By Open Doors Southern Africa
Focus falls on the persecution of Christians
The ministry organisation Open Doors Africa is having its annual event to commemorate Persecution Sunday on May 31. This event aims to get churches and other Christian organisations involved in raising awareness about the plight of persecuted Christians and to join Christians across Africa in praying for their persecuted family around the world.
The first Sunday after Pentecost is known worldwide as Persecution Sunday. This day highlights the terrible persecution that Christians in many countries often endure for their faith – with believers often facing imprisonment, discrimination, rejection, torture and even death.
Many people don’t realise that the persecution of Christians started centuries ago and is still a reality today. The persecution of Christians started shortly after Jesus’ Ascension to Heaven, when a group of His followers in the early Church gathered in Jerusalem after Pentecost to pray together. After they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they started to spread the Good News of Christ, and the persecution of the early Church gained momentum.
A voice for persecuted believers
Open Doors is a voice for persecuted believers in more than 70 countries around the world. More than 388 million Christians now face high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith (up by eight million from last year’s figure of 380 million). This is a record number, representing one in seven Christians worldwide (up from one in eight five years ago), one in five Christians in Africa and two in five Christians across Asia. A shocking 13 Christians are killed every day for their faith across the world.
The overall trend shows that the persecution of Christians has risen at an alarming rate all over the world. In the top 50 countries on the Open Doors World Watch List (WWL) alone, 315 million Christians face very high or extreme levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith. A total of 4 849 Christians were killed for their faith in the WWL 2026 reporting period.
About Persecution Sunday 2026
This year, the theme of Persecution Sunday will be “Let’s love our neighbours”. In a time where division, suffering, loneliness and misunderstanding are all too common, loving your neighbour isn’t just a moral ideal – it’s a spiritual mandate and the evidence of a life rooted in God’s love.
To love your neighbour is to be devoted to them, honour them above yourself, share with those in need, practice hospitality, rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn, live in harmony with one another and bless even those who hurt you.
This Persecution Sunday, Open Doors wants to create a space for that kind of love – a place where people pray not only for their persecuted family but also for and with each other. It’s the ideal opportunity to stand in the gap for those in the Body of Christ who can’t gather and worship freely, encourage one another and lift each other’s burdens, and to ask God to renew your hearts, so you may live out His mandate of loving your neighbour.
Persecution and violence in sub-Saharan Africa
Alongside Open Doors’ annual Persecution Sunday prayer event, the organisation is currently running the Arise Africa campaign, which is a multi-year response to the persistent violence waged against Christians in the region. Working with Christian leaders throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the campaign intends to enable the African Church to stand in faith where persecution is most extreme.
In sub-Saharan Africa, attacks against Christians have reached alarming levels, and the Church needs support more than ever. A total of 90% of all religiously motivated killings occur in Africa, and recent data clearly show that Christians are targeted in a pattern that is mirrored across several sub-Saharan African nations. A total of 14 nations in this region appear on the 2026 WWL, and one in every eight Christians globally lives in these 14 countries.
Lynette Leibach, executive director of Open Doors Africa, says: “It is encouraging to see that more followers of Jesus not only become aware of the plight of their brothers and sisters who face persecution, but choose to pray and act on their behalf. More than 150 churches have already committed to participating in the day of the Persecuted Church on May 31. We pray that our family of faith will be strengthened to boldly live out their faith in dangerous places as we embrace Jesus’ command to love our neighbours as ourselves.”
Ways to get involved
Individuals, churches and other organisations can get involved and create awareness in their congregations in the following ways:
- Be a speaker at your church on Persecution Sunday: Anyone can be a voice for persecuted Christians who are unable to speak for themselves by being a volunteer speaker at their own church on May 31. It’s the ideal opportunity to help spread the message of the persecuted Church.
- Invite one of Open Doors’ volunteer speakers to your Sunday service: Open Doors’ volunteers will be doing personal presentations at churches all over the country on Sunday morning, May 31. They will share testimonies about the sacrifices that persecuted Christians make for their faith and how Jesus Christ is glorified through it.
People who register to organise a Persecution Sunday event will gain access to all relevant materials, including a PowerPoint presentation on the theme, videos, prayer cards and children’s material.
Open Doors aims to get the event on the agendas of as many churches and other Christian organisations in South Africa and its neighbouring countries as possible, with an appeal to churches to commemorate Persecution Sunday during their worship services on May 31 and spread the message of persecution throughout Africa.
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