Sub-Sharan Africa: In Africa, Christianity is experiencing explosive growth. Scripture for the day: John 15:18 вЂњIf the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.вЂќ Please use these materials in any way you find most helpful in your personal and family worship times during this season of prayer. May the Holy Spirit lead us and give us grace as we seek to understand, appreciate and intercede for the unity of the suffering church around the world. We will also have a daily scripture for meditation and two short topical essays from Dr. WeвЂ™ll look at persecution from Hindu extremism, Islamic extremism and secular pressures in more first world environments. WeвЂ™ll look at places where the persecution is more overt and places where it is more subtle. How will we do this? For each of the eight days we will focus on a different country or region of the world and examine the persecution of GodвЂ™s people in that place. We want to use this yearвЂ™s observance to explore these topics and let them shape our intercession for the unity of GodвЂ™s people. The вЂecumenism of bloodвЂ™ is therefore a part of the larger mystery of GodвЂ™s bringing salvation and unity to the world. The Father brings His kingdom, including the unity of His kingdom, through the seeds of his suffering church. There is also a deeper level to the вЂecumenism of bloodвЂ™, wrapped up in the mystery of persecution and martyrdom. The вЂecumenism of bloodвЂ™ is first and foremost an ecumenism of the heart. As we hear of their suffering, our hearts call out in intercession theological differences shrink in significance as we pray for their protection. The вЂecumenism of bloodвЂ™ is a simple concept on one level: hearing of the persecution of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world speaks directly to our hearts. This is now the Sword of the SpiritвЂ™s 10th year of participating in this worldwide observance! Similar to last year, we want to take a special approach to the materials used in our observance based on the concept of вЂthe ecumenism of bloodвЂ™. It has been this way since the beginnings of this international movement in 1908. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is actually an eight-day observance or вЂњoctaveвЂќ of prayer.

Week of christian unity 2019