general, going into prison is an intimidating thing. I think, particularly for introverts, it’s a very overstimulating environment and you often have to talk to a lot of people.”

(Image courtesy of Crossroads Prison Ministries)

Christians involved with Crossroads don’t have to physically travel to prisons for ministry. In fact, they don’t even have to set foot outside of their homes.

Instead, mentors correspond with incarcerated Bible study students through the mail. Together, mentor and student walk through the Crossroads curriculum and dive into God’s Word. All communication is done through letter writing, and Crossroads handles the rest.

Another concern that potential mentors have is anonymity.

Crossroads church mobilization director assistant Alaina Zwiernikowski says, “I hear often people are hesitant to sign up because they don’t want to give out their personal information, and they think that they might have to do that. So as a Crossroads mentor, we make it so that all their information is anonymous!”

Finally, a third major hesitation is simply: What if I don’t know what to say?

Alexis Ryan, Crossroads’ mentor coordinator, says, “Another pushback I’ve heard from some prospective mentors is that they don’t know if they’ll have all of the right answers because they’ve never experienced something even similar to being in prison or jail. That is a good thought, but I think that the lessons do a great job of aiding in giving the mentors something to say to the students, even if they have no similar experiences.

“Each time a mentor corresponds with a student, they are going to be reviewing a lesson that the students filled out. So they can really focus on the biblical lesson content and learn together as a mentor and student.

(Image courtesy of Crossroads Prison Ministries)

“We also provide answer keys for mentors, so those answer keys will give lots of good details, Scripture references, [and] example answers of what students might say so that mentors can best respond to a student.”

Learn more about becoming a Crossroads mentor!

Crossroads is especially looking for more Spanish-speaking mentors to correspond with Spanish-speaking Bible study students.

Most importantly, Deur says, “I pray that the Holy Spirit would work in and through the words that are exchanged between both our students and mentors so that [they] continue to grow in their faith through this ministry. [Pray] that doors would continue to open for us to serve even more students as we face different mailing restrictions from different facilities.”

Header photo courtesy of Milad Fakurian/Unsplash.

To learn more about the ongoing balloon launch investigations, read our previous article here. Read Part One of our conversation here.

Mission Network News (MNN): You’ve mentioned in our earlier conversations something about how the world sometimes draws the line between spiritual and political peace where the Church would not necessarily do that. Can you elaborate on that?

Eric Foley of Voice of the Martyrs Korea: […]The investigation has been broadened to other North Korea-related NGOs, a total of 89 North Korea-related NGOs, which again, points out that balloon launching is the tip of a very large iceberg. Essentially, that iceberg is whether NGOs will be able to or be allowed to operate doing North Korea work that’s outside the government’s plan or preference. NGO means non-governmental, but it is being construed in this current circumstance as anti-governmental to the degree that when we do things that are outside the government’s plan or purpose, it is conceived of as being anti or against the government’s purpose. “Creating tension” is the term that the government likes to use, creating tension in its effort to deal with attempting to achieve peace with North Korea. Our statement has been that peace is a much broader issue than simply the political dimensions.

For 15 years in our balloon launching work, we’ve been able to demonstrate how it’s possible for the government to achieve its national security goals and yet for the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion not to be constrained. That is to say, we’ve worked to listen and try to respond to any concerns or questions that the government has raised, while at the same time recognizing that for Christians, and for other religions, and even other people in civil society, their understanding of peace extends beyond to political peace. The idea that peace can be had, for example, by bringing an end to the Korean War and negotiated political settlement between North and South Korea sounds like an important part of the peace process, and yet it doesn’t fully address the questions of peace.

The cover of one of the BIbles VOM sends to North Korea (Image courtesy of VOM Korea)

From a Christian standpoint, we would say that there is a peace that the world cannot give that can only come from Christ, and that peace is not competitive with national security goals or things like that that governments undertake. The government has, through its investigation… created the idea that anything that is outside of the government’s plan related to peace actually creates tension and works against that plan. That’s an unusual situation that is now drawing the attention of not only human rights groups around the world, but the United Nations. So the United Nations, through its North Korea-related point person, has urged the South Korean government not to take this action and not to approach it with such speed and swiftness. [They’ve] urged the government to talk with NGOs and to make sure that the values that NGOs bring -which are related to peace, but in ways that tend to be broader than simply negotiating peace between two states – that those elements of human rights and religious freedom should not be lost.

