I am up very early this morning. I have always been a morning person, but this is early even for me. I awoke from a dream nearly an hour ago and was unable to go back to sleep. God often uses my dreams to prompt me to pray for people, so when I woke up, I began to pray for the individuals in my dream. Since a return to sleep then eluded me, I got up and came to my computer.

I brought up my internet browser not really sure what I was going to do. The homepage for my browser is msnbc.msn.com. There on the front page, I saw an article titled “Christians Face Attacks in Eastern India.” I followed the link to the article and read about the violence being committed against people in India who have converted to Christianity and the missionaries who are there risking their lives to help them. The following pictures accompanied the article:

The photo on the left is all that remains of a Baptist church that was attacked. The people continue to worship, but they do so in secret. They have been told they must convert to Hinduism or face death. The woman and her child were victims of the violence and are now staying at a relief camp where this photo was taken.

The article broke my heart this morning, and I began to pray for these people. I can only imagine how God must feel. How it must grieve Him so to see His children attacking one another and those who follow Him being persecuted for their beliefs.

I was reminded again how thankful I am that I live in a country where I am free to worship as I choose without fear of reprisal or even death.

I have to wonder, though, to what extent my freedom of speech and beliefs will continue to be allowed. I have noticed a trend whereby the tolerance of evangelical Christians to speak out on behalf of their beliefs and value system is slowly eroding away. More and more, we are being called hate-mongers and hypocrites for espousing what God’s Word says to be true.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I experienced just a small taste of this last month. Although it was on a very small scale, it left me shocked and deeply saddened. I can not even begin to imagine what it must be like for those Christians who fear for their lives on a daily basis simply because they have chosen Christianity.

God has really been opening my eyes lately to so many different things. I am becoming so much more aware of those around me and all the hurt there is in this world. Lord, give me your eyes. May it be the continual plea of my heart.

Blessings,