21 Christians martyred one year ago

Egypt (MNN/Open Doors) — Monday February 15 marked one year since the Islamic State slaughtered 21 Egyptian Christians on a beach near Tripoli.

Open Doors USA reports that believers throughout Egypt gathered after this brutal slaughter to pray for the victims’ families.

A brother of one of the believers killed is quoted saying, “We had a hope that they would be released…. But the will of God was for them to be martyrs of Christ, and that is better than life. They kept the faith until the last moment. We are proud of them.”

One year later, we look back and know that the Islamic State did not stop with this evil act. They have continued to take believers hostage throughout the Middle East, conduct attacks on the innocent, and mercilessly kill those in opposition to them.

These regular acts of ISIS have begged the question: Is the Islamic State more unified than the Body of Christ?

They are gathering followers from all over the world who are willing to lay down their lives for this cause. They are united from all different cultures and countries.

Shouldn’t we as the Body of Christ be more unified than this?

The problem is that many believers do not know how many of their brothers and sisters in Christ are facing persecution. Many Christians who are not facing persecution don’t realize that hundreds of their sisters in Christ are kidnapped in countries like Egypt and are forced to marry Islamic extremists. Others do not know that an average of five churches are attacked in Nigeria. Every. Single. Sunday.

So what can we do to be a more unified Body of Christ?

The #1 thing that persecuted Christians ask for is that we share their stories so more people can be praying for them. So share this story!

This is how we can bring together the Body of Christ and be more unified than any stronghold–even the Islamic State.

Please come together with believers around the world today to remember the 21 Egyptian Christians who were beheaded, and pray for those facing persecution around the world to stand strong in God’s strength for His glory.

*Egypt is ranked #22 on the Open Doors USA World Watch List (WWL). The WWL is a ranking of the top 50 countries where Christians face the most severe persecution for their faith.