May 2023 Persecution Magazine

In Their Time
of Greatest
Need
ICC assists persecuted believers
when there’s no one left to turn to.
When we read the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, we
see it as an act of love and satisfying their need for
food. They were hungry and left with nowhere to turn
for food. He didn’t provide them with food with a stipulation of
repayment or conversion into becoming his followers. He healed,
fed, and performed miracles simply out of love for the brothers
and sisters He saw in need.
Though we can’t perform miracles in the same way, when we
see our suffering brothers and sisters, we meet them in their
time of greatest need – whether it’s providing aid packages of
food to feed the hungry, medical care to bandage the broken, or
household supplies and rent to the homeless.
We often have the privilege to serve as a lifeline to believers of
the persecuted church. Though these situations of need come
from severe pain and distress, the work that follows is filled with
hope for a better tomorrow, and ultimately points to hope in a
better, more perfect eternity.
In the Bible, Paul so clearly and eloquently writes this to
church members in Corinth, saying, “For this light momentary
affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all
comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17 ESV).
Though trials of persecution are heavy on all our hearts, compared
to the eternal weight of glory, they will only be a memory of
momentary affliction. This is the good news that propels us to
bandage persecution’s wounds of our brothers and sisters.
In the following pages, you’ll read stories of persecution survivors
from all over the world who have been helped by International
Christian Concern (ICC). In the Middle East, one Christian family
began to struggle financially after the husband’s radical Islamic
employer refused to promote him unless he converted to Islam.
ICC provided the family with a small business.
Upon receiving the help to start the business, the wife expressed
to ICC that our visit was like a visit from Christ. One that was
undeserved but something they’re grateful for beyond words.
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Persecution | MAY 2023