One traditional way to keep the season building up to Christmas focused on its original, religious significance is to use an Advent calendar, which marks each day with the story of a heroic Christian evangelist, leader, or martyr. Children especially seem to love these calendars, with each day offering them a new story for their parents to tell them. Typically printed with little doors that you open each day, these calendars have been enriching Christian family life for centuries, in Catholic and Protestant countries alike. (They are most popular in Germany.)

Technology changes, but the fundamental things of life never do: The message of Jesus is still a challenging one to live in a fallen world, and it can lead to persecution. Each day we carry our cross with Him, and some of us are called to even more—to the ultimate witness of offering our lives as witnesses to Christ. Today, the greatest pressure put on Christians is in the Middle East, in the very lands where Jesus and the apostles walked. Some of the oldest churches in the world have been attacked, and many reduced to rubble, in countries like Syria and Iraq. More than a million Christians have been made refugees, and millions more are still in danger.

To connect the plight of these brave Christians with our celebration of Advent, and encourage Western Christians to help, the Iraqi Christian Relief Council has created a beautiful, interactive Advent Calendar. It highlights the needs of persecuted Christians, and celebrates those who are making sacrifices and taking risks to help them. What better way to help your family remember the reason for the season?

Visit the Advent Calendar here, and let your friends know about it, too. Join your prayers to those of the persecuted Church.