There is a reason behind the Christian persecution in the Middle East, and this is why a Christian woman, who goes by the name "Maryam," hopes Christians from the West will stop praying for an end to the persecution.
Maryam was encouraged by a group of six pastors and ministry leaders from the United States to travel to America and share her story, according to The Christian Post. This past Sunday, she visited MeadowBrook Baptist Church in Gadsden, Alabama and told her story.
She said her father was sentenced to six months in prison after he complained to the police about a Muslim man blocking the entrance to his store. The Muslim man even threatened to kill her father and disfigure his daughters with acid.
"I will let you and your sister be orphans," Maryam recalled the Muslim man's threats.
When his father first complained to the police, he was told to forgive the Muslim man. But after Maryam's father was assaulted, the police allowed him to file a case. But the Muslim man managed to convince the police that it was Maryam's father who attacked him. Thus, Maryam's father was the one sent to jail instead of his Muslim assailant.
As for herself, Maryam said she faced physical assault when she travelled to the airport going to the U.S. Maryam did not wear traditional Muslim garb, much to the displeasure of the men.
"I was walking in the street and behind me there was three guys and they started to insult me and things like that. I just kept walking. They held these small stones and they started to throw it on me," she said. "They shouted in a loud voice, 'Cover your hair!' That is what I am seeing. It's daily life. Everyday we are facing situations and it is very hard."
Maryam said these were just minor examples of the struggles faced by Middle Estern Christians.
"The persecution is getting worse and worse and worse," Maryam said. "But on the other hand actually, what has encouraged me, encouraged my faith, encouraged my church, encouraged everybody Christian in [the region] is that the Church is increasing."
When Muslims see the strength of Christians' convictions, they start wondering about their faith. This helps them discover the love of God for themselves. Maryam said that there are over one million Christians in her country who are "Muslim background believers." In the past five years alone, one priest even managed to convert 6,000 Muslims to Christ.
"We are not afraid or worried that the persecution will increase. We are just feeling that this is God's time," Maryam said. "God is working perfectly now in the Middle East. Even with all these crazy stuff happening, God is really working now."
"So, I want to encourage you that, of course, you need to pray for your brothers and sisters in the Middle East who are suffering for being Christians and for their faith, but I am asking you to pray a different prayer," she said. "Don't pray for the persecution to be stopped. But pray for the Christians there, for their boldness, their encouragement, for their faith and that they can all be witnesses for God's work and for God."
