As Musa was serving as an imam in his village in East Africa, he kept hearing about his son, Saad, preaching the gospel throughout the village. Saad’s bold witness angered other local Muslim leaders, who warned Musa to stop Saad from evangelizing. Though Musa didn’t find any fault with his son’s evangelistic activities, he decided to confront Saad about them. But when Musa went to Saad, something surprising happened. Saad was studying the Bible with his pastor, and Musa watched and listened as Saad and the pastor discussed different verses. “He was so impressed at what he was hearing,” a front-line worker said.
Read MorePakistan’s blasphemy laws continue to be a tool for persecution of our Pakistan Christian family members. “Every week we have at least one case of Christians being wrongly accused,” a front-line worker said. Two 18-year-old boys, Tabish and Kalu, were accused of cutting up parts of the Quran and using the fragments as confetti during a festival in August. The boys are now in hiding. A pastor’s son was also accused of participating and was arrested, but police released him after realizing he wasn’t at the event. Two Christian sisters, Sonia and Samia, were also charged with blasphemy in August for allegedly throwing parts of the Quran into the trash.
Read MorePastor John Cao served as a missionary in Myanmar’s Wa State, transforming lives by building schools and working to fight poverty and drug addiction. On March 5, 2017, Chinese authorities intercepted Cao, resulting in a seven-year prison sentence. He was released on March 4, 2024. Cao continues to face restrictions on his freedom and movement by Chinese authorities, including video monitoring, forced “re-education,” and refusal to issue him an ID card, which prevents him from medical care, even when he suffered a life-threatening bout of coronavirus.
Read MoreMarc, 21, battled a chronic illness and could not find a cure. He visited doctors and voodoo practitioners, but nothing seemed to help. Then a friend urged him to come to church. When Marc heard the gospel, he became a follower of Christ and was physically healed, later deciding to receive baptism. When he returned home from the baptismal service, his voodooist father had hired people to beat him. His father was upset that Marc, his oldest son, would forsake his duties to the family’s voodoo rituals and told him to leave. Marc stayed at a relative’s house, but some family members locked him in a room and tried to force him to return to pagan practices.
Read MoreIn the summer of 2022, Tien received a call and was told her father had been seriously beaten. He had been evangelizing and then returned home with her younger brother, Thanh. Some men, including one of her uncles, came into the house and beat him in front of Thanh. By the time Tien got home, her father had already died. Thanh has been mute since that day. Tien’s mother, who had a heart condition, was so shocked that she never recovered, dying two months later.
Read MoreBasavaraj, his wife and their six children are the only believers in a village of 200 families. They faithfully share Christ among the villagers. Each family is expected to serve at the local Hindu temple. Basavaraj told the village leaders that he could not perform the idol worship because he was a follower of Christ. At a village meeting, the family again refused to perform temple duties. Basavaraj told the leaders, “Even if you kill me, we will only worship Jesus.” Villagers beat them and continue to harass and pressure the family, poisoning their rice fields, destroying their crops and vandalizing their home.
Read MoreGoma Kunwar has suffered repeated beatings and mistreatment at the hands of her Hindu husband since putting her faith in Christ in 2022. More than once, his attacks have been life-threatening. On Jan. 2, 2024, Goma’s husband beat her badly and attacked her with a sickle, cutting her head so that she required medical treatment. Despite the abuse, Goma does not want to leave the Lord.
Read MoreA bi-vocational evangelist has fled Turkmenistan after being threatened by authorities. He has been active in sharing his faith and had previously been arrested, along with other Christians, for attending Christian worship services. He was also fined for his evangelistic efforts. Authorities now want to charge him for work he did at his place of business. “But he feels the government is really using that as an excuse to arrest him for his Christian activities,” said a front-line worker.
Read MoreIn spring 2024, Lod, a Khmu villager, placed his faith in Jesus Christ at the age of 90. On June 20, he passed away. Typically, every villager would make a small donation of money and rice to the grieving family. However, because Lod was a Christian, the head of the village refused to collect donations to assist Lod’s family and did not allow any villagers to attend Lod’s funeral. Only the 10 Christians families in the community supported Lod’s family.
Read MoreAfter months of seeing villagers and friends extorted, abused and killed by violent guerrillas who control the dangerous “red zones” of Colombia, Pastor Santiago and his family have fled from their village to a safe location, leaving most of their personal belongings behind. According to a church member, Pastor Santiago is on the guerrillas’ hit list for his refusal to support their illicit activities, prompting his decision to flee with his family. Pastor Santiago also shared with VOM staff that he had received death threats for preaching the gospel. His greatest concern is for his family and their provision if anything happens to him.
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