CPC Ministry: Comforting the Persecuted Church
Christian Persecution: What is CPC?
Comforting the Persecuted Church, or CPC, is a ministry of ANM to encourage and minister to the Church around the world walking through the fires of persecution.
In a nutshell, CPC labors to raise awareness, prayer backing, and financial support for persecuted Christians across the globe. CPC does this through personal church visits, Christian missions conferences, newsletter updates, and e-mail prayer alerts.
Christian Persecution: Why is CPC so necessary?
 For every unreached people group in the world today, there are different obstacles and challenges to reaching them with the Gospel. Among these various challenges, there is one so great which even the most persevering missionary finds extremely difficult to overcome: the organized and systemic persecution of the church by the state and all levels of society.
Christians in such places suffer on a variety of practical levels. Many are falsely charged, imprisoned, and/or martyred. Many lose their jobs or cannot find employment due to persecution and/or religious blacklisting. Families of those charged or imprisoned or martyred often lose their sole family breadwinner, resulting in a Christian underclass of widows and orphans where children are no longer able to continue their education, thereby furthering the cycle of poverty. Moreover, individuals and families are often forced to flee their homes and their fields due to persecution, leading to further financial distress.
ANM's stated mission is to support native or indigenous missions around the world who are reaching their own unreached with the Gospel. However, in some places the church does not even have the option to consider reaching the unreached, because its own existence is under threat. If Christians around the world do not work to strengthen the persecuted church during this hour, then in a few years there may be no church left to carry out the work of the Great Commission in these places. Jesus Himself made it clear that "the night cometh, when no man can work" (John 9:4). If we can strengthen and encourage the persecuted church, then tomorrow that church will be strong enough to reach out to its own nation, or at the very least the window of opportunity for reaching out will remain open a little longer. But if we turn our backs on assisting the persecuted church in this critical hour, then tomorrow there may be no church--and therefore no local witness--in these lands.
Christian Persecution: How can you help?
You can help address the needs of those suffering from Christian persecution in three practical ways:
1. Awareness
 The first step that individuals and churches should take is to develop awareness of the plight of the world-wide persecuted church. Per your invitation, our CPC Department can send you any of the following resources, free of charge:
- literature about Christian persecution
- regular news updates (hard copy) on ministries which are serving persecuted believers in their own nations
- e-mail prayer bulletins which alert you to specific world-wide needs requiring urgent prayer
- a personal visit by an ANM staff missionary to your church, home group, or school to talk about the persecuted church
- a missions program or conference by a team of ANM staff missionaries highlighting the needs of the persecuted church, using a mixture of multi-media presentation formats and our special "Persecuted Church Service" presentation
2. Prayer Support
The second step, after gaining awareness, is to stand with the persecuted church in prayer. When we can do nothing else for Christians undergoing persecution, particularly in the most closed and dangerous places, we can pray.
CPC invites you to subscribe to an e-mail prayer bulletin which alerts you to specific world-wide needs requiring urgent prayer.
3. Financial Support
Persecuted Christians around the globe face staggering financial needs. The Scriptures tell us time and again that it is our duty, as their brothers and sisters, to stand with our fellow believers who have needs-particularly when they result from Christian persecution.
ANM receives funds for persecuted Christians worldwide and sends them to the appropriate groups. Following are the major categories of their financial needs. Upon further request, CPC can provide you with more detailed information about each of these.
- Monthly Family Support, including children's education. This would help cover living costs and school fees for families who have lost their source of income due to persecution.
- Legal Fees. This would help pay for court fees for Christians falsely accused of blasphemy or other charges. This is a very important need, as court fees can easily claim up to 75% of a ministry's budget.
- Relief Aid and Health Care. Persecuted believers are often forced to relocate to a new village and therefore need funds to purchase land, rebuild their homes, and start a new life. Sometimes they need funds to modify their existing home to make it secure from intruders (such as constructing a boundary wall) or to re-start a business destroyed by anti-Christian marauders. Some need funds to get treatment for medical problems due to torture, imprisonment, or bereavement. Examples include acid burns on the face, paralyzed arms due to torture, and blindness from excessive crying.
- Battered Christian women. In areas where the church is persecuted, it is the women who often suffer the most, as they are the most vulnerable members of society. When crimes are perpetrated against them, they are often denied justice simply because they are Christian and female. For example, in one instance the courts refused to prosecute a young girl's gang-rapists simply because she was a Christian. Other examples include Christian women who are abducted, forced under threat of death to "convert" to Islam, and then declared "married" against their will. Such women are then viewed as legally married by the state, which grants such women neither the right to divorce their husbands nor the right to return to their previous home (because a Christian family cannot harbor a "Muslim" married lady). Funds given to this account would help cover these women's legal, medical, educational, and rehabilitation costs.
- Prisoners and slaves. Those imprisoned for their faith suffer greatly. Many are provided just one small meal (a cup of rice or porridge) daily. Prisoners often must purchase wood to cook their own meals, sand to cover their own waste, water to drink, and clothing. Often, families must bring additional food to prisoners to prevent starvation. In some countries like Sudan, where human slavery still exists, there is a need to pay money to redeem slaves from their masters.
- Ministry support. ANM stands behind many native ministries working in persecuted lands who are involved in evangelism to non-believers and comfort to Christians facing persecution. Funds given to this category go to support these ministries.
Who do I contact for more information?
Director, Comforting the Persecuted Church Ministry
Ph: (540) 456-7111 Fax: (540) 456-7222
Email: CPC (at) adnamis (dot) org
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