Five minutes of your time can help stop...

But don’t get depressed — there IS something you can do about it… TODAY!

There are three things that you can do in just a few minutes that can make a world of difference...

1. Spend a few minutes in prayer...

A few minutes in prayer for a persecuted Christian can make a real difference to their situation. Through prayer, people are released from prison. Through prayer, torture comes to an end. Through prayer, families find safety. Through prayer, false charges are dropped. Through prayer, people can be sustained and preserved through all manner of evil. Through prayer, world leaders can have a change of heart.

And through prayer, those who oppress others can find the love of Jesus. At Tears of the Oppressed, we believe prayer is essential to our work. Prayer undergirds all our efforts on behalf of the persecuted church. There is no question that without prayer, our work would be hindered. Jesus tells us to pray for those who persecute us, so our prayers need to remember the oppressor as well as the oppressed.

Prisoners have often said they have been conscious that people are praying for them, when they were suffering torture, or threats, or were alone in their cells. Some of the things that have come about by people committed to prayer include:

• Prisoners being released from jail
• People have been protected from feeling the effects of torture
• Families have been safely led out through minefields and unknown mountain terrain
• Prison guards have turned to Jesus

We would love you to join us in prayer. Each month Tears of the Oppressed provides a prayer diary with our newsletter. This enables you to pray for particular people and nations with particular needs. Real people, in real situations, in real time.

2. ...Or a few minutes writing a thoughtful letter...

A few minutes spent writing a thoughtful letter to your Member of Parliament, a national leader, a government representative or embassy official can make a difference to the plight of persecuted Christians. People in power can give the order to make a change, or can influence those who do have the power to make a change. Five minutes spent writing a letter to a person in power may mean five years’ less torment for a suffering Christian.

With our newsletter each month comes a “lobby letter” – a letter on an issue of the day that you can send off to the relevant authority. You can use this letter “as is”, or rewrite it, using it as a basis for writing your own personal letter. For those who receive a hard copy of the newsletter, it comes in postcard form. Newsletter readers who receive it by email will get it in an A4 version.

A hand-written letter has a great impact as it is then very personal to the person to whom it is addressed. But even a typed letter that you have drafted yourself will have immense value in the hands of authorities.

But you can also write letters to Christians in prison. Sometimes Tears of the Oppressed has access to details about where prisoners are being held, which means you can write a personal letter to them.

Sometimes these letters may be intercepted by prison authorities, and never make it to the prisoner’s hands. But don’t let this stop you. Your letter demonstrates your concern for a particular person, and this will be a witness to those who receive it. It makes the authorities aware that the world is watching their actions, that people outside their prison know all about the treatment the prisoners are receiving.

Sometimes these letters result in better treatment, or more food, for them. Sometimes, though, it may have the opposite effect. You can’t be sure. But when the letters are passed on to suffering Christians, they can come at just the right time to lift their spirits. And you can also write letters to the relatives of prisoners. Families of those left behind can easily be forgotten. But it’s important to realise that if a parent is taken away, families can be left unprotected, without an income, and facing the risk of further persecution and poverty. Sometimes the authorities put pressure on friends and churches to stop them supporting these vulnerable families.

Your letters to these people can reduce their sense of isolation and they can share your letters when they visit prisoners in prison.

Sometimes the prisoner’s mail is censored, so they may be unaware that their case has drawn international attention. But when the family brings news from your letter, it can be a great encouragement to the suffering Christian. 

3. ...Or a few minutes talking to your Federal Member of Parliament ...

If you are particularly concerned about a prisoner, or a community of Christians who are suffering persecution, you can try and enlist the help of your Federal Member of Parliament. In Australia you can write to them at their local office, or the following address:

Parliament House,
Canberra ACT 2600

If you don’t know who your Member of Parliament is, you can ring your local Council to find out. You can also find a listing in the phone book or on the internet. You can begin by writing a letter to him/her, or make an appointment at their office. 

But does advocacy work?

Do prayers and letters actually make a difference to the lives of people in far-off places? The answer is yes. In some cases you may never see the results of your actions. In other cases, Tears of the Oppressed will publish some good news about the people concerned. And sometimes, foreign officials will write back to you personally, to inform you of the action they have taken in the matter.