Only 1.4% of people in Nepal are Christians. Hundreds of thousands of Nepali people live their entire lifetime without ever meeting anyone who follows Jesus. Hundreds of thousands of people in Sri Lanka (1.4% Christian), Bangladesh (0.4%), Bhutan (0.3%) and the Maldives (0.03%) also live and die without ever hearing the gospel message—or even the name of Jesus. God broke the hearts of Tim and Dawn for the lost people of South Asia—and called them to go and live in the region as ambassadors for Christ. Listen as they share their backgrounds, how that call came and some of the challenges of adjusting to life and raising a family in South Asia. Tim and Dawn will also share how they witness for Christ in the context of hostile and restricted nations where Christians are persecuted by speaking Biblical truth into peoples’ lives. Just as Jesus used parables to communicate spiritual truth, Tim and Dawn often share simple stories from the Bible, then invite their listeners to respond to the message of the story. Listen for the story of a Buddhist man responding to the story of Moses and the golden calf. The tools Tim and Dawn are using to spread the gospel—hospitality, conversation, simple Bible stories—are available to listeners in free nations, too. Who in your life could you share Biblical truth with this week? Pray for Tim and Dawn and their fellow gospel workers in South Asia. Don’t forget to access resources from The Voice of the Martyrs for the upcoming International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians. And never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the podcast.
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Asking for permission to preach is a way of life for “Leonardo.” Merely forgetting or refusing to ask can result in death at the hands of the guerrillas or paramilitaries in Colombia’s “red zones.” Pastors in these areas are viewed as obstacles to the groups’ political ambitions because young people who become Christians are no longer attracted to the groups’ violent lifestyles. “They give you a time to start preaching, and you have to begin and be done at that time,” Leonardo explained. “There was no nighttime preaching or walking outside [allowed], and I always had to give a note if I was going to go anywhere.” Leonardo’s church soon transferred him to a different area, where he worked with people who had been displaced by guerrilla groups in the red zones. But his new home was not free from opposition, either. “There are gangs, hitmen,” he said. “I have been there two years. Two times they have not let me preach.” The gangs stopped Leonardo in front of his church and denied him entrance, saying, “Today no preaching!” But Leonardo found another place to preach. With a speaker and microphone in hand, he began preaching outdoors. He first began
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More than one million refugees have flooded into Lebanon because of the civil war raging in neighboring Syria. Pastor Bassam recently opened a new church near the Syrian border to minister to refugees and others in that region.
Read MoreIn Gujarat, India, an unfamiliar man stopped a group of Christians walking home from a prayer fellowship meeting at a fellow Christian woman’s house.
Read MoreOn March 17, 2018, Rev. Adamu Ardo was on an evangelistic outreach when a group of young Muslim men broke into the house where he was staying and attacked him and a Muslim friend.
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Horace Pitkin was an American East Coast blueblood. He was a distant relative of Connecticut’s colonial-era attorney general and also kin to Elihu Yale, founder of the great Yale University from which Pitkin graduated in 1892, at the height of America’s Gilded Age. It was also the era of “muscular Christianity” — a mix of robust physical and spiritual development coupled with nearly unlimited optimism that the new century just ahead would be the Christian century, the fulfillment of the Gospel mandate to all the world. For Yale men like Pitkin — strong, charismatic, and gifted — the arena where all virtues would meet their test was China. Indeed, Horace organized Yale’s first Student Volunteer Band for foreign missions. He then went on to Union Seminary in New York, married Letitia Thomas, and set sail for Hunan Province in central China. Pitkin was an organizer, but not blind to the risks. He was, after all, in charge of the station in Hunan for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. As news from Beijing arrived and the Boxers began to show restless aggression, Pitkin sent his wife and child back to the United States. On Saturday, June 30, 1900,
Read MoreThe anxious mother in India had tried everything. Her son was very sick. It seemed he would soon die. She’d been to the Hindu temples and made offerings to many Hindu gods. Nothing had worked. Her son only became sicker. Then, a traveling salesman suggested that she pray to Jesus. She did—and her son was healed! Amazed and awe-struck, the mother and son hunted down the salesman to find out more about this Jesus who answers prayers. Today, her son is a pastor and evangelist who’s travelled more than 40,000 miles sharing the gospel. God is at work in hostile and restricted nations! That’s just one of the stories you’ll hear this week from David Witt, CEO of Spirit of Martyrdom and a former staff member at The Voice of the Martyrs. David will also share stories from his encounters with Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, VOM’s founders, and the “holy experience” of visiting one of the prison cells where Richard was held in Communist Romania. David will also tell how he became aware of and involved in ministry to persecuted Christians, and how God used the attacks of 9-11 to draw the attention of American Christians to radical Islam and the scriptural call to love our enemies. Today, the ministry David leads is training up church planters and leaders in multiple countries—with an eye on training that’s easily reproducible to other potential leaders. Listen as he shares how those being trained immediately put their learning into action, and how we can pray for these frontline gospel workers. The International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians is coming soon. CLICK HERE to access resources—including a video about a persecuted Christian in Nigeria—to help your church, small group and family pray for persecuted Christians on this important day. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the podcast.
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As the sound of gunfire grew louder, 10-year-old Luis and his brother ran to their room and crawled under their bed. They knew the gunfire meant guerrilla fighters from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were again attacking their small jungle village in one of Colombia’s “red zones,” particularly dangerous areas. When soldiers from the Colombian Army arrived to repel the attack, the guerrillas took the boys’ father hostage to aid their escape. Although they released him four hours later, fighting between the guerrillas and government forces dragged on for days. Many of Luis’s friends were killed in the attack. All Things Made New Luis found true peace in Christ at age 13 and immediately felt the need to help people in villages like his who had suffered from the decades-long insurgency. “He told me He was my God and my Father, and He would always be there for me,” Luis said. “I felt the love of God come back in my life.” Using his small savings, Luis bought books, games and other items to distribute in his old village, which remained under threat. He also brought New Testaments and gave them to everyone he met, including police officers,
Read MorePastor Rajan is an impoverished day laborer with three children, ages 2, 7 and 13. He also pastors four house churches. During a church service at his father’s house, local members of Hindu nationalist groups burst in and beat him severely.
Read MoreBrother Ismail was fired from his well-paid job when his employer discovered his faith in Jesus.
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