11:59pm - David is going strong in this last session. He is flying through the New Testament right now. Talking about persecution and how the gospel spread like fire because of the persecution of believers. Tonight we were able to pray for the persecuted church in The Horn of Africa. Why do we do this? Well here are a few things that our Global Pastor, Jonathan B. and our guest speaker, Nik Ripken said about that:

- Persecution is normal. It is caused by people coming to faith in Jesus Christ. And they find Christ worth it.

- Persecution happens because the gospel is spreading (Just look at Acts).

- The purpose of persecution is to silence witness.

- The reason the gospel spreads is because of persecution (look at what happened after Stephen was stoned in Acts)

- When we remain silent and do not share the gospel, we identify with the persecutor and not the persecuted.

- Suffering will not stop the mission. Suffering only propels the mission.

- God is sovereign over persecution.

- Questions believers must ask themselves - Is Jesus worth it?

These are all things that we witnessed a few months ago as a group of us went to the Horn of Africa to interview persecuted brothers and sisters that were seen in tonight's highlight video. When we would ask about how they had suffered because of their faith, they did not understand the question. You see persecution in that context is normal, it is expected and they count it joy because that means the gospel is spreading.

OH CHURCH...let us pray. Let us join them and see the blessing we have been given by the Father to identify with the persecuted and come along side of them in gospel witness.

We have that opportunity. Throughout the month of April we are asking millions to join together to pray for the 100 million people living in The Horn of Africa. We believe and are anticipating God's movement across the Horn. Generations of people have been born, lived and died without ever hearing the gospel there. Let's pray.

Here are some specific ways to pray from those that we interviewed for tonight's highlight:

* From Salma: Pray for those in my neighborhood, my city, my country and the countries surrounding this country would have open hearts to receive the gospel. That they would know it’s not something you receive by birthright, by being born in a certain race or a certain people.

* From Sarah: So many of my brothers and sisters in the Muslim faith do not know about Jesus. They do not believe in him. Please pray with us that all Muslims will come to faith in Jesus Christ.

* From Adam: Pray that God would bring my family to him, that they would not turn their back on God but that they would come to faith.

*From Alton: There are many that need to hear and are ready to hear and we don’t have enough people to share with them… Pray that God would allow us to have more people to share and that more people would be able to hear the truth of the gospel.

*From Naomi and Nathan: Pray that God will give us strength and health so that we can continue to walk the road of Jesus and share about Jesus with others, that we will be able to share the faith that we have.

There are many other ways to continue to pray for The Horn of Africa. Join us throughout this month of April by visiting PRAY FOR THE HORN website. Read the stories, see the faces and grasp the vast need for the gospel in the Horn. Then pray. Pray hard. Pray with expectation. Tell others to pray. Trust God and watch Him make Himself known.