My column today is about the persecution of Christians around the world. While we’re all having a jolly time covering the war on Christmas, there are many forgotten victims of the bloody, repressive war on Christianity by Islamists and totalitarian regimes. Excerpt:

In Iraq, Islamist rebel troops have declared open season on Christian churches, priests and missionaries. In February, four American pastors were traveling in a taxi near the capital when terrorists ambushed them. Rev. John Kelley, pastor of Curtis Corner Baptist Church in rural Rhode Island and a former Marine, was killed in the attack. The missionaries were starting up a new church south of Baghdad.

A friend of Rev. Kelley’s noted upon word of his murder that “he wanted to be a witness for Christ in a part of the world where there aren’t a lot of witnesses for Christ.”

On March 15, Southern Baptist missionaries Larry and Jean Elliott of Cary, N.C., Karen Denise Watson of Bakersfield, Calif., and David McDonnall of Rowlett, Texas, were killed in a drive-by shooting in northern Iraq. McDonnall’s wife, Carrie, survived the attack. The group, one of several Christian aid groups helping with reconstruction efforts, was scouting out locations for a water purification project.

The McDonnalls were young students at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Watson served on the Baptist International Mission Board, as did the Elliotts. At the Elliotts’ funeral, their oldest son, Scott, touched his chest and looked upward in tribute to his parents: “Thank you for living for the Lord. I am a life that was changed…”

Christian persecution in Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Sudan, North Korea, Vietnam, and elsewhere is tracked by the following organizations:

Voice of the Martyrs
International Christian Concern
Montagnard Foundation
WorldnetDaily

While I have little faith the MSM will start covering global Christian persecution with anywhere near the same fervor as it has the War on Christmas, there’s always hope. Sometimes in unexpected places.

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