That’s why, as I’ve said, this issue related to balloon launching is simply the tip of a very large iceberg. And so now, not just human rights organizations around the world but the United Nations, is urging the South Korean government to reconsider its rapid investigation and inspection of North Korea-related NGOs, seeing it as a real threat to civil society – not only free speech but also issues related to religious freedom and those are the ones of course that relate most to our work.

MNN: So why now? Why is this the line that officials are drawing with balloon launches?

Foley: I think for some people it will seem like a sudden event, but for us, it’s actually a continuation of a process that began in 2018 with the meetings between the president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, and Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, and of course the meetings between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un. From the South-North meetings came a declaration called the Panmunjom Declaration, and it identified a set of agreements between North and South Korea.

That happened in April 2018. In May 2018, we received a call for the first time in our history from the South Korean government Ministry of Unification. We’ve never been contacted by them before ever in our history because our own NGO is not with them at all. In other words, in Korea, different NGOs are chartered by different parts of the government or different groups depending upon the type of NGO you are, and ours is under the Cultural Policy Division because we’re a Christian NGO. So we never interacted with the Ministry of Unification, which deals with, typically, with North Korean defector issues and North-South issues, but they contacted us in May 2018. [They told us to] “stop making broadcasts and doing many of the things that you do because they create a bad air” – this is the phrasing of the Ministry of Unification – “it creates a bad air for peace.” And they said, “In exchange, what we foresee in the future is the opportunity for you possibly to participate in cultural exchanges where the North and South Korean governments will create events at which North and South Korean citizens may be invited to participate, and you can perhaps come there and you may even be able to hand out your Bibles at those events.”

Preparing balloons for launch (Photo courtesy of VOM Canada)

We said, “We’re not missionaries. Actually, we’re partners of the underground North Korean church. The underground North Korean Church, by definition, remains enemies of the North Korean state because anyone who does religious Christian activity in North Korea commits a crime against the state. And so as the partners of underground North Korean Christians, our work is not missional in nature. We exist to serve the Lord by serving them and asking them how we can support their work of discipleship and evangelism in North Korea. That means that our issue falls completely outside of the boundaries of cultural exchanges between the North and South Korean in government; our partners are enemies of the North Korean state, and we ourselves, according to North Korea’s response to the United Nations report on religious freedom and human rights in North Korea in 2014, are called terrorists. Missionaries commit what North Korea calls acts of terror. And so by definition, we fall outside the boundaries of this peace process.”

We were told at that time two years ago that we would need to stop doing what we were doing. And so it’s not only the balloon launches that create concern for North Korea; they call everything we do acts of terror, from our radio broadcasting on through our work in running our discipleship bases in China and evangelizing North Korean workers wherever they’re found in Russia, China, Mongolia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and even Eastern Europe. So it’s been actually an ongoing process where, beginning with that Panmunjom Declaration, a particular vision of peace was raised. That vision of peace was a peace that was negotiated between states: the North Korean state and the South Korean state. It would take the form of a variety of initiatives, and those initiatives would be primarily to make sure that all interactions between North Koreans and South Koreans are mediated or coordinated by the government.

This is the question then of peace; does peace mean that all interactions between North and South Korean people must happen through the government? If so, then it really calls into question all of the work that Voice of the Martyrs Korea does, since our work is in support of people who are are considered enemies of the North Korean state.

Packing balloons with light Bibles before launch (Photo courtesy VOM Canada)

So this is an ongoing process, and legislative elections in the National Assembly District last year created a majority that matches the President’s party. That majority makes it possible to consider and pass certain legislation, and the legislation that is being enacted or considered and discussed relates to how to take that Panmunjom Declaration of 2018 and turn it into law. What concerns the United Nations is that civil society in the form of North Korea-related NGOs is being excluded from that peace process. And our definitions of peace, which are more than just definitions of how states interact, are now considered to create tension and to be anti-North Korean in nature.

