Faith and Fear: where Christianity is a crime

Open Doors is a charity committed to working in places where being a Christian can get you into serious trouble. Jim Stewart is their Wales Church Relations Manager.

Every year, in January, Open Doors publishes its World Watch List, which identifies the top 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian; places like North Korea - top of the list in 2024 - where even owning a Bible can put you in prison.

Now in its 31st year, it covers a twelve-month period from October to October and questionnaires are filled out by local partners to build up a picture of what everyday life is like for Christians.

The story of Open Doors began in 1955 with a young man from the Netherlands, who became known as Brother Andrew.

While at Bible college in Glasgow, he heard about a worldwide communist youth congress taking place in Poland. His interest was piqued. He knew a lot about the church in the west but very little about the church behind the Iron Curtain in Central and Eastern Europe.

He wrote to the organisers to ask if he could attend, stressing that if he did go, it would be as a Christian. They wrote back to Andrew to say that he was welcome.

Andrew went and, during his time there, met Christians and visited churches. He found Christians in Poland who were faithful to God but who were desperately in need of Bibles and who felt isolated.

It was at this time that his life’s work began, to “strengthen what remains and is about to die” (Revelation 3:2). Today, Open Doors works in over 60 countries around the world, working with local partners to support Christians who face persecution and discrimination. At the heart of our DNA is the conviction that no Christian who is being persecuted should do so alone.

Initially, Open Doors focused on smuggling Bibles to believers in countries behind the Iron Curtain. As time went on, and as the nature of Christian persecution changed, so did the work that we do and now we work with our partners to provide a range of services. In countries where Christians are isolated, for example, we organise summer camps for Christian children to come together, have fun and learn about the Bible.

To find out more about the work of Open Doors, please visit our website at https://www.opendoorsuk.org/ where you can order a copy of the Watch List free of charge. If you are interested in having an Open Doors speaker at your church, you can email Jim on jims@opendoorsuk.org.

In the months to come, Pobl Dewi will focus on some of the countries where – for a variety of reasons – being a Christian is a dangerous thing to be; where faith and fear are constant companions.