Gao Zhisheng is a Chinese human rights lawyer who has spent much of his career speaking up for religious minorities. Since he was first detained in 2006, he has been repeatedly targeted, imprisoned and tortured by the authorities and has been forcibly disappeared on multiple occasions. Most recently, he disappeared on 13 August 2017 and his current whereabouts remain unknown, but he is believed to be in some form of detention.
30 August marks the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Let’s raise our prayers this week for all those who, like Gao, are disappeared because of their beliefs or for speaking up for others who are denied religious freedom. Their whereabouts and names may be unknown to us, but we can be certain that God knows and watches over each and every one of them.
- Pray that God would protect and sustain all those who have been disappeared because of their religious beliefs, and that they would know that they are not forgotten.
- Ask God to grant the families of those who have been disappeared strength, consolation and divine peace, as they desperately await news of their loved ones.
- Thank God for those family members who bravely speak up for their loved ones and will not rest until they see them returned.
- Pray that God would miraculously transform the hearts of the captors, filling them with repentance, justice and mercy, and that they would release their prisoners.
- For all those who risk being disappeared because they advocate on behalf of others who are denied their right to freedom of religion or belief: pray for wisdom, conviction and courage.
Lord Jesus Christ, comfort all those who have been disappeared because of their faith or because they have bravely spoken up for others. May they know that, while their families may be looking for them, you know exactly where they are. You are with them this very hour, as you promised you always would be. We ask you to give them today the consolation, hope and peace that your presence alone can provide. Amen.
‘And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ (Matthew 28:20)