The issue is not only a Christian issue, but it has special importance to Christians. The reason why is because the peace that is being instituted that comes from Panmunjom is a peace that says interaction between North and South Korean people has to be agreeable to both governments. And so even our Voice of the Martyrs Korea newsletter, which shares the stories in South Korea of North Korean Christians who are persecuted for their faith, could be one of those items that is considered to be anti-North Korea because it raises tension. Certainly, our radio broadcasts have been mentioned specifically by the Ministry of Unification as something that creates “a bad air for peace.”

That’s what’s at issue for human rights groups. Of course, they’re not Christian for the most part. Some are. But many human rights groups want the opportunity to freely speak about conditions in North Korea.

Image courtesy of VOM Australia

Our situation is not like that at all. Our situation is not about trying to speak about political conditions, but our job is to tell the story of underground North Korean Christians. And so that is endangered any time that peace is perceived to be an activity that governments grant and that governments can take away. So that is the emerging challenge. And it’s not something that just came out of nowhere, but it actually does root back in the Panmunjom Declaration, and that has its roots in a much earlier stage of North-South relations from a prior president of Korea, Kim De Jong, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for what is called “Sunshine Policy.” He believed that the way North Korea should be approached is on the basis of these kinds of cooperation to reduce the things that create tension for North Korean people. So this has a long history in South Korean politics, and anytime that this particular political party comes to power, these are the issues that are raised. And the goal of President Moon is to institute these in the Constitution of South Korea so they don’t become only legislative matters, but they become things that are constitutional in nature and cannot be changed by any political party.

MNN: On the other end of this, ideally, what would you hope to see? Do you just want to see a return to normalcy, for things to keep going as they did before, or something else?

Foley: You know, it’s a good question what normal is. Two years ago, people said to us, “You need to stop launching, it’s a time of peace!” And now this year, they say “You need to stop launching, it’s a time of war!” So all the way back to 2005, every year, there’s a different reason why now is the wrong time to launch. And so the normal situation that we face is that we continue to need to stand as Christians on our legal rights in South Korea, both the rights that are given to us through our being chartered as an NGO and then certainly in the criminal investigation and into me personally for balloon launch activities. It’s important for me to be able to stand on my legal rights so these issues can be rightly addressed in court. So, in terms of what we hope we would see happen, I think we’ve learned from North Korea and underground Christians the truth to apply in our lives when Jesus says “Sufficient unto the day is the trouble thereof.” We really hope only that today, the Lord Jesus is able to use Voice of the Martyrs Korea to accomplish His purpose, whatever that is. We pray always, daily, not for any specific outcome, but for simply the privilege to be able to be used by the Lord Jesus.

Our hope isn’t for any particular outcome in terms of a change in policy or laws. It’s simply that the Lord’s will be done and that the Lord finds Voice of the Martyrs Korea a willing servant or a willing vessel.

MNN: Is there anything else you want to clarify?

Foley: Sometimes people ask, is this a religious freedom issue? Is this a human rights issue? Is this a political issue? My response is “Yes; it’s all of those things!” Human rights organizations are concerned about it for one reason and political parties are concerned about it for another. But Christians in South Korea are concerned about these matters because initially, I think they had a hope that it was all a big misunderstanding, that once it was made clear that we only launched Bibles, we don’t launch anti-North Korean propaganda, that somehow would be cleared up and all of this would go away. [But] even though the misunderstanding has been cleared up, we are still accused of launching anti-North Korean propaganda. That is how the Bible is being described and that creates real concerns from a religious freedom standpoint of how the South Korean government will deal with North Korean ministry activity in the future.

Header photo courtesy of VOM Canada.

So what’s next?

Protests in Algeria, which are ongoing, began on February 22. Algeria’s government is a presidential republic, but Bouteflika represented a ruling elite. Miles Windsor with Middle East Concern says the demonstrators have rejected and referred to these elites as a “museum government”.

However, Bouteflika’s resignation is not enough. BBC NEWS reports that protesters want the Algerian government, appointed on March 31 by Bouteflika, ousted entirely. The people want to see broader change and more freedom. They seek an end to widespread government corruption.

