Christian Memorial Day

A Blessed All Saints Day to you!

I say blessed, because we in America do not fully understand what it is like to suffer for our faith. This is why All Saints Day is so important for us Americans.

All Saints Day is the Christian Memorial Day, where we remember those who of suffered and died for the cause of Christ. As a nation of comfort and religous freedom, we need to remember that our brothers and sisters across the world do not share our fortune. The gospel costs something. We, who are so afraid to stand up for the name of Christ and the hope that He brings, need to look at those saints who have paid the ultimate price on crosses, stakes, and swords.

This is the day of martyrs, and we have allowed Halloween of all things to let us forget the courage of our siblings in the Lord, and the power that the Spirit of God displays through our weakness.

Here is a story from the Voice of Martyrs website. Let it encourage you to pray for those in other nations, for our fallen myrtyrs:

Somalia: Teenager Beheaded

A 17-year-old Christian was beheaded by al-Shabab extremists on Sept. 25 as he prepared for school. Al-Shabab, determined to rid Somalia of Christianity and Western influence, had carefully monitored Guled Jama Muktar and his family since their arrival from Kenya in 2008, a source told Compass Direct News. “I personally know this family as Christians who used to have secret Bible meetings in their house,” the source said.

The militants arrived at Muktar’s house around 6 a.m. after his parents had left for work.

“The neighbors heard screaming coming from the house, and then it immediately stopped,” the source told Compass Direct News. “After a while, they saw a white car leaving the homestead.” When Muktar’s parents heard about their son’s murder, they rushed home, buried his body and fled the area, fearing the militants would kill them as well. “When the incident happened, the parents called to tell me that their son had been killed and that they feared for their lives,” the source said. “Since then, I have not heard from them.”

After a string of al-Shabab kidnappings in Kenya, Kenyan military forces invaded Somalia on Sunday, Oct. 16, to combat the extremist sect, according to Associated Press reports. Kenya claims that France joined them in an attack on Oct. 23, bombing a town near an al-Shabab stronghold.

The al-Qaida-linked Al-Shabab are masters of suicide bombs, slaughtering Somali civilians, many of them Christians. While fighting the transitional Somali government for control of the country, al-Shabab imposes a strict version of Sharia, or Islamic law, in the area it controls.