ABOUT thirty years ago, I heard about the Suffering Church for the first time. Brother Andrew was the speaker at a church, and he was sharing about his many travels behind the Iron Curtain, bringing Bibles and encouragement to Christians who were severely persecuted for their faith.

"I believe that in the measure we help them carry their burden, their weight gets lighter," Brother Andrew told us.

His words brought to mind one of my Physics classes. Physics was far from my favourite subject in high school, but I knew what Brother Andrew said was true in the natural world. If we have to move a heavy piece of furniture and Johan (my husband) and I work together, he may shoulder the majority of the load, but the weight I carry is deducted from his share of the burden.

The same kind of rule applies in the spiritual realm. And there are several ways in which we can lighten the burden of our suffering brothers and sisters. Let me share a few with you.

It may surprise you that I‘ve put prayer on top of the list, but it is not done by accident. In fact, prayer is the most important effort we can make. Perhaps you’ve noticed that prayer is often the first thing the apostle Paul asked for when he finished his letters of the New Testament. He knew how strategic prayer was, and it still is.

Whenever we ask persecuted Christians on our visits what we can do to help them, we get the same answer almost every time. That answer is, "Please pray for us." Why? Because the Suffering Church understands the amazing power of prayer.

We don’t always see the results of prayer from a distance. Sometimes it affects our lives in a very personal way. And sometimes we find ourselves on the receiving end of prayer. When that happens, it makes us realise just how powerful prayer can be.

Paul tells us to remember the prisoners as if we were imprisoned with them (Hebrews 13:3). I can’t think of a better way to feel a little of what the Suffering Church is going through than by identifying with them in prayer.

Years ago, I loved to visit a dear old lady from our church. We called her "Moe (for mother) Schaap". Moe had a burden to pray. Her list of missionaries was very long. She not only prayed for persecuted Christians, she also cried a lot when she prayed.

As she grew older and was unable to walk or remember much of what she was reading, she developed a special way of prayer. She put prayer letters or news briefs on her lap, and said, "Lord, I cannot remember all of this. Would You please come and sit beside me and read what’s here?" Then she would close her eyes and just sit there, trying to feel what the prisoners were feeling. I believe God understood her tears and sighs. She was an example to me of what it means to remember those who suffer "as if you yourselves were suffering." When we pray, He is not impressed by our eloquent words but by the humble condition of our hearts.

To be able to pray specifically, we need to know who is persecuted for their faith in Christ and where.

One way to become involved with the Persecuted Church is to be an "advocate" for suffering Christians around the world. An advocate, according to Webster’s Dictionary, is someone who "pleads the cause of another…defends, vindicates, or espouses a case by argument…is friendly to an upholder; a defender."

Writing letters to ambassadors, congressmen, presidents, members of parliament and others in authority—these are all ways in which we can lighten the burden of those who are persecuted for their faith.

My husband Johan likes to speak on Acts 14 when he challenges Christians around the world to care for the Suffering Church. In that chapter we read how the authorities won the crowd over and they stoned Paul. They dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead.

"Full stop!" Johan tells the audience. The devil wanted to put a full stop here. Paul was finished as far as the enemy was concerned. But God had other plans. The story continues, "But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city" (v.20). Something happened that turned the devil’s full stop into God’s comma. What made the difference? The disciples’ prayers.

God loves to change the devil’s full stops into commas, and He’s still doing it today. It is my heart’s desire that He will use you and me to make a difference in the lives of Christians who are persecuted for their faith around the world. We can reach out to them, each in our own church and community and in our own way, through awareness, through action, and most of all, through prayer.

Anneke Companjen is the wife of the President of Open Doors International.