Find our coverage of the protests here and here.

Algeria’s Changing Leadership

While demonstrations and shifting leadership in Algeria do not directly affect religious freedom or local Christians, Algeria’s religious minorities expect to experience indirect impact.

Representative photo: Algerian protests 2011 (Photo courtesy of Magharebia via Flickr)

“Since 2006 there have been significant restrictions that have been made on the Church through legislation which has sought to organize the worship of non-Muslims in the country. Those laws, unconstitutional and counter to international human rights legislation. But it’s part of a number of laws which aims to restrict the freedom of religion in the country,” Windsor says.

Algeria is ranked #22 on Open Doors USA’s World Watch List. The World Watch List ranks the top 50 countries where it is hardest to live as a Christian. The main religion in Algeria is Islam, which the government has used as a tool to oppress Christians and churches in the country.

“[It’s] not just affecting Christians, I should say, but other religious minorities in Algeria. And the regime’s used its power and these laws to put pressure on the Church and to persecute Christians,” Windsor says.

“The hope is that the suggested changes to the constitution in the establishment oath…in Algeria would include the abolition of these laws and guarantees for freedoms.”

Uncertain Future

Still, the future in Algeria is anything but clear. With the resignation of Bouteflika comes a political vacuum in the government. Algerians desire change, but Windsor cautions that not all change is good.

Please, pray for Algeria, the political situation there, and for peace in the country. Ask God to bring about change which encourages religious tolerance for all in the nation. Finally, pray for our brothers and sisters in Algeria, for their protection and their witness.

Header photo courtesy of Middle East Concern

“Terror attacks are a big problem for the Christian community in Egypt, especially in upper Egypt. The cause tends to be…rumors: [rumors] of Christians opening a church in a village or rumors [about] a relationship between a Muslim female and a Christian male. And so, this does tend to create a significant tension, especially in underdeveloped and rural parts of Egypt,” Middle East Concern’s Miles Windsor says, breaking down the details of the new committee.

Committee’s Focus

One of the main underlying issues Middle East Concern suggests is under development in areas like education. Education is vital to help individuals process information and make decisions for themselves. Many people in rural areas who have not experienced proper education are often vulnerable to the indoctrination of intolerant religious ideologies.

The declaration of the committee came just days before the dedication of the largest Coptic Christian Church in the Middle East. The church building, sponsored by Sisi, was dedicated on the Orthodox Christmas—January 7. However, this committee and church building dedication do not exactly numb the stresses and strains of life as a living target. These challenges, though, are helping deepen the faith of many Egyptian Christians.

“People do find in these times that God is the best protector. He is the solid rock in times of trials and hardships, and a sufficient comforter,” Windsor says.

This new committee is stocked with security-related personnel. This signals that the cause of the problem is not being addressed. Instead, the attacks are seemingly viewed primarily as security issues. Windsor believes the committee should include Christian and Muslim leaders. These leaders can influence their communities for the better. And until the underlying issues, like underdevelopment and education, are addressed, the symptoms will continue to manifest as violence.

“We’ve cautiously welcomed this development around the government establishment of this committee. It shows that the government recognizes the problem and is trying to do something to address it,” Windsor says.

Be Prayerful

Take time today to pray for brothers and sisters in Egypt. Ask God to have His hand of protection over them and to foil plots to cause harm against the Christian community in Egypt. Pray that the very people who would aim to harm Christians would come to know Christ.

“We know that God is powerful to save and He’s done great work in the Middle East and North Africa bringing those who would be the enemies of God’s people to Jesus,” Windsor says.

Finally, pray a sense of comfort for Christians in Egypt. Pray God would continue to deepen and strengthen their faith in Him.

Header photo by Simon Matzinger on Unsplash.

Brunson was arrested in Turkey back in 2016 during a post-coup purge that cracked down several sectors, including foreign nationals. He was charged with terrorism and espionage. However, there has been no solid evidence presented. The only things Brunson has going against him are that he is an American and a Christian.

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s hearing, Miles Windsor with Middle East Concern says it’s hard to guess the outcome.

