“Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” Hebrews 13:3

To my sisters in Christ,

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are united as a family worldwide. For every believer, you are my sister, my friend. As your family member, I will pray for you, be there for you, and do all that I can to insure you know that you are not alone. You are my family, a child of our Heavenly Father, together we can make a difference.

You are always in my prayers!

Your sister in Christ, Kayla Rampey

The Bible tells us in Hebrews 13:3 to “remember those in prison as if you were together with them, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” Imagine if your biological brother, sister, mother, or father was imprisoned for believing in Jesus Christ. How would you feel if your family member was taken from their home, beaten, mistreated, or even killed for their beliefs?

My heart breaks thinking of how I would feel or what I would do if my family member was in that sort of situation. I can’t imagine what it would be like to hear that my sister, my best friend, was thrown in prison and beaten. I would automatically want to find a way to help her and get her home safely as soon as possible. But what if her life was meant to be an example to glorify God? What if her faith during persecution would cause thousands of people to come to know Christ? Would I even understand the depths of her love for Christ? Would my faith override my fears?

The truth is, I can’t imagine true persecution, but people all over the world are dealing with situations just like this every day.

This blog is not meant to scare you or cause you to worry about things you can’t control; instead, it is meant to inspire you and encourage you to pray for your spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ that are suffering all over the world.

My small group started a new study Sunday called “I am n.” I’m sure you’ve seen the symbol, but do you really know what it means? In the Islamic culture, all Christian homes, businesses, and churches are marked with a symbol “n” showing others that the people inside proclaim Jesus Christ. In a culture where Christians are not welcome, this causes mass destruction, hate crimes, and chaos that is hard for us to even imagine. Christians are forced to escape with only their shirts on their backs because their businesses suffer for their beliefs and they are not welcome in their communities. Families are torn apart, taken from their homes, and beaten for their beliefs. Without warning Christians can be imprisoned and harmed without reason. Pastors and believers have lost their lives just because they refuse to denounce Jesus Christ as their savior.

It’s easy for Christians like you and I to get disconnected with our persecuted family members halfway around the world. For us, we have it made. We can preach the gospel almost anywhere without worrying about true persecution. The biggest worry we have when it comes to sharing the gospel is, “what if people make fun of me? What if they won’t listen?” Whereas, in other countries across the world, there are Christians fearing for their lives just because they own a Bible.

I can’t express to you how important it is for you to pray for your extended family members. I will admit that there have been times (way too often) where I pray for myself, my close family, my food on my own table, and maybe a few friends that I know are struggling, but I forget about or overlook the ones that need prayer the most – my persecuted family members. There are days that my prayer life is nowhere near what it needs to be. When life gets busy it seems like my prayers get shorter and shorter, when they really need to get longer to help me grow closer to my Heavenly Father.

Without a sense of urgency or a reminder of the sacrifices some of our brothers and sisters are making, it’s hard for us to understand true faith.  We often forget about the people that are not in our direct sight daily.

Who are you forgetting about today? Have you forgotten the ones that need prayer the most? When was the last time you prayed for your brothers and sisters in Christ that you don’t even know?

When you think of your “global” family in Christ, remember to pray for:

• Pastors and missionaries that serve all over the world
• Persecuted Christians
• Military and their families
• World leaders

Also pray for your enemies, pray for:

• Terrorist and people that are persecuting Christians, pray that the Lord will change their hearts if it be His will, and if not, pray that whatever happens it will make a huge impact in this world for the glory of Christ.

The people that are hardest to pray for are usually the ones that you need to pray for the most. Today I challenge you to step up your prayer life, make a list of those that you need to add to your daily prayers, and remind yourself daily of the freedom that you have in Jesus Christ. Never forget about your persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ and let their lives be an example to you, inspire you to grow your faith, and encourage you to be urgent in sharing the gospel with everyone.

May God Bless you and show you His Grace every day!

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