True Christian Suffering

I found this article on the BBC News website about Christians in the Middle East. Roger Hardy gives a brief overview of the plight of Middle Eastern Christians. It's not good. What is interesting is the pro-Palestinian Christians in comparison to the pro-Israeli evangelicals in America. Most Middle Eastern Christians are of the 'Orthodox' tradition and not protestants. That in and of itself is a huge difference, but now mix that with politics and you have an even larger rift.

What can be taken from the article is the belief that Christ is keeping his Church. There will always be a witness for Christ in the Middle East no matter how much suffering takes place. So my prayer is for the church 'invisible' in the Middle East that goes beyond sectarian distinctions. So even though it's disheartening to read "Once 15% of the Palestinian population in Israel and the West Bank, today Christians make up only 4%" that 4% is still a witness of Christ, and the gospel is still present.