Dear partner of the persecuted Church,

Over the past two years, violence against the Church across sub-Saharan Africa has escalated with four African countries on the top five for violence against Christians.

Every Christian we help in Africa and beyond isn’t just another number – they’re our family. Each one of them and their needs are important to us!

Sadly, sometimes the sheer numbers of persecuted Christians overwhelm us, but then we hear the words of Jesus when he fed the five thousand: “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” (Matthew 14:16). Just like He performed a miracle that day, the Lord performed a miracle last year by providing us with support to help thousands of Christians survive.

This year, we pray that the Lord will enable us to help thousands more and to visit them. If ever you’ve wanted to meet them, I encourage you to look at our travel brochure and prayerfully consider where the Lord may be leading you this year.

Thinking of my travels to the persecuted Church, I think of a widow whose husband was killed by extremists in Africa. She said to me: “Thank you! Your prayers and support gave me back my will to live.”

I was encouraged by her message. And as I think of the many Christians we’ve been able to serve for 50 years, I’m humbled that the Lord has used Open Doors Southern Africa to mobilise Christians in Southern Africa to assist in serving our persecuted family. That’s why we can’t wait to celebrate 50 years of serving the persecuted Church in May 2021.

Through your prayers and support over the past 50 years, we’ve been able to help uplift thousands of Christians and give them “back their will to live”. Thank you so much!

We look forward to seeing you at our celebrations and for you to join us on a trip!

Jan Gouws
Executive Director
Open Doors Southern Africa