The early Christians experienced persecution because of their love for Jesus and their witness to him. Many Christians experience serious persecution today. The House of Commons Library says, “More than 365 million Christians worldwide (1 in 7) experience high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith, a number that has nearly doubled in thirty years. Hostility includes violence, imprisonment, and displacement, with over 4,400 Christians killed in 2024 and thousands of churches attacked, particularly in Nigeria, North Korea, and the Middle East.”

Jesus knew that, just as he was persecuted, so his disciples would experience persecution. He said, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” In his Sermon on the Mount he said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Christians are encouraged to, “Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.”

Jimmy Lai is a 78-year-old man who is in prison in Hong Kong. He is a British citizen who could have left Hong Kong but chose to remain to campaign for freedom of the press, free speech and religious liberty. In March 2026, while he was already in prison, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces” and “publishing seditious materials”. This is a death sentence. Jimmy was born in poverty in mainland China. When he was 8 years old a visitor gave him half a bar of chocolate and told him it came from Hong Kong. The chocolate tasted so good Jimmy thought Hong Kong must be heaven and determined to go there. When he was 12, he escaped from China and arrived in Hong Kong in the bottom of a fishing boat. He became a millionaire establishing Giordano, the successful retail clothing chain, and later the Apple Daily newspaper.

How does Jimmy survive in the harsh prison conditions? He is alone, on an otherwise empty floor, high up in the prison building. The one window of his tiny cell is blocked. At night, the electric lights are turned off and he can see nothing. His back hurts. His nails fall out. His teeth rot. He is fed little and denied medication. But Jimmy knows that Jesus is with him. In April 2022 he drew a very moving picture of Jesus on the cross and wrote beside it, “I am confident and unafraid, my strength and my courage are in the Lord, and he has been my Saviour.”