Brother Wybo served persecuted Christians for decades as part of Open Doors with Brother Andrew. Andrew, the author of God’s Smuggler, had a passion for Bible distribution and didn’t shy from taking necessary risks to get God’s Word into hostile areas and restricted nations. While serving with Open Doors, Wybo created the World Watch List which tracks countries where Christians face the most restrictions and persecution. Now he’s led in the creation of a new list which tracks how difficult it is for Christians around the world to access Bibles. The Bible Access List tracks nations where governments attempt to stop Bible distribution, like Afghanistan, and also countries like India where Bibles may be legal but many Christians don’t have access because of economic realities, supply issues or other reasons. Wybo hopes that creating a list that includes nations facing both Bible restrictions and Bible shortages will motivate Christians to pray and get involved in helping meet the need. He will share what surprised him most during his research and what formats of Bibles Christians around the world are asking for. He also shares how partnerships are key to meeting the need. Brother Wybo also shares what he’s learned from persecuted believers over decades of serving them, and how a trip to distribute Bibles in Ethiopia, one of the top five countries with a Bible shortage, encouraged him as he had the privilege of giving believers their own copy of God’s Word. February is Bible Month at VOM, and you can help deliver Bibles to persecuted Christians. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily in 2026 for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, Iran, and Bangladesh, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.
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Villagers in Chhattisgarh state reacted violently against local Christians who buried a non-Christian man on their property. The burial of Chamru Ram Salam on Dec. 16, 2025, was conducted according to the rites of a traditional tribal religion. However, because half of Salam’s family, including three of his five sons, are Christian, the mob called the burial an insult to their deities. More than 500 villagers with wooden sticks and slingshots attacked mourners at the grave. Several people were injured, and the family and other Christians fled the village for weeks.
Read MoreChristian workers in South Korea have developed specific strategies to aid and show Christ’s love to newly arrived North Korean defectors. Pray for Mrs. R., one of these new arrivals, who was so moved by the care shown to her that she is already taking steps to visit and minister to other new North Korean defectors. Pray also for Mrs. G., a North Korean defector with serious health difficulties who has experienced God through the kindness of Christians and is now taking steps to read the Bible.
Read MoreAt least 64 Algerian Christians are awaiting trial for activities related to their faith. “Pray for justice and mercy for all 64 cases,” said a front-line worker. He also asked that people pray for the Christians and their families to sense God’s peace, to be strengthened and to not lose heart.
Read MoreAfter months in prison for sharing the gospel with Hindus, Pastor Paul’s health was failing. He offered a desperate prayer: he asked God to allow another pastor to be arrested who could come to the prison and encourage Paul. “Lord, arrest one pastor and bring him to be in prison so we can have fellowship.” God answered Paul’s prayer, and four days later, he read in the newspaper that a pastor had been arrested. Two weeks later, that pastor was with Paul in the prison, and he brought him great encouragement: “My church has been praying for you!” After his fellow pastor arrived to the prison, Paul says his tired faith became, “like concrete.” They began to pray together in prison. Soon, other prisoners were asking for prayer. The two pastors would often raise their hands in prayer, claiming spiritual victory. When prison guards asked what they were doing, the two pastors said, “We are praying for you!” The two pastors had the opportunity to pray with 70 other prisoners who came to them asking for prayer and to know more about Jesus. One of those was an American prisoner named Daniel. He went to India on a quest for spiritual enlightenment; inside that Indian prison, Daniel found what he sought—in Christ. You’ll also hear how the Lord moved pastor Paul’s wife to bring his bail application to the Supreme Court, and how God answered their prayers that a specific judge would hear his case. Hear how you can pray specifically for Pastor Paul, including that all charges against him will be dropped, and go to www.PrisonerAlert.com to learn how you can pray for other persecuted Christians still imprisoned for their faith. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily in 2026 for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, Iran and Bangladesh, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.
