How to Read a Persecution News Story

Jessica Boulos, killed in Cairo, Egypt on Aug. 6, 2013. (Morning Star News photo courtesy of Boulos family)

In response to requests from readers of the persecution news service I edit, Morning Star News, I’ll share how I handle dealing with so much horrific news that can leave one either despondent or desensitized.

The horror of some of the stories, along with the sense of helplessness they leave in their wake, can be wearying. I’ve heard many a reader sigh that they just don’t want to read it anymore; it’s too depressing. Imagine what it’s like, then, for a journalist to write about and edit it for 14 years.

The incessant flow of bad news has led me to the only thing that can parry the effect of the continual buffeting of the soul – giving it over to God. Sometimes when my 19-month-old daughter falls asleep in my arms, I pray for parents in Nigeria whose children have been slain in their beds by Muslim extremists. When my 4-year-old son cries after falling down, sometimes I’m reminded later to send up a prayer for children in Somalia who cry out for mothers and fathers lost to murderous Islamists.

A slight chill wind might lead me to pray for Christians in North Korean labor camps who suffer icy temperatures day and night without adequate food, clothing and medicines.

The annual International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) in November reminds us that persecution news is meant to elicit prayer. But how to pray? Read more