After 50 years of ministry to the persecuted church doors wide open

SANTA ANA, Calif. — It’s a golden anniversary being celebrated all over the world, but this milestone doesn’t have its partners taking it easy. The Open Doors Ministry is facing one of the toughest years since its meager beginnings 50 years ago.

Open Doors is known for being one of the leading ministries when it comes to helping persecuted Christians worldwide, and now it’s getting a chance to extend a hand to tsunami victims in Southeast Asia.

“God is truly at work, this may be a 50-year-old ministry, but it feels like a young kid ready to continue moving where God takes us,” said Dr. Carl Moeller, president of Open Doors USA.

Moeller said God is continuing to allow them to focus on their mission of “serving the suffering church of Jesus Christ” in the most devastated regions of the world such as Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India.

It just so happens, that these countries have been some of the hot spots for the persecution of Christians, Moeller said. Now that millions of the residents are facing a world without loved ones, jobs and homes, Open Doors is helping Christians in the area come to the aid of their former persecutors and thousands of unbelievers.

“We’ve launched Waves of Hope, which is our frontline approach of relief,” the president said. “We’re starting with a $2 million dollar initial project to help local churches in the hard-hit region to get supplies to their neighbors and in turn become the hands of Jesus to their communities.”

Moeller said the project, which allows churches to share supplies and food with others, has changed the way many of the non-Christians in this area view believers. He said he hopes the continued effort will bring more people to Christ and help end the persecution of God’s people in these countries.

Worldwide outreach
The churches in Southeast Asia are just a few that receive help from Open Doors. The ministry has underground Christians all around the world bringing Bibles, literature and support to churches located in areas where Christians are punished for their beliefs.

This year, Open Doors hopes to raise $43 million worldwide to help make life safer for Christians who face daily ridicule and often death threats due to their beliefs. Moeller said the ministry uses its donations to not only provide materials and support to churches, but to equip Christians in persecuted areas with life skills, education and other abilities so that they can exist and make a living in their communities.

Moeller said he hopes the very visible relief effort in Asia will move American churches to see the importance of prayer and support for fellow Christians who aren’t blessed with the comforts of religious freedom.

“We have a very insulated American culture and we are working to get the word out to U.S. churches that when one member of the body suffers we are to suffer with them,” Moeller said. “It is our responsibility to connect with them. Part of our mission is to wakeup the church and let them know their brothers and sisters are dying.”

Brother Andrew
Open Doors’ founder, a man by the name of Brother Andrew, saw persecuted Christians needing help when he was a traveling missionary behind the Iron Curtain in 1955. He was just 26 years old then, and now that he’s in his 70s, the founder remains one of the most dedicated workers. He now travels mainly in the Middle East.

Brother Andrew’s last name isn’t publicized in order to protect him and the thousands of others who work throughout the world. The workers not only protect their identities, but also their affiliation with the Open Doors organization so as not to draw the attention of persecutors, Moeller said.

Many countries in the Middle East are on the Open Doors’ top 50 most persecuted list, but topping the list is North Korea where Moeller said up to three generations of families can be incarcerated in labor camps if a family member professes Christ.

Iraq a trouble spot
With the rise of radical Muslims, Moeller said Iraq has also made the top 10 list this year. He said Sudan and Nigeria are also places of great persecution due to the extremist anti-Christian groups that have risen up in the past couple of years.

An example of just how dangerous it is for Christians in Nigeria: Moeller said radical Muslims killed more than 1,500 Christians across the country from March to May last year.

Getting the word out to more churches about these and other countries where Christians face persecution is a goal of Open Doors in its 50th year. Moeller said churches can request videos to show their congregations, many with footage from the frontlines of heavily persecuted areas.

Moeller said Open Doors most wants to stir the hearts of Christians in free countries to pray daily for their counterparts across the world.

For more information about Open Doors or to learn more about the persecution going on around the world, visit the ministry’s Web site at odusa.org.

Published by Keener Communications Group, February 2005

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