Read MoreThe survivor of a 2013 church bombing has been hospitalized after medical complications. On Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013, two suicide bombers entered the All Saints Church in Peshawar, Pakistan, and detonated their devices, killing 127 people and injuring more than 250. One survivor was a 3-year-old girl known as Sister M. Her father was killed in the explosions, and she suffered serious burns. After the bombing, the global body of Christ helped her family with housing and other needs, including multiple surgeries and skin grafts for Sister M.
Read MoreOn Jan. 6, 2026, members of the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China, were subjected to a large-scale crackdown that involved searches of multiple church sites and homes. According to information released by the church and verified by multiple sources, several church elders, preachers, deacons and their family members were detained. The whereabouts of some individuals has been preliminarily confirmed while others remained unreachable. Among those arrested or detained are elder Li Yingqiang and his wife, Zhang Xinyue; preacher Dai Zhichao; the family of Brother Ye Fenghua; elder Yan Hong; preacher Wu Wuqing; and deacon Zeng Qingtao. Local police officers also appeared at a school operated by the church and ordered the landlord to clear the facility.
Read MoreOn Feb. 9, 2026, two Christian evangelists were attacked by Muslim extremists while preaching in an open-air market in central Ethiopia. The men suffered severe head injuries in the attack and were immediately transported to a local hospital. While Ethiopia is a majority-Christian nation, Christians face violence and even death threats in Muslim-majority areas.
Read MorePastor Paul was doing gospel outreach in Northern India when he was arrested by police and accused of “forcing” Hindus to convert to Christianity. He wasn’t forcing anyone but only sharing with people who expressed a hunger to hear the truth. When police arrived, Paul and his coworkers weren’t having a service or studying the Bible; they were eating a meal. Still, it was considered a crime. “Which god are you praying to?” police asked. Little did Pastor Paul know that his faith would be tested as he heard that question repeatedly over the coming weeks. Pastor Paul and his three gospel coworkers suffered tremendously in police custody. Police threatened them constantly, putting fear in their hearts. They were repeatedly offered freedom if they would only renounce their faith in Jesus Christ. Police put the four Christians in a filthy prison cell that also served as the police station latrine. They allowed a mob of radical Hindus to beat them. Paul prayed that God would strengthen him. “Lord, please help me not to fear their words because You are in charge of every situation,” Pastor Paul prayed, “You controlled the lion’s mouth when Daniel went inside.” As Pastor Paul fervently prayed, the Lord provided him many opportunities to share his faith in Christ and the strength to stand firm against the enemy’s schemes. Listen as he shares his prayer for a forgiving heart when police threatened to beat him, stories of times the Lord gave him moments of relief, and how God sustained him even when his coworkers renounced Christ and turned their backs on him. The Lord opened fellow prisoners’ hearts to hear more about his faith as they watched Pastor Paul. Living out 1 Peter 3:15, he made the most of every opportunity to share the hope of Jesus Christ. Mistreatment and terrible prison conditions impacted Paul’s health; he thought he was going to die. When his wife was finally allowed to visit, he assumed it would be the last time he saw her on earth. He encouraged her to continue forward with Christ and not turn back, even if he died in prison. Paul had two final requests as he cried out to the Lord: to see revival in Uttar Pradesh state, and for the Lord to allow another pastor to be arrested and come and encourage him in prison. Tune in next week to hear the rest of Pastor Paul’s story and whether God answered his request. Pray this week for the Lord to give our brothers and sisters in India strength and courage to withstand Christian persecution and hold fast to their faith in spite of anti-conversion laws and unjust treatment by the Hindu nationalist government. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily in 2026 for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, Iran and Colombia, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.
Read MoreA pastor’s daughter was shot by persecutors but has survived. Tribal spirit worshipers in a remote part of the DRC demanded that a Christian pastor hand over his church’s instruments for their occult practices. When he refused, they returned later to kill him. He wasn’t there, but his 21-year-old daughter Odette was. The attackers severed two of her fingers and told her to kneel so they could execute her. They shot her above her left cheekbone, and the bullet exited through the right side of her jaw.
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