Prayer and Letter Writing

I was happy to learn yesterday from Compass Direct that Egyptian authorities have released Bahaa el-Akkad, a Christian convert from Islam who had been jailed without charges under Egypt's controversial emergency laws for the past two years. Officials at the Wadi el-Natroun Prison released him on April 28, and he was reunited with his wife and three children by nightfall.

El-Akkad reportedly told his lawyer after his release, "While I was in prison, my family told me thousands of people was praying for me. I was sure that was true, because Jesus was with me all through my ordeal." He found hundreds of letters and cards waiting for him when he got home, mailed over the past few months in a concerted letter-writing campaign from Christians around the world.

This is why I often encourage people to subscribe to both the monthly Voice of the Martyrs Newsletter and the weekly email Persecution and Prayer Alert. Both provide significant ways in which you can serve the persecuted without actually having to leave home. Prayer is doing something! And letter writing is not a waste of time. Consider how you can step up, stand up and speak up for the persecuted in your life.