By Ryan FoleyChristian Post Reporter Sunday, April 28, 2024

WASHINGTON – Religious freedom activists are urging Americans to learn from Christians who live in countries where they face persecution or death for their faith, and to develop a willingness to “follow Jesus no matter the cost.”

The fourth annual March for the Martyrs was held in the nation's capital on Saturday. The event, which drew dozens of people to the National Mall, aims to raise awareness of the plight of persecuted Christians worldwide. After a rally with a church service and speeches by religious freedom activists, participants marched through the streets to the Museum of the Bible.

“What we're really excited about is how many Christians from all denominations are coming together,” For the Martyrs founder Gia Chacón said in an interview with The Christian Post shortly before the event began. “This is not just an event for evangelicals or Baptists; this is an event for all who confess Jesus Christ as Lord, and that is what we are most excited about.”

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“Christian persecution is a human rights issue, so we not only unite in prayer as the Body of Christ, but we hope to bring this… crisis to the forefront of the fight for human rights and demand action from the US government in protecting Christians all over the world,” she added. “The spiritual component of the Martyr for the Martyrs should not be underestimated. It is so powerful when Christians come together as one voice in prayer and to raise human dignity and advocate for human rights.”

Chacón said March for the Martyrs is one way to advocate for “religious freedom and the protection of our brothers and sisters who suffer for their faith in Christ.” During remarks made on stage, she elaborated on the hostile atmosphere that Christians face in other parts of the world: “In places throughout the Middle East, Christians suffer every day for their faith. Laying down one's life is something normal, not a rare occurrence.”

“Christian persecution has increased by 100 million people” since the first March for the martyrs took place in 2020, lamented Chacón. “There are now more than 365 million Christians around the world who face persecution for their faith in Christ.”

During her speech, Chacón recalled a conversation she had with Egyptian Christians who had lost loved ones due to Christian persecution: “They said: 'We are so proud of them, we are so proud of them that Jesus meant everything to them. .'”

“We need that witness here in the United States,” Chacón asserted. “We need the courage to lay down our lives, to follow Jesus no matter the cost.”

Other speakers at the event echoed Chacón's call for American Christians to embrace a stronger Christian witness. Simone Rizkallah, the director of education for the Philos Project, cited a response from an Eastern Catholic religious leader to a Westerner who asked “what can we do to help” Christians in Iraq, Syria and other countries that have come under attack from the Islamic State terrorist group a group The patriarch replied: “Be happy.”

“What he meant by saying 'be happy' is to so much embody the glory of God, so much to embody and reflect and witness Christian joy, that our sacrifices in the East do not feel that they are sacrificed in vain when it comes to the Body of Christ,” said Rizkallah, suggesting during her remarks that Christians in the United States lack such zeal.

Rizkallah agreed with the conclusion reached by Mother Teresa that “the poorest country” is the United States “because of the poverty of loneliness”. The religious freedom activist suggested that the loneliness noted by the late spiritual leader stems from the fact that “America has forgotten God, it has forgotten Jesus, it has forgotten its roots.”

As the granddaughter of Armenians who escaped to Egypt in the midst of the Armenian Genocide, Rizkallah said her parents came to the United States before she was born. While she expressed gratitude for “the economic prosperity and the religious freedom that this country provides,” she lamented that “something spiritually was lost when we became Americans.”

Rizkallah said she was disgusted by the fact that her classmates at the Catholic high school she attended “didn't care about the faith.”

“I thought to myself, isn't it interesting that you're finally allowed to practice your faith and when you're finally free, you don't care anymore,” she added.

Another speaker, Christian speaker and media personality Christian Trimino, elaborated on how visiting the dictatorship of Cuba in 2016 changed his perspective on life: “You have these people who have so much joy. You have beautiful architecture, classic cars, amazing food and despite what their living conditions were, when you talk to these people, they are all so full of joy and they are all so happy.”

“When you look at Western culture, we live in a world now where we contrast America with many of these other countries and one word that comes to mind is 'comfort,'” he asserted. Trimino contrasted what he saw as the prevailing mentality in the United States, where people do not “want to do anything that is against their immediate comfort” with the philosophy of Christians in Cuba and other hotbeds of religious persecution.

“You have people who are literally killed just for believing in Jesus. You have people who are being forced from their homes. You have people who are being forced out of their countries. You have people who are tortured, separated from families, because they don't want to…go against Jesus.

Trimino suggested that Americans can learn a lesson from “our brothers and sisters who are persecuted around the world” who have “such a real relationship with Jesus.” He detailed how these people adopted a philosophy that “you can take my home, you can take my business, you can take my reputation, you can take my money, you can take my wife, you can take my husband, you can take .my children, I will even give you my life, but the only thing you cannot take from me is my Jesus.”

He further insisted that Americans have an obligation to “take the freedom that we have in America and be grateful for it and manage it well, use our freedom to come to events like this, to start organizations like Gia started, and actually do positive change and stand up for and fight and say: 'Thank you, Jesus, that we have the opportunity, that you put us in this time and in this place to make a global change around the world.'”