On Feb. 28, Gather25 kicked off a live, 25-hour global broadcast that united followers of Jesus across the world to pray, repent, worship, and discover how Christ’s love is transforming the world through everyday people.
Events were broadcast from Texas, New Zealand, India, Malaysia, Romania, Rwanda, London, Peru, and areas around the world where Christians are being persecuted for their faith.
Sessions featured teachers, worship leaders, storytellers, and prayer guides. These speakers included Gather25 visionary Jennie Allen, Francis Chan, Christine Caine, Matt Redman, Priscilla Shirer, Louie Giglio, Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes, Rick Warren, Sadie Robertson Huff, Matt Maher, Taya, David Platt, Jenn Johnson, Trip Lee, and Ann Voskamp, to name a few.
ChurchLeaders spoke with Shirer and asked her to share how important it is for the American church not to forget persecuted Christians.
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Shirer, who is the daughter of Dr. Tony Evans, as well as an author, a Bible teacher, and an actor, shared that when she was a teenager, she read “Jesus Freaks,” a book that told the stories of persecuted Christians.
“Reading of what people are going through in a very raw way, their children being taken from them, their jobs being removed from them,” Shirer said, “them not being able to flourish in their career industry because they’ve been blackballed because they’ve refused to deny Jesus, their limbs being cut off…I mean, horrible.”
“That reminder is very sobering,” Shirer emphasized. Of the American church she asked, “What do we have to complain about? What are you complaining about? What am I complaining about?”
Shirer continued, “This privilege that we have to live in a part of the world where we can worship unapologetically and loudly and boldly. And at the most, what we might risk is a little bit of our pride. Maybe we’ll have some isolation as a result of that.”
