Two years ago, at the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in South Korea, I heard unforgettable testimonies from persecuted Christians. The stories were not just from the stage. Sitting next to me was a pastor who, as a child, had to flee his home country because of his family’s faith.

These persecuted brothers and sisters have names and faces, and they are not few in number. Today, 388 million Christians face persecution or discrimination because of their faith — roughly one in seven believers worldwide.

Jesus takes the persecution of his church personally. When the resurrected Christ appeared to Saul in a dazzling vision on the road to Damascus, he asked, “Why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). Saul never laid a hand on Jesus, but Jesus was declaring that to attack his people is to attack him.

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Walter Kim

Walter Kim is president of the National Association of Evangelicals. He earned his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University, was a chaplain at Yale, and has served in diverse pastoral ministries. Before becoming NAE president, he served as a pastor at Boston’s historic Park Street Church and at churches in Vancouver, Canada, and Charlottesville, Virginia. He serves on the boards of World Relief, Christianity Today and The Salvation Army USA and is frequently sought out for theological and cultural commentary on issues facing the church and society.