Quincy Eldersveld
Mrs. Roskamp
LA, 8A
9 March 2016

Christian Persecution
“Early Christians expected suffering. Christianity would inevitably have held the martyr’s death in high esteem.” Each month 322 Christians are killed for their faith in Jesus Christ. Christians have been persecuted in the past and are still being persecuted today, such as, Laos; however, there are things we can do to help these Christians.
The early Christians faced a lot of persecution for their faith. The Romans hated the Christians. They would kill anyone who claimed to be a Christian and confessed the name of Christ. Christians began to rejoice in their deaths. They were dying for Jesus. They were happy that they could show that they were following God and doing his will. When the Romans began to see that the Christians were happy, they began to question what they were doing. Later Christians had to be blamed of an actual illegal act before they could be killed. Between 125-160, there was a time period of toleration to Christians. There were very few martyrs during this time. But that quickly changed soon after. Christians were blamed for any natural disaster because they did not pray to the false gods. There was a man named Polycarp, he was nearly 100 years old. He was allowed to be released for his age if he just cursed God and said that he was not a Christian. But he would not and he said that God had stayed with him through his life so he could not deny him. Then the man was burned alive. Christians were not given any slack. They all tried to live like Jesus and do what he would do in every situation.
The Christians were persecuted back in the time of Jesus, soon after, and even now. All around the world there are Christians who are being killed daily for their faith. Especially in places like Laos. Laos is number 18 on the world Christian Persecution list. Laos is a hard place for Christians to live. But God is for sure working there. According to the law Christians are allowed to practice their religion. In their country they are supposed to be allowed to practice any religion. But Christians still live under close guard and are physically abused all of the time. People steal from them, their houses and animals are also taken by others who are not Christians. The hard part about being a Christian in Laos is because they don’t have any strong Christian leaders in their countries. The churches in Laos have learned to live with the government and with the different challenges that come up, they just keep spreading the gospel. They are not necessarily being killed for their faith, they are just being persecuted and going to jail and prison. But there are many people who would like to kill them. But the people in Laos are very strong in their faith and stand up for Jesus in every situation.
Christians are being helped to stand up for their faith everyday. There are many organizations who accept money for their charities. Many work on helping many people come to Jesus or grow in their faith. Others hand out bibles. The thing that everyone can do is to pray. Pray for the people who have to stand up for their faith everyday and to preach the gospel to others. There are many people who are missionaries and who travel to different places to tell them about Jesus. Some people go to places that are and can be very dangerous. They do it for the sake of Jesus and spreading his word to others. They live in other countries and tell others about Jesus. They also can be persecuted sometimes. But they are there to help others and to bring them to Jesus and that’s what they do. They spread the gospel to the people who need to hear it the most.
In conclusion, Christians have been persecuted in the past and are still being persecuted today, such as, Laos; however, there are things we can do to help these Christians. It is easy to just stand and watch the persecuted we need to join and help them. There are many things that I can do to help. One of them is to pray. I can pray for the people around the world that are being persecuted for their faith. Another thing that I can do is that I can send money to the missions that serve the persecuted around the world. Overall, there is a lot that I can do to help the people who are being persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ. All I have to do is want to and do something about it.