Praying for the Persecuted

Today I received this Open Doors email prayer alert. For many years God has impressed upon me the importance of remembering the persecuted. I don't always do this well, but God keeps reminding me! The abduction of Christian young women, which this email alert speaks of, is not an uncommon threat in some countries. Tonight one of my Bible readings was Psalm 31, and I prayed that verse 20 would be real for Dorothy and Pastor Reggie:

"You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence
From the secret plots of man"

Daughter of Indian pastor abducted

Dorothy, the 25-year-old daughter of Pastor Reggie Howell from Ferozepur, Punjab, was kidnapped at 7:30am on Wednesday 19 April. She had gone for a morning walk and did not return home. The abductors called Pastor Reggie at 11:30am to tell him she was with them. There has been no news since then.

An OD staff member spoke to Pastor Reggie on the phone and said he was weeping so much, he could hardly talk. The same staff member met Dorothy last year and said "she is really anointed and gifted by the Lord, and has been in ministry for several years, helping her dad."

Pastor Reggie is the pastor of the Good Shepherd Community Church. He and his team of pastors are reaching out to some 840 villages Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. The terrain in these areas is difficult and there are many spiritual strongholds. Pastor Reggie also runs the School of Evangelism to train more workers.

Please pray for Dorothy to be released unharmed and for the family to know the Lord's comfort at this time.

Thank you for your faithful support

John