Texas Baptists join with 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative for Speak Freedom Texas

DALLAS–On Nov. 5, Texas Baptists is joining with the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative (21CWI) for Speak Freedom Texas, a statewide day of prayer and awareness-raising for religious minorities around the globe facing persecution.

“We are challenging all 5,300 churches affiliated with Texas Baptists to designate Sunday, Nov. 5, for Speak Freedom Texas,” said Randel Everett, president and founder of 21CWI and former executive director of Texas Baptists.

“When we started 21CWI, one of the main goals was to awaken the church in America to the cries of the persecuted church around the world. Because I am a Texas Baptist and a lot of our early resources came from Texas Baptists, we wanted to focus on Texas this year,” Everett continued. “I think a lot of our Texas Baptists understand - our fellowship of churches have always been missional and focused on education. It was a natural platform for us to start a partnership between 21CWI and Texas Baptist churches.”

Pointing to church leaders to speakfreedomtexas.org, Everett noted available resources such as sermon outlines, Bible study lessons, fact sheets, a church toolkit, stories, social media images and more.

“It’s good to be free! Religious Liberty is especially good to those of us who believe in and follow Jesus,” said Texas Baptists Executive Director David Hardage. “Our Texas Baptist family stands united with our brothers and sisters around the world who do not, yet, know the joy of religious freedom. Thank you 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative for being a voice for the voiceless. BGCT is with you and for you!”

21CWI staff have been in 12 countries in the past two years–from Iraq to Nigeria–working with individuals suffering extreme religious persecution. Through their work, they are empowering a global movement to advance religious freedom as a universal right through advocacy, capacity building and technology.

For more information, visit speakfreedomtexas.org.