“I know the Secretary of State has mentioned that he is optimistic that Andrew will be released at that point. We hope that that’s the case, we are praying that that’s the case, but it is I think very difficult to say what will happen at that hearing. Turkey is a very unpredictable country in terms of the way its leadership responds to these situations and to discussions.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Photo courtesy of Pixabay)

Specifically, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan keeps changing his tune on what supposedly can and cannot be done for Brunson’s case.

“In late September, [Erdogan] said that as the president he doesn’t have the right to order Andrew’s release, stating the judiciary is independent. Now, that statement in and of itself isn’t true given that he enacted legislation on August 27 which specifically allows him presidential powers to release foreign nationals from prison if it’s in Turkey’s interest. Given what has happened to Turkey’s economy as a result of the American sanctions and response to the situation, it is in Turkey’s interest.”

Erdogan demonstrated further inconsistency at the opening of the Turkish Parliament on October 1st when he said, “We are determined to fight this twisted attitude that has attempted to impose sanctions on our country by using a pastor who has dark ties to terror groups as the pretext.”

Windsor explains, in making this comment, “[Erdogan was] signaling a complete disinterest in what his supposedly independent judiciary will decide at that next hearing, troublingly describing [Brunson] as a pastor with dark ties to terror groups.”

The US raised the stakes in August when President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on imported Turkish goods and sanctioned Turkish officials. If Turkey gives in to US demands to release Brunson, Windsor suspects Erdogan will attempt to maintain a powerful front.

“The reality is that Erdogan has done very well off anti-American sentiment. It’s a sentiment which has been growing and developing in Turkey especially as a result of a lot of the state-run media and how that portrays the United States. So any move that will make him look weak to the Turkish people, make him look like he is submitting to the demands of the United States is not in his interest. So if there is a way of creating a situation in which he is able to save face whilst releasing Andrew, then I think that will be welcome all around because it has had a very negative impact on Turkey.”

Meanwhile, the Turkish government’s treatment of Brunson has put some of the nation’s Christians on edge.

“It’s a situation which allows Christians to be presented as agents of the West or potentially having negative links to organizations that would be seeking to undermine the Turkish authorities — all of which is obviously ludicrous.”

On the other hand, Windsor points out, Brunson’s case has enough unique characteristics that make him a more obvious political target than the average Turkish believer.

“It is a situation which is undoubtedly linked to his faith and his work as a Christian in the country. However, it is also very much about a much bigger picture of political relations between the US and Turkey. So I doubt what we are going to see is a situation in which these kinds of cases are going to be happening across the country with many Turkish national Christians.”

Andrew and Norine Brunson (Photo courtesy of Open Doors USA)

Right now, the best thing we can do as the Body of Christ is pray for the Brunsons.

“I know that Andrew and his family would really value prayer — first and foremost, that they will all be a tremendous witness to God’s love in that situation, God’s goodness. [Pray] that they would be trusting in Him through what is a deeply traumatic time, knowing His comfort and goodness. But also obviously, it would be great to see justice done. We have a God of justice and we want to see justice done in this situation for Andrew.

“Also, I’m sure they would want prayer for their brothers and sisters in the faith in Turkey — that they would know God’s comfort and protection as well, that this wouldn’t be a precursor to even worse circumstances for them, and that they would be a light shining in the darkness.”

Church Attack in Chechnya

On May 19, four gunmen killed at least seven people at the church. Two officers and an attendee of the church were also hospitalized. Per Persecution International Christian Concern, the gunmen shot through the front door of the church.

Although divisions are somewhat arbitrary, Western Asia encompasses the Middle East and countries that surround the Caspian Sea, including Kazakhstan and Russia. (Photo/Caption courtesy of MODIS/U.S. Geological Survey via Flickr https://flic.kr/p/bZSiEA)

Two church members had rushed to shut those same doors upon hearing a commotion outside and people shouting “Allahu Akbar”, which is an Islamic phrase translated as meaning “Allah is greatest”. The church members were able to close the doors before the gunmen could enter, but bullets still shot through the wood. ISIS later claimed responsibility for the attack.

