Prayer March Held in Orlando for Persecuted Christians

I just got back from Orlando, where it was my privilege to attend the Prayer March and Rally for Persecuted Christians. The Rev. Bruce Lieske and his team at Burning Bush Ministries are to be commended for their efforts in organizing a memorable and inspirational evening.

A number of Gates of Vienna regulars took part in the march. Among the representatives from Europe were Sister Hatune Dogan (Germany), Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff (Austria), and Henrik Ræder Clausen (Denmark), who took the video posted below.

Valerie Price of ACT! For Canada was also among the out-of-town (and out-of country) marchers.

Preceding the march was an ACT! For America meeting on Thursday night (where Elisabeth gave the speech you read a couple of days ago), and a panel discussion at a local Lutheran church on Friday night. The march on Saturday was followed by a prayer service at another Lutheran church, this one in downtown Orlando.

All the events were a great success, thanks to the tireless work of the ecumenical team that did the planning, donated the venues and materials, and provided the staffing for the march and the prayer service.

Many thanks also to Vlad Tepes for uploading this clip from yesterday evening:

9 thoughts on “Prayer March Held in Orlando for Persecuted Christians

  1. I looked at the choice of videos that came up at the end of this video of the marchers. Among them, was a short piece by the minister of Prince of Peace Church in Orlando, inviting people to attend the event that the Baron took part in.

    He has some sad statistics:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EumHWDhlG8w

    I wonder, given the relative success of this event vs. the reality of Christian life in Muslim majority countries, if such marches will begin to grow in this country?

    I certainly hope so.

  2. “Prayer March Held in Orlando for Persecuted Christians” would, I think, be a better description.

    Unless the Muslims have also taken over Orlando.

      • I’d have liked an arrow pointing to your good self, just to put a face to the name (unless you really look like a late c19th officer!), but I guess that would be much like a bullseye for some.

        • No, I’m already public. You forget all those videos from Brussels and Warsaw.

          But I was way at the back of the line. I don’t think I’ll show up in any of the videos.

          • Aaah, short-term memory loss. I’ll be ready for them to take me away soon…

  3. elisabeth – ich bin stolz auf dich.
    deine christin

    [Machine translation: “elisabeth – I’m proud of you.
    your christin”]

  4. There was also a rally in Dallas…
    http://rescuechristians.org/shoebat-speak-dallas-rally-persecuted-christians/

    Robert Spencer and Wallid Shoebat, among others, were there.

    I can’t say it was very large. There was a police presence, but the people attending, both the protesters and the counter-protesters

    http://www.cair.com/press-center/press-releases/12496-texas-faith-leaders-to-protest-against-hate-speakers-at-dallas-rally.html

    were nice and mellow, and the protesters and counter-protesters mingled comfortably.

    I spoke to one of the organizers, who told me he had sent repeated notices and press releases repeatedly to everyone he could think of. The Dallas Morning News printed the press release. There were still very few people there.

    It happens, the Dallas Comic-con convention was in full swing about two blocks away, with an attendance of 12, 000, more or less. Pastor Broden was a bit put out about that, feeling that to attend a convention full of people dressed as comic book characters, while Christians (and others) were being persecuted around the world, was a bit superfluous.

    The lesson of all this, of course, is that press releases by themselves don’t count for much. Also, people are going to respond to what they think is important, and not what someone else thinks is important. I had a fantasy of passing out leaflets quoting Khomeini “There is no fun in Islam”.

    I think with persistence, people will catch on to the real importance of the issues.

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