The 21 Coptic Martyrs were killed by ISIS in 2015 in northern Africa. This short film beautifully tells their story. To me, this sounds like something you’d hear of Christian persecution a 1000 years ago–not in the 21st century. You might know Jonathan Roumie from The Chosen. He helped produce it.

On February 14th, 2025–just a few days ago–the bodies of 70 beheaded Christians were found in a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Have you heard about it on the news? I think I only learned about it because I was researching the beheaded Coptic Martyrs and the algorithm thought I might be interested.

This led me to learn more about the conflict in the DRC. I have to admit, I’m embarrassed by how little I know. I’ve heard of the Hutus and Tutsis before but their story has largely gone in one ear and out the other. They say it’s one of the most complicated humanitarian crises in the world with over 7 million people displaced and over 25 million people facing food insecurity. My research also mentioned that the humanitarian crisis has magnified tremendously after the United States cut all funding from USAID, which was a key player in contributing funds.

21 Coptic Martyrs: Pray for us!

70 Christian Martyrs from the DRC: Pray for us!

All holy saints and angels: Pray for us!

I’m taking some action steps today, and then I’m going to let God be God, and tap some maple trees. What is God asking you to do today?

Hello friends! Thank you for your prayers. Last night was really blessed. My friend CJ and I set up at Bucknell University on the corner of Moore and 7th at 6:30pm. Things started out slow without many people stopping other than to accept an occasional prayer card. Then three guys sat down and asked what we were doing and and saw our little sign reading “care to discuss objections….” and they asked about LGBTQ. I was able to acknowledge that LGBTQ folks are often an unjust target for persecution and that as Christian we need to respect and love those people like anybody else, but that God intends for sex to happen only between and man and a women in the context of marriage. CJ talked about how we’re all sinners in need of Gods mercy. The young men agreed and thanked us and left, and then CJ and I talked amongst ourselves about that issue and how to best approach it as Christians. A little while later, two young women approached and asked what was going on and we told them, and then we asked if they were Christians, and they sort of didn’t know what to say. Both grew up going to church and had positive experiences. I asked if they prayed and they said no, but the one girl, who was more talkative than the other, said how in high school, the girls on her track team would pray before the 4×4, and she really liked that, and she went on to say she wants to get back to church but…she took a deep breath “I’m homosexual.” We told her how much God loves her and he wants a relationship with her and shared the story of the prodigal son and we encouraged her to keep drawing close to God. She asked about a Church and CJ suggested going to Mass. We prayed together and and they left with some prayer cards. The timing was really incredible. CJ and I had some really nice conversation among ourselves and then a young man from Bangladesh sat down and asked us about Christianity. He was Muslim and curious to learn. We talked for almost an hour, exploring the similarities between our faiths (far more than I realized) but also the differences. During our conversation, two other students sat down just hear what was going on. At the end of our conversation I offered him a Bible which he accepted and CJ suggested he start with the gospels which we marked off with bookmarks.