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August activities: Week three – Speak to your persecuted fam!

At the start of August we posted out to you a series of postcards with a challenge to do each week during August. We’re now at week three, and we want you to do something incredible – to send a letter to Christian children in India who have been impacted by persecution. Read on to send a message of hope!

Week three: Speak to your persecuted family

Have you ever felt forgotten? Felt like no one cares about you? For many Christians, the decision to follow Jesus means they can face threats and exclusion by their communities. It means no one wants anything to do with them. Harsh, right?

This is especially true in India, where there is a strong feeling that everyone should be Hindu. Christian homes have been attacked, and believers have been thrown out of their villages. Last week we learnt that some are refused vital aid; others can be denied education and even water.

Children and teenagers from Hindu backgrounds who choose to follow Jesus can face even harsher treatment. “Christianity is considered a detestable religion in our village,” one young boy said. He started to attend church secretly, but when his mother found out he was told off and beaten many times.

This isn’t fair, It’s not right, And we know that our church family in India need encouragement So let’s send them some.

Challenge

Encourage your persecuted family: Everyone loves getting messages, and if you were having a rough time, imagine getting a load of messages from people on the other side of the world! It’d help you realise that you’re not forgotten. So write, draw or film a message that we can pass on to encourage vulnerable Christian children and teenagers in India

Grab some pens, pencils, paints and some paper and get creating. Then, take a pic of your message and email it to us at youth@opendoorsuk.org. If you want to send a video, just email it to us at the same address!

Here’s some tips…

• Keep your drawings and messages ‘light’ (e.g. no pictures of things associated with war etc)
• Do not mention Open Doors
• Keep it simple and make it encouraging

If you’re stuck why not…

• Write a prayer
• Write out a Bible verse
• Write the lyrics of your fave worship song
• Draw a picture of a global church community

Pray this

Lord Jesus, thank You for touching the lives of children in India. Be with them now, help them to know we, their church family, are praying. Help them to know that ‘the joy of the Lord is their strength’ (Nehemiah 8:10). Amen