The Islamic Republic of Iran restricted all access to God’s Word. But despite great risk, Iranian believers are sharing the gospel on the street with unprecedented boldness. Two years after placing her faith in Jesus Christ, Fareena still hadn’t told a soul. Like most new Christians in Iran, she feared the backlash she would face if her family learned she had left Islam. Since doing so is illegal in the Muslim nation, new Christians are often imprisoned after going public with their faith. And many more are beaten for bringing shame to their Muslim family. Aware of these possibilities, Fareena decided to read her Bible only in secret. Then, one day she saw something that shocked her. “When I woke up and headed to the living room, my father was sitting on the floor reading a Bible thoughtfully,” she said. “I couldn’t believe my eyes.” Fareena returned to her room in a panic, thinking her father, Bilal, had discovered her Bible. After realizing the Bible he was reading was a different color, she asked him what he was doing. “I am reading an amazing book,” Bilal replied. “I found it in the mailbox today. It was wrapped in wrapping paper.”
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On Aug. 27, 2025, at 1:30 a.m., a group of armed men took a Christian family captive, threatened to bring blasphemy charges against the family and demanded the family pay more than $150,000 to prevent the accusations. They also threatened to destroy everything the Christians owned. “You will be the next Jaranwala,” the abductors said, referencing a riot in August 2023 when Islamic extremists destroyed 26 churches and more than 80 homes in a Christian area after Pakistani Christians were falsely accused of destroying a copy of the Quran.
Read MoreAs Christian students are forced to participate in Buddhist practices in school, an upcoming retreat will encourage and strengthen their faith. In Bhutan, the king regards himself as a divinely appointed defender of Buddhism, and stringent laws are in place to restrict Christianity, forcing students to join Buddhist practices at school even when doing so is contrary to their faith in Christ.
Read MoreDespite repeated and ongoing attacks on churches from radical Islamist groups, evangelists continue spreading the gospel throughout the country, most recently through solar-powered projectors. VOM front-line workers delivered the projectors to show the JESUS film and other Christian resources and provided training for 16 outreach workers to operate the projectors. “All were very happy to receive these projectors,” said a front-line worker.
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Distributing Bibles in Colombia’s guerrilla territory requires the mind of a chess master. Every move must be analyzed and the opponent’s countermoves anticipated. Although Bible distribution is legal in Colombia, armed rebel groups roam the country’s rural areas as a law unto themselves. Paramilitaries and guerrilla groups like the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) resent Christians because they refuse to participate in the drug trade or fight for their causes. The rebel groups also view anyone traveling through their territory, where they often grow and smuggle narcotics, as a threat. A ministry team traveled deep into the jungles of Putumayo department, along the border with Ecuador and Peru, to distribute full-color Action Bibles and minister to church workers. The Bibles, which feature colorful illustrations in the style of a graphic novel, appeal not only to children but also to adults who may have trouble reading a traditional Bible. After traveling many hours by car, the team transferred their supplies to motorcycles and rode for 20 minutes before reaching a river. They then loaded the motorcycles, Bibles and supplies onto a river ferry for a two-hour trip upriver. After leaving the ferry, they rode their packed motorcycles as far as
Read MoreOn Sunday, July 27, 2025, Islamists entered a church building in northeastern Benin near the end of the service and abducted its pastor and three elders. Persecution is prevalent in the northern part of Benin, where Christians are beaten and sometimes killed and church buildings are routinely destroyed.
Read MoreOn Aug. 7, 2021, Pastor Wang Xiaoguang; his wife, Yang Rongli; and other leaders of the Linfen church in Shanxi Province were arrested. They were accused of fraud, which is how the Chinese Communist Party characterizes the collection of tithes in the church. After almost four years of detention, Pastor Wang Xiaoguang was sentenced to nine years and seven months in prison. In a separate trial, Yang Rongli was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Together, they also face fines of 2.3 million yuan, or more than $320,000.
Read MoreChristians in Gaza have suffered greatly amid the ongoing regional conflict that began on Oct. 7, 2023. “We had about 900 [Christians], and after the war about 200 of them, at least, left Gaza,” said Pastor Hanna Massad of Christian Mission to Gaza. He also said that living conditions for those who remained have been difficult: “It has been really hard for them. Many of them [have] lost a lot of weight.” Many of the Christians unable to flee from Gaza are sheltering in a Catholic church, which was struck by an Israeli tank shell on July 17, 2025, killing three people.
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When a North Korean man’s relatives invited him to read the Bible, everything changed. Years ago, Byung-woo traveled from his home in North Korea to visit relatives in China. His relatives, who were part of China’s vast underground church movement, invited him to read the Bible while he was there. When he declined, they fasted and prayed for a couple of days, hoping he would change his mind. That puzzled Byung-woo even more than the original invitation. Finally, out of curiosity and a desire to appease his family, he agreed to give the book a cursory read. But the more he read, the more questions he had for his relatives. The Bible translation used the South Korean dialect rather than the North Korean dialect. The two dialects differ roughly 40 percent of the time. Still, the parts he understood fascinated him. Seeing Byung-woo’s interest, his relatives took him to their house church, where church members explained the need for the gospel in North Korea and implored him to start an underground church there. They were prepared to provide him with food and money to sustain him, Bibles to distribute and a bicycle to help him reach more people. Byung-woo grew
Read MoreOn September 14, 2025, government officials entered a church, began recording the service and ultimately arrested two church leaders. The officials first demanded to see documents authorizing the religious meeting. Two church leaders explained that the fellowship had been meeting since 1992 and that, under Article 34 of the Kyrgyz constitution, they were guaranteed “freedom of conscience and religion.”
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