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Your support helps persecuted Christians continue to courageously follow Jesus.
Together, we can reach those where persecution hits hardest.
Open Doors is calling for a national week of prayer to coincide with the presentation of the handmade petition to the UK government at the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) conference, 17-24 November 2019.
More than 14,000 Open Doors supporters have written, painted, drawn or embroidered their names in the unique handmade petition, to raise awareness and prayer for persecuted women around the world.
The petition will be presented to the UK government during the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) conference, 17-24 November 2019. At the same time, a huge selection of petition squares will be on display in Westminster Abbey.
Please pray that that the installation will have a significant impact, especially on MPs at the PSVI conference. Pray that the petition will bring change for our persecuted sisters and that women who are persecuted for their faith would be officially recognised in government policy.
Please join us in praying that the petition will bring change for our persecuted sisters. We’ve created a downloadable prayer guide to help you and your church pray during the week. In the guide you’ll find a written prayer and daily prayer points.
Sunday 17 November has been designated the International Day of Prayer for the persecuted Church. Praying for these women and girls would be a great way to mark this day.
The conference is an opportunity for the UK government to discuss with civil society organisations, guests from foreign governments and survivors of sexual violence how to respond to sexual violence in conflict. By displaying the handmade petition at the same time as the conference is taking place, Open Doors is making a symbolic and prophetic statement that these women must be seen and heard both by the general public, and in terms of government policy.
Our aim is to shape and influence policy to protect our sisters in two ways:
Throughout the world Christian women and girls are doubly vulnerable: targeted both for their gender and for their faith.
Esther was a teenager when she was captured by Islamic Boko Haram militants in northern Nigeria. Along with other abducted Christians she was given a choice: marry or become a slave. Esther chose slavery, but she was forced to marry a Boko Haram fighter anyway.
Eventually, heavily pregnant, she escaped. But once she reached her home, people in the village mocked her. They called Esther is a 'Boko Haram Woman’. And they call her daughter Rebecca, 'Baby Boko'.
Esther was helped by taking part in workshops organised by an Open Doors-supported trauma care centre in Nigeria.
“Before I came for the programme, if my daughter was called ‘Boko Haram baby” I fought with a lot of people and it hurt. Now, even if they call her that I don’t feel it because I know that’s not who my baby is… God loves me so much, I think I am the one God loves most in the world.”
Thank you for praying for your persecuted sisters around the world. You can find out more about the petition, the conference and the global issue of the double vulnerability of women at www.opendoorsuk.org/seechange
Your support helps persecuted Christians continue to courageously follow Jesus.
Together, we can reach those where persecution hits hardest.