Analyzing the event, Open Doors USA’s Dr. David Curry says;

“There’s been a lot of tension over the years in these regions against Russian Orthodox church, but there wasn’t a sense of a strong ISIS movement there. So, it could be a signal that some of the Chechen fighters that had been with ISIS are coming home and they used attacks on Russian Orthodox and Christian churches as a tactic to stir up people and to cause terror.”

Fermenting Extremism

Chechnya’s history is entangled with a strong Islamic presence. This has created dissonance between people in the region and Russia, which is Orthodox Christian. Regardless of politics and tensions plaguing this region, Open Doors asserts all people should be able to worship in peace.

Chechnya’s history of religious tension has fermented a growing radicalism in the region. Open Doors has said it before; ISIS doesn’t need land to cause terror. The terrorist group is equipped to operate remotely through lone wolves and technology.

(Photo and header photo courtesy Open Doors USA)

“They don’t have the caliphate they once had, but they don’t need it. They have the money, they have the infrastructure, they have the will and the way of sharing technology in North Africa, in Chechnya, in places like Malaysia, Indonesia, some of these places where ISIS is popping up and making attacks against Christian churches,” Curry explains.

“It’s something that we need to be aware of and the governments need to be vigilant on because they will be using Christian churches as a target for sure. And this attack on the church in Grozny is but one example of [what] potentially could grow.”

Be Prayerful, Be Active

Curry asks Christians to keep their Chechen brothers and sisters in their prayers. Pray for the perseverance of their faith, their ability to worship together, and their witness in their communities. And please, also pray for the freedom of religion in this area and people’s rights to worship and believe what they want.

“These are places that…could go either way where faith could grow and people could get more religious freedom or it could contract…but just continue to pray for those countries,” Curry shares.

Another way to help is by sharing this story. Let people know what is going on in Chechnya and how they can help. Advocate for the Christians who are facing outside pressures against their faith.

Find more ways to get involved through Open Doors here!

Miles Windsor of Middle East Concern says it can be very challenging to be a Christian in Iran. “That notwithstanding, it’s a place where we see the Church growing and developing and Christians being, really, very bold with their faith in the spread of the Gospel. So there are reasons for encouragement there as well.”

Windsor shares the case of Assyrian pastor, Victor Bet Tamraz, who he says has been a target of harassment for many years now. Tamraz was arrested, along with several other Christians, including Amin Naderi Afshari, at a Christmas celebration on December 26, 2014.

Originally, they were released on bail.  However, Amin was rearrested two years later at a picnic along with Hadi Asgari and several others. They were then held in Evin Prison in Tehran, a prison notorious for its poor conditions. Amin was finally released on bail last July, and Hadi was likewise released this past April. However, it seems their troubles are far from over.

“There was a hearing on the 11^th of June last year. And a judge called Ahmadpour issued his verdict in July, sentencing Pastor Victor and Hadi Asgari to ten years imprisonment and Amin Naderi to 15 years imprisonment for conducting evangelism and illegal house church activity. So, these are charges which are entirely directed at their Christian faith.”

(Image courtesy of Middle East Concern)

He explains that usually, this type of persecution against Christians is veiled under charges like “undermining national security”. Initially, terminology was used like this in the case against Pastor Victor, Hadi, and Amin. But now, the fact that this is about their Christian faith has been spelled out in the charges.

And if this case is any indication, Christians could be facing longer prison sentences in the future.

“Whilst Christians have consistently been put in prison for their faith in Iran in considerable numbers, the length of the sentence has seemed to have increased in the recent year or so,” Windsor says.

Before this, Christians could typically expect to serve 18 months to five years in prison.

The defendants had an appeal hearing on April 25^th. Windsor says a degree of encouragement came out of that hearing.

“It’s interesting what causes encouragement for Christians facing persecution in Iran because the encouragement wasn’t necessarily that they felt that they were about to receive an acquittal but rather that they were allowed to give their side of the story.”

Additionally, the judges overseeing the appeal hearing seemed to be respectful of the defendants and their lawyer.

