Archive

  • Write for us!

    We’re well up for having lots of people writing thoughts, articles and reflections for our site. The point is that we’re a community all journeying together with God – we all have a passion to see God’s Church fulfil its mission around the world. We want to see the church shine as brightly as possible, bringing the hope, love and joy of Jesus to people everywhere – especially in places where followers of Jesus can’t live out their faith in freedom. It’s an exciting journey to be on, and we’re glad you’re with us!

    So, if you’re keen to write for the site, then brill – here’s a few pointers to help get you started:

    Our audience

    We’re aiming our content at teenagers and young people from the UK, primarily somewhere between the 13-25 bracket. Be conscious of younger readers if you’re writing about potentially distressing stories.

    Length

    300-600 words. This doesn’t have to be bang on, but we don’t want articles to be too lengthy as this can look a bit daunting on a webpage

    Writing style

    We want to be relational, so be yourself when writing. As some content can be dealing with some heavy issues we want to be hopeful and optimistic, and try to always convey a sense of fun – although we take the situations seriously we don’t take ourselves too seriously.

    Content

    This is where it’s up to you. We have a few different ideas for themes you can write on, but generally it’s always good to read about where you’re at now: your journey with God, what you’re challenged by and how it’s being outworked in your daily life. Here are some ideas for articles we’ve commissioned recently, so ideas along similar lines would be ace (though don’t use these)!

    • 5 passages that might keep you going
    • 3 miracles of Jesus I want to see today!
    • 5 worship songs to pull you through when you’re down

    News/Culture

    This can be your take on something trending in the news, with a bit of a biblical twist. It could be anything from the harlem shake to homeless spikes, an international crisis to England’s world cup woes (some would say these are the same!)

    Reviews

    You might want to write a review of a new Christian album or a film which touches issues of injustice. These are always good to add a bit of variety, but keep it positive! And don’t be afraid to go for something a bit obscure (so long as you’re not plugging your own stuff!)

    Testimony

    If you have a really powerful story that you’d like to share this would be great! Could be an experience from the past that has changed something about you, maybe your attitude towards the persecuted church.

    Ultimately, we want to engage readers with relevant, interesting and diverse content. Not all of our content has to be directly related to issues in the persecuted church, but our ultimate aim is to make young people aware that remembering persecuted Christians is important. We also want to cheer them on in their relationship with God, encouraging them to live for Jesus in their everyday lives. We hope this has been helpful for you and you feel inspired to get writing! We’re really excited for everything to come! Any questions, submissions and thoughts, email us below.

    Please note: Submitted articles will be subject to an editing process and not all submitted articles will be used. We will get back to everyone who emails in though!

  • Drop us a line

    Want to say hello, or have a question about what we do and how you can get involved?

    Drop us a line using the contact form or contact details below.

    Postal address

    Open Doors UK
    PO Box 6,
    Witney,
    Oxon,
    OX29 6WG

    Phone

    Tel: (+44) 01993 46 00 15

    Email

    youth@opendoorsuk.org

    Social

    Twitter: twitter.com/opendoorsyouth
    Facebook: www.facebook.com/opendoorsyouth
    Instagram: instagram.com/opendoorsyouthuk
    YouTube: youtube.com/user/opendoorsyouth

  • About us

    Millions of people worldwide are persecuted for following Jesus. Working with Christians on the frontline, Open Doors is committed to smuggling hope, providing Bibles, training, literacy and livelihood programmes and advocacy support for people who know the true cost of their faith.

    Since 1955: A little history Lesson

    OD_Graphic_Timeline

    A more detailed lesson!

    1955: Brother Andrew smuggles Bibles into Eastern Europe for the first time

    1956: He makes the first of many trips in his legendary VW Beetle. Countless stories of God making seeing eyes ‘blind’.

    1967: Brother Andrew’s biography, God’s Smuggler, is released and goes on to become one of the best selling Christian books of all time.

    1970: Open Doors UK is founded as Open Doors grows internationally. At the height of the Cold War it was a great opportunity to share the needs of the persecuted church.

    1978: Contact with churches in the Middle East begins.

    1981: Project Pearl- one million Bibles are delivered to a beach in China overnight! Years on amazing stories are told of how Project Pearl Bibles end up in far flung places, even as far as India!

    1982: A seven-year prayer campaign for the Communist Bloc begins. It ends with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989! The church on its knees in prayer. And God on the move.

    1989: Open Doors delivers one million New Testaments to Russia.

    1992: Project Samuel: One million children in the former Soviet Union get their very first Bibles, many in remote areas.

    1994: The first Chinese Children’s Bible in simplified Chinese is delivered.

    1997: he World Evangelical Fellowship presents Brother Andrew with the International Religious Liberty Award.

    1998: Open Doors launch the first of many relief projects, in war-torn Southern Sudan ‘Operation Daily Bread’.

    1999: Open Doors delivers over two million Bibles and Christian study materials to Chinese believers.

    2001: Open Doors Youth is born! Wahey! Passionate about telling the story of the persecuted to a new generation.

    2003: Heart for Iraq is launched, bringing encouragement and aid to the church in Iraq.

    2005: Open Doors celebrates 50 years, and a prayer chain for North Korea begins.

    2010: The Right to Believe campaign sees around 150,000 UK Christians (over 428,000 worldwide) sign up and show their support for persecuted Christians.

    2013: The Save Syria campaign sees Open Doors supporters help to provide monthly relief to 9,000 families, 328,000 people have sign the petition and 60,000 bibles and Christian books are distributed!

    2015 and beyond…

    Our aim is to make sure that we in the west stand alongside Christians who face persecution simply for following Jesus. This isn’t about us helping them. We’re family and those who risk it all for the faith have massive things to teach us about how we view our journey with Jesus. The church is God’s chosen plan to show his love and light to the world and God wants his church across the world to be united and committed to him, standing and working together to see that mission fulfilled.

    Up for coming with us on the journey?

  • We support people who are beaten, tortured,
    imprisoned, falsely accused, and hated simply for following Jesus.