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"The Faith That Gets You Killed"Nearly 5,000 Christians were killed for their faith in 2023 with another 4,000 abducted. Nearly 15,000 churches were attacked or closed. And more than 295,000 Christians were forcibly displaced from their homes because of their faith.The latest annual accounting from Open Doors ranks the top 50 countries where it is most dangerous and difficult to be a Christian. Nigeria joined China, India, Nicaragua, and Ethiopia as the countries driving the significant increase in attacks on churches. Overall, 365 million Christians live in nations with high levels of persecution or discrimination. That’s 1 in 7 Christians worldwide.And for only the fourth time in three decades of tracking, all 50 nations scored high enough to register “very high” persecution levels. Syria and Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, entered the tier of “extreme” persecution.When the list was first issued in 1993, only 40 countries scored sufficiently high to warrant tracking. This year, 78 countries qualified. North Korea ranked No. 1, as it has every year except for 2022 when Afghanistan briefly displaced it. The rest of the top 10: Somalia (No. 2), Libya (No. 3), Eritrea (No. 4), Yemen (No. 5), Nigeria (No. 6), Pakistan (No. 7), Sudan (No. 8), Iran (No. 9), and Afghanistan (No. 10).The deadliest country for Christians was Nigeria, where more than 4,100 Christians were killed for their faith—82 percent of the global tally.How often do you think about and pray for these people who are your brothers and sisters in Christ? Perhaps you didn’t know. Now you do. And did you know that these persecuted believers pray fervently for you? And I’m pretty sure you know why.Hebrews 13:3 - Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.