Heroes of our Faith: Inspiration and Strength for Daily Living
By Patrick Sookhdeo
Isaac Publishing
Heroes of our Faith introduces us to the lives of Christians from many parts of the world who were killed for their faith.
A ten-page foreword shows us the significance of the witness of martyrs for our Christian lives confirming the New Testament teaching that every Christian will suffer persecution and for increasing numbers today it will end in death.This book reminds us that every Christian must be mindful of this daily.
The new edition shows that persecution of Christians leading to martyrdom is universal even into the 21st century. There are hot spots like West Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia, but the book tells the stories of martyrs from many other countries.
We have accounts of the martyrdom of individuals, church groups and communities from contemporary Iraq that are heart breaking and shocking at the nature of the violence unleashed on defenceless people.
We have the story of the first martyr from Bangladesh mid the moving story of Esther John the young martyr from Pakistan who is commemorated in the gallery of martyrs in London’s Westminster Abbey. The book shows that a surprising number of Christians who were killed for their faith are young people who were willing to lose their lives for their faith like the recent martyrs from Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq and Indonesia.The book is unique in showing us how persecution and martyrdom of Christians is universal and how it has escalated in the past four decades.
Patrick Sookhdeo shares a story for each day of the year, adds a biblical reflection where appropriate and shares prayers and quotes from Christian writers from all over the globe.We can see why we can consider them as heroes of our faith. Most stories are of ordinary Christians who lived in contexts very hostile to the Christian faith and Christians as a people. They continued to be faithful to Christ in the midst of such daily and often violent hostility.
They continued to love people who persecuted them and served such people. And did not curse their killers but loved them for Christ
This book will make a very good daily companion and resource for our daily personal and family worship times.
Vinay Samuel
Church of England Newspaper September 3 2021