The relationship between the United States and Iran means that there’s little that can be done politically on behalf of Pastor Victor, Hadi, and Amin. However, there is still something very important and powerful that all of us can do.

“The key for us, hearing and watching this from a distance is to be praying for them—praying for their continued witness to the love of Jesus in Iran, praying for their continued strength under extraordinary pressure, and praying for justice to be done in their situation.”

Middle East Concern encourages you to stay up to date on what is happening with believers like these so that you can continue to pray for them. Learn more, here.

“We ultimately have the most powerful figure, if you like, to go to… for advocacy, with our cases, and that’s the Lord Jesus. So, I’d encourage that as a primary sort of activity.”

Finally, you can let these believers know you are standing with them by signing this petition at avaaz.org.

Mark Schultz gears up for a concert in Michigan.

USA (MNN) — How would you like to kill three proverbial birds with one stone? A Mark Schultz concert for Christian Resources International will do just that in Highland, Michigan next month.

Executive Director of CRI Jason Woolford says it’s a concert that will benefit the ministry. “It’s going to create an opportunity to help us spread awareness of what we do for a ministry. It’s going to give people an opportunity to ask Christ into their life that night. And, you’ll be able to hear a radical testimony about what God did in an eight-year-old boy’s life.”

Woolford adds, “People are going to be able to come and hear about why we do what we do. 122,000 people [around the world] are giving their lives to the Lord every day. And the startling fact is: the majority of those people are attending churches with a pastor who doesn’t even own a Bible.”

CRI sends used Bibles and other Christian resources to those pastors, churches, ministries, and Christian libraries around the world. “We’re giving people the opportunity to not only have a Bible, but to open doors to be able to share salvation with people and have a tool, God’s Word, to be encouraged by His Word.”

Woolford says the concert will be more than a fundraiser. The Gospel will be shared. Even if you might not be able to attend, you can still help. “We’re encouraging people…to buy tickets even if you can’t come. You could buy those tickets and bless somebody who wouldn’t ordinarily come to a Christian concert. It’s a great evangelistic outreach night.”

Your investment will allow someone who can’t afford the $19 ticket to not only enjoy the concert, but to hear the message of salvation.

Woolford says last year, “Somebody in Australia…said, ‘I’d like to donate $1,500, and I’d like it to go to the purchase of [concert] tickets.’ Over 100 people attended. One of those who attended said he was going to take his own life that night. Instead, he came to the concert and gave his life to Christ.”

The Mark Schultz concert takes place Saturday, October 26, at 7:00pm at Cornerstone Church in Highland, Michigan.

Click here to purchase tickets.

Executive Director of CRI Jason Woolford says it's a concert that will benefit the ministry. "It's going to create an opportunity to help us spread awareness of what we do for a ministry. It's going to give people an opportunity to ask Christ into their life that night. And, you'll be able to hear a radical testimony about what God did in an eight-year-old boy's life."

Woolford adds, "People are going to be able to come and hear about why we do what we do. 122,000 people [around the world] are giving their lives to the Lord every day. And the startling fact is: the majority of those people are attending churches with a pastor who doesn't even own a Bible."

CRI sends used Bibles and other Christian resources to those pastors, churches, ministries, and Christian libraries around the world. "We're giving people the opportunity to not only have a Bible, but to open doors to be able to share salvation with people and have a tool, God's Word, to be encouraged by His Word."

Woolford says the concert will be more than a fundraiser. The Gospel will be shared. Even if you might not be able to attend, you can still help. "We're encouraging people…to buy tickets even if you can't come. You could buy those tickets and bless somebody who wouldn't ordinarily come to a Christian concert. It's a great evangelistic outreach night."

Your investment will allow someone who can't afford the $19 ticket to not only enjoy the concert, but to hear the message of salvation.

Woolford says last year, "Somebody in Australia…said, 'I'd like to donate $1,500, and I'd like it to go to the purchase of [concert] tickets.' Over 100 people attended. One of those who attended said he was going to take his own life that night. Instead, he came to the concert and gave his life to Christ."

The Mark Schultz concert takes place Saturday, October 26, at 7:00pm at Cornerstone Church in Highland, Michigan.

Click here to purchase tickets.