"We remind people in the west that we are part of a universal body.'' That is the topic of a seminar today being conducted at the First Baptist Church in Devonshire where Open Doors Bermuda will highlight the suffering of more than 200 million Christians world wide.

"We do not dump bibles and run,'' President and CEO of Open Doors (International), Terry Madison said this week.

He added: "That is 30,000 times the population of Bermuda. It means that at best, every time we sit down for a meal, someone dies for their Christian beliefs.'' Open Doors volunteers distribute millions of Bibles to countries around the world where Christians are persecuted and suffer prejudices.

In such diverse countries as China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mexico, Cuba, and Egypt, Christians daily face minor prejudices like verbal abuse and job and housing discrimination and worse.

Often such influences as Muslim fundamentalism -- a distinction from moderate Islam that Open Doors is careful to make -- or officially atheist Communist countries have an impact on the treatment of Christian minorities.

And even in countries where they are the majority, some Christians still face discrimination.

"We believe it is a human right to read whatever you want,'' Mr. Madison, a Canadian, said. "We would certainly support freedom of expression for all faiths.'' Open Doors which was founded in 1955 by Dutchman, Brother Andrew, who shortly after leaving Bible school, went to Poland with a Communist youth group.

Mr. Madison said the group thought he was "harmless'' and he was able to meet with the Official Church and with underground churches.

From that, Open Doors distributes millions of Bibles every year all over the world and its members have put themselves at risk with security services.

He said: "We do it in a very discrete way. We were on a KGB undesirables list.'' Prayer in the outside world is also very important for people in the suffering church.

"That is why we are here in Bermuda,'' Mr. Madison explained. "All over the world the Bible changes people for the good.'' The position of Christians in the Muslim world -- particularly converts from Islam -- is of greatest concern to Open Doors since the fall of the Iron Curtain.

"Traditionally, Muslims and Christians have gotten on well,'' Mr. Madison said. "In recent years some extremists have introduced sharia law and raised the animosity toward Christians.'' He added: "They have no problems with conversion to Islam. But they have great difficulty with conversion to anything other than Islam.'' Open Doors' seminar will be held at the First Baptist Church in Devonshire from 9 a.m. today. Tomorrow, Mr. Madison will be at the Evening Light Pentecostal Church at 11 a.m. and at New Testament Church of God, Heritage Hall from 8 p.m.

SPREADING THE WORD -- Open Doors Bermuda will hold a seminar today at the First Baptist Church, Devonshire. Local representative Austin Thomas, left, stands with Pete Hutton, Carole Madison and president of Open Doors, Terry Madison. Open Doors delivers Bibles to Christians in countries where they face persecution.