Born and raised in a Muslim family, Brother Maksud says it’s a miracle he is now a follower of Jesus Christ. Maksud’s first years of life were under communist rule as his country was part of the Soviet Union, but it became independent, and more Islamic, after the fall of the USSR. As different factions battled for post-Soviet control, civil war broke out, a difficult time for Maksud and all of his countrymen. Yet good news was coming. Listen as Maksud tells how he was impacted by seeing the JESUS Film and hearing Jesus speak Maksud’s own language. He’ll share how a Christian stepped into his family’s life, becoming a faithful friend and sharing stories from the Bible about God. Years later Maksud heard those same stories at a free Taekwondo lesson, another step on his pathway to following Jesus. When Maksud first stepped into a church, he was shocked. It was a completely different atmosphere from anything he’d known. It was full of love; people greeted him by name with hugs. He was floored when believers at the church told him they had been praying for him for more than a year. At age 18, Maksud made the decision to follow Jesus. His younger brother wasn’t far behind. When they shared their Christian faith with their mom, she cried, knowing their family would be shamed and face persecution in their Muslim culture. Maksud’s father was not home when they announced their newfound faith to their mother. When he heard of their decision, he asked both brothers to confirm their decision to follow Jesus. Expecting their father to be angry, both young men said that yes, they had become Christians. Their father’s response shocked them: “Thanks to God. Two years ago, I gave my life to Christ. I didn’t know how to tell you, but I was praying for you guys.” Many people in Central Asia, upon sharing their faith in Christ with family members, face beatings, rejection, and being kicked out of their home. Even though Maksud didn’t experience persecution from inside his home, he knew that he and his brothers would be persecuted by others. Today Maksud is a pastor, and his brother also pastors a church. Listen as he tells how we can pray for his people in Central Asia, including praying that whole families will come to Christ together. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the podcast. Or you can listen each week—and get daily reminders to pray for persecuted Christians—in the new VOM App for your smartphone or tablet.
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Ali is a schoolteacher in Central Asia. He became a Christian recently, and he was excited to share the good news with one of his colleagues.
Read MoreBrother Ismail was fired from his well-paid job when his employer discovered his faith in Jesus.
Read MoreA church is planning an evangelistic camp for children in late August. The camp will be in a highly restricted and unreached area of Central Asia, where there are no churches and very few secret Christians.
Read MoreIn Central Asia, many Christians gather in unregistered house churches because it is almost impossible to get a church legally registered.
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Laila’s husband was away, and she was left to care for their two children alone. It was a cold winter in Central Asia, and her landlords had just kicked her out. “If you don’t leave, we’ll burn the house — and burn you too, if you stay,” they had told her. Laila and her family had been rejected for sharing Christ in the village, so they decided to shake off the dust, pack up and leave. The family had endured many difficulties and would continue to do so, but they felt it was worth it. It all began when Laila picked up a piece of trash from the floor. FINDING GOD THROUGH TRASH Laila sat in a hospital waiting room while her husband prepared to undergo surgery for bleeding ulcers. He was not expected to survive, and she felt absolutely hopeless. Noticing some discarded trash under a bench, she picked up the crumpled piece of paper, smoothed it out and saw that it was a Christian newsletter sharing the testimonies of other Christians. “I wanted to find other stories like this, so I asked my sister-in-law,” she said. It turned out that her sister-in- law had also become interested in
Read MorePastors in Central Asia are faithfully teaching the gospel to children even though such action is against the law. In many post-Soviet countries, teaching religion to children under age 18 is illegal. As followers of Christ, however, these pastors know it is important for young people to learn about the Bible and faith in God from a young age.
Read MoreJonathan Ekman and Matthew Hanson recently visited persecuted Christians in Central Asia—Christians caught between a growing wave of radical Islam and governments with a communist-style distrust of all religion. Matthew and Jonathan will share stories from believers they met. Listen to hear “the rest of the story” of one of the chapters in When Faith Is Forbidden (VOM Radio host Todd Nettleton’s book), including how God has built on the legacy of a martyred pastor in Tajikistan. They’ll also share the story of a woman who faced intense persecution from her own family, yet has seen God take her suffering and create something “beautiful.” Christians in Central Asia don’t have protection from their governments or from families. Yet the church is growing across the region as more and more people experience the spiritual family of followers of Jesus. You can receive a free copy of When Faith is Forbidden when you make a donation to The Voice of the Martyrs. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the podcast.
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“My family told me that I had dishonored and shamed the family so badly that they would rather I had become a prostitute. Shortly after this, my brother was murdered. My family and the Muslim leaders said it happened because I cursed the family by accepting Christ, so they beat me.” Miriam was the most devout Muslim in her family until she met Jesus. And as soon as she began following Him, her family began to harass and pressure her. Though no one in her family was very devout, they felt that Miriam had abandoned their Central Asian cultural identity and brought shame on the family. “Don’t follow that Russian god,” they scolded. “We are Muslims!” But God’s love and forgiveness had won her heart. Marry a Muslim to “Fix the Problem” Miriam’s family was eager for her to marry, hoping that a Muslim husband would “fix the problem.” They suggested various men, but Miriam turned them all down because they were Muslims. She knew it was biblically wrong for her to marry an unbeliever, and she also knew how Muslim men treated their wives in her country. In one incident, the Muslim husband of a recent Christian convert called
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Night after night for three years, Jamil endured the same abuse. Different groups of men — leaders of a local Islamist group — came to his home and took turns beating him. They punched him, slapped him and kicked him, their hatred inflamed by drunkenness. In their eyes, he was a kafir, or infidel, in his small Central Asian village, and he was leading others away from Islam. In Jamil’s country, you had to be Muslim in order to truly belong, and to these drunkards, Jamil no longer belonged. Jamil was raised in a moderate Muslim family, but his older brother adopted more radical beliefs while serving a prison sentence. Jamil’s curiosity was piqued by his brother’s views, so he began his own search for spiritual truth. During his studies, he met Christians who shared the gospel with him. Jamil knew he had found the one true God, and he turned his back on Islam for good. He immediately began sharing the gospel, leading his Islamist brother to Christ as well as three other siblings. He planted four house churches before his church sent him as a missionary to a village composed entirely of Muslims. Jamil shared the gospel as
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