Hello and welcome to Van Life devotions. I am so grateful that I live in a free nation such as Australia where among other freedoms we enjoy, is freedom of religion where religious worship and practices such as Christianity is permissible. Now I appreciate that this is becoming more challenging but for now I can attend church without the fear of being harassed or taken off to prison. I realise though that what I enjoy millions around the globe don’t. Today is the International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians.
Before I talk about this, I want to share about two Australian Graham and Gladys Staines. In 1965 Graham went to India and started working with an evangelical missionary organisation that had a home for people with leprosy. He also cared for people who were in abject poverty. Graham and Gladys met in June 1981 as they worked together taking care of leprosy patients. They married in 1983.
Tragically, on the night of January 22, 1999, Graham with his two sons, Philip (aged 10) and Timothy (aged 6), had just attended a jungle camp, an annual gathering of Christians of the area to strengthen fellowship and for teaching. They decided to sleep in their Jeep when a Hindu fundamentalist group of around 50 broke the windows of their Jeep, petrol was poured in and then ignited, and the jeep was enveloped in flames. They tried to get out of the car, but the mob prevented them from doing so and therefore Graham and his two sons were burnt alive.
Their horrific death caused outcries across India including the then Prime Minister who called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice which they were. For Gladys and her young daughter, the news was shattering causing immense grief but by God’s grace, they’ve come to a place of forgiveness and desired all who were involved to experience the love of God that Graham knew.
Gladys continued to live and work in India caring for those who were poor and were affected by leprosy until she returned home to Australia in 2004. In 2005, she was awarded the fourth highest honour a civilian can receive in India, the Padma Shree, in recognition for her work in Odisha. In 2016, she received the Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice.
I had the privilege of meeting Gladys in 2010 when I invited her to speak at my former church in Canberra. She is a quietly spoken woman who has tremendous courage and faith that has impacted many. Here at Telemon Park in Beaudesert is this plaque commemorating Graham Staines and their two sons, and in Redbank Plains near Ipswich is the Staines Memorial College, a Christian School of 650 students.
Of course, we know about the Staines because they are Australian and yet millions of Christians around the globe are persecuted. Persecution is any form of hostility experienced as a result of following Jesus. This can look different for the hundreds of millions of believers who face persecution every day.
For some, it is a denial of basic needs like clean water, food, and healthcare, because of their faith in Jesus. Or rejection from their non-Christian family and community. For others, Christian persecution is acts of physical violence, imprisonment, or even death.
It is incredible what many go through and yet, because of the faith of such Christians and church around the world which prays and supports the persecuted that the number of Christians continue to grow. On this International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians, let’s pray.
Dear God. Have mercy on the persecuted church. Help them through their hardships. Bless the work of Christian agencies that support and encourage the persecuted church. Thank you for the faith and work of Gladys and Graham Staines and their influence on those who were rejected and poor. O God, preserve us who travel; surround us with your loving care; protect us from every danger; and bring us in safety to our journey’s end; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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