Message from Chief Executive
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June 2009.
Professions of faith
"For most of us this was the first time that our lives, indeed our families' lives. were put in physical danger because of the faith we profess." These are the words of one of our ROPEholders in the Indian state of Orissa where there has been open oppression of Christians simply because they are Christians. Just this week I received an email from a ROPEholder in Pakistan reporting the attacks by Taliban supporters on three churches in the area where he works.
Oppressed for their faith
Above are two examples of Christians being oppressed for their faith. As our partner in Orissa also wrote "Time and again Jesus warns his disciples about the probability of being hated by the world because we belong to him. Yet we never really imagined it could happen to us."
Compassionate response
When we look into the life of the early church in the Acts of the Apostles and through the lens of Paul's letters we see suffering and oppression as being very much part of a Christian experience in those early days. Another characteristic of the early church was compassion when others suffered. The infant church was quick to respond - for example the church at Antioch made a collection when there was famine in Judea (Acts 11:27- 30). The church in Macedonia in their poverty showed generosity to help fellow Christians in need. (2 Corinthians 8:1).
Making a difference
It is a privilege to be able to follow this pattern through our ministry in ROPE. We are able to encourage fellow Christians in difficult situations, while helping other Christians to share God's love with the poor of any or no faith. By our giving and our praying we can make a difference. As Paul says to the Church in Corinth "This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God." (2 Corinthians 9:12)
View previous messages from the CEO:
February 2010
November 2009
August 2009
June 2009
March 2009
December 2008
October 2008
May 2008
February 2008
November 2007
September 2007
May 2007
