Christians have been, and always will be a minority in religion in our world, they currently make up only about 25% of the world’s population. Christians have been persecuted in the past and are still being persecuted in countries today, such as, Indonesia; however, there are things we can do to help these Christians.
Christians have been persecuted in almost since the beginning, when Jesus left the earth. The persecution started with Nero, in 54 BC. Nero was one of the worst Roman Emperors, and he would do horrible things to Christians. He accused them of cannibalism, using communion as his evidence, saying that they would eat Christ’s body and blood, not just the bread and wine they were using. Firstly, he started part of the city of rome on fire, because he didn’t like that part of the city, and then watched it burn from his house. He blamed the Christians for starting the fire. Not only did he do this, but he would use them as lamps in the best of his parties, burning them alive. Nero, however, was not the only emperor of Rome to persecute Christians, but he was one of the worst. The justice system of Rome was very disorganised, so much of the persecution varied by district. In the justice system, the governor would have the freedom to hear any case, but was not obliged to. He himself would hear the witnesses’ stories and decide on a ruling based on his personal beliefs, not necessarily the law of Rome, so, naturally, the outcome and sentence of cases varied widely. Diocletian was another emperor who persecuted Christians. He forces them to make sacrificed to the Roman gods and then they would be allowed to live, and if they refused, they would be given a second chance, and if they still denied the gods, they would be executed. Over 20,000 Christians died in his rule and still more fled the country. Much of the reason for persecution was just the personal belief of the particular governor, at least until 303, when it first became illegal to have a Bible. Even though there was much persecution, much of the first 300 years of Christianity was peace.
Christians have been persecuted in the past, and still today. There has been a lot of persecution in Indonesia lately, enough to make it on the top 50 list. The main religion in Indonesia is Islam, which generally accepts other religions, except in cases of extremism. The government says that they are tolerant to Christians, but are extremely biased against them. Court passed a law declaring that to open a new religious building, you needed the approval of 60 citizens outside of your religion group. They have been misusing this law and shutting down long-standing churches, even though the law applies to new structures. There is also a lot of hate towards missionaries and Christians in general, such as this story, where people threatened missionaries through texts. Sometimes, local persecution is evident, such as this story, where a church was shut down by the mayor, and was kept shut, even after the Supreme Court ordered or it to be re-opened.
There are people being persecuted globally, however, we can help them. Some different ways that people can help are through prayer, donations, traveling to a different Country and
DeKruyter 2

through letters of encouragement. Also the Prayer, Educate, Advocacy, Care, Equip, that spells PEACE.
In conclusion, there are many Christians around the world being persecuted, but there are ways that we can help. Christians have been persecuted in the past and are still being persecuted in countries today, such as, Indonesia; however, there are things we can do to help these Christians.