Moment of Silence for Persecuted Christians Called
Dr. Mark L. Williams, Presiding Bishop of the Church of God, urges all of our churches to join with Dr. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, the largest Hispanic Christian organization throughout the Spanish-speaking diaspora, to observe a minute of silence and prayer reflecting upon the persecution of Christians worldwide, especially the 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians murdered and their grieving families.
A statement originating with Rodriguez and the NHCLC states:
“The massacre of 21 Egyptian Christians by ISIS speaks to an agenda of terror, hatred, intolerance and violence that must be addressed by all individuals created in God’s image. We must repudiate all acts of terror; without exception.
Recognizing that today’s complacency is tomorrow’s captivity, as followers of Christ we recognize that silence is not an option, and call upon all Christians this Sunday, February 22 to allocate a minute of silence followed by a prayer reflecting upon the 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians murdered and all others who have lost their lives at the hands of terror, as well as their grieving families.
Further, we call upon the President of the United States of America and Congress to specifically address the persecution of Christians by ISIS, Islamic totalitarianism and regimes in the Middle East; and call upon the United Nations to convene a summit on Christian persecution around the world.
Correspondingly, we stand convicted and convinced that terror and intolerance cannot, and will not, extinguish the light of God’s grace, truth and love. For at the end of the day we stand upon the promises from Scripture, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs” (Matthew 5:10); and “The gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church of Jesus Christ” (Matthew 16:18)”.
NHCLC/CONELA is the largest Hispanic Christian organization. It serves as a representative voice for the more than 100 million Hispanic Evangelicals assembled in over 40,000 U.S. churches and another 500,000 congregations spread throughout the Spanish-speaking diaspora. For additional information, visit www.nhclc.org.
Additional endorsements come from the Southern Baptists, Pentecostal Holiness, Assemblies of God, Q-Conference, Mark and Roma Downey, CBN, and James Robison.
