Yesterday, our very own Todd Nettleton, was interviewed by In the Market host, Janet Parshall about the latest happenings in the world of Christian persecution and ministry of The Voice of the Martyrs.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THIS POWERFUL INTERVIEW. Scroll to about the 30 minute mark, as Todd is in the last half hour.
Special thanks also to Janet Parshall for her passion and dedication in spreading the gospel and news about our persecuted brothers and sisters. We appreciate you Janet!
PAKISTAN -- Bibles, Hymnals and Church Property Burned -- VOM Contacts
On
Sept. 19, Islamic extremists broke into the Philadelphia Pentecostal
Church in Sharif Town, Karachi City, Pakistan, and set fire to Bibles,
hymnals, a musical instrument and a table, according to The Voice of the
Martyrs contacts. The church, which is led by Pastors George Rakha and
Peter Shahzad, was established six years ago and is actively involved in
Muslim evangelism. "At 4 a.m., some fanatics broke the lock of the
church door and entered the church," VOM contacts reported. "They burned
three crosses, nine Bibles, five books of worship songs, a table and a
musical instrument Tabla [local drum]." On Sept. 20, the Christian
community displayed a banner protesting the burning of their Bibles.
Christians believe this incident was a reaction to an American pastor's
widely publicized threat to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11.
Christian leaders in the U.S. spoke out against the pastor’s plan to
burn the Quran, and he ultimately decided against it. But it seems that
no Muslim leaders spoke out against the burning of Bibles in Pakistan.
Pray for believers in Pakistan who courageously live for Christ in the
midst of opposition. Pray that believers' testimonies and love for
Christ will draw their Muslim neighbors into fellowship with Christ.
CHINA -- Pastor Detained at Trial of House Church Leaders -- China Aid Association
Pastor
"Bike" Zhang Mingxuan and his wife, along with several other believers,
were detained on Sept. 20 while attending court proceedings for
imprisoned Christians Liu Yunhua and Gao Jianli in Xuchang, Henan
province, according to China Aid Association. Pastor Zhang, who has been
imprisoned previously, was released a few hours later with his wife.
Other Christians, including the son of defendant Liu Yunhua, were
detained by authorities on their way home from the trial. At last
report, these believers were still in detention. Pray for the release of
the detained believers, and pray that God will grant patience and faith
to Liu and Gao throughout their trial. Ask God to continue to equip and
embolden Pastor Zhang in his ministry.
My friend, Glenn Penner, who was the former CEO of The Voice of the Martyrs Canada went home to eternity with the Lord last night. And today as I have been thinking about Glenn and his wife Denita and their children, a few things come to mind.
First, I would ask that you all please keep Denita and her children in your prayers. As we all know, the death of a loved one is a very hard journey and so please take a minute to write down this prayer request.
Second, I just wanted to share about my friendship with Glenn. I never had the opportunity to meet Glenn in person, but I did have numerous conversations with him on Skype and via email, and the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Glenn is his sense of humor. In fact, his sense of humor was sometimes a little morbid, but also just flat out funny. He made me laugh on more occasions that I can remember. If you want to see some of the things he felt were funny, just go to his blog and scroll through, you'll see what I mean.
Another thing about Glenn that I loved was that he was purely a gentle man and a gentle soul. I liked that he was direct when he had an issue he wanted to address, but he was also kind in addressing things. I remember one day I was having a bad day, and was just really mad about something and he shot me an email and I just vented to him, and he took the time to help me focus on what was the solution.
And of course, Glenn's love for the persecuted church and the church in general. I am blessed in that he sent me a copy of the book he authored about the theology of persecution, and it was from Glenn that I learned that the bible is really a book about persecuted believers. And I'm sure as only time and eternity will tell, that his work will be considered a classic for material that is a must read to learn about Christian persecution.
And lastly, when I think of Glenn and how today he is in the presence of the Lord, I am reminded and comforted by Psalm 116:15 - Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones. - Well done Glenn, well done.
With the new year here and already roaring by pretty quickly, we are pleased to offer you a wonderful opportunity to share about the persecuted church with your friends who may not know about the persecuted church.
Right now you can get our brand new 2010 Global Report for $5.00 which will give you 25 booklets and maps! This is a great way to witness for Christ, and to stay informed.
Here's more about the report:
Believers in hostile and restricted nations never fail to ask us to pray for them. But how do we pray? What are their needs? Use this booklet and prayer map as a window into their world. Each entry includes a brief description of a country where Christians suffer for their faith. Also included are photos and testimonies of persecuted believers. The global report also comes with a fold-out prayer map for the wall. This is an excellent resource for learning about persecution around the world. Join our brothers and sisters by interceding for them today.
Thank you so much for all the continued prayers for Glenn. Here is a personal update from Glenn that he posted on his blog last night. I knew you all would want to see it.
I have decided to drop a brief note on my blog to let you know how I am doing rather than drying to update all of my emails, facebook posts, etc., since this is this where most of my friends find out how we are doing. So please check here to get updates on me.
I am not doing well, to put it quite simply. This morning was was one of considerable pain again. Plus trying to find ways to free up my bladder and bowel movements, and you can tell that life is one big bowel of cherries for me.
It just seems that life is tough right now. I am hallucinating from time to time and yesterday I really really wrestled with whether my life was coming to an end. I still feel that I have things that I want to do however. I am not ready to call it quits yet. But life is getting harder and harder to live and fighting yet another bout of pneumonia has stretched me. So please pray that I will be ready to go when God wants me to go.
I wanted to give you all another update on our friend Glenn Penner who is still in the hospital dealing with pain and cancer. On New Years Eve, Denita, Glenn's wife, wrote the following on Glenn's blog.
Happy New Year! It's hard to believe it is almost 2010 (3 more hours to go)! Thank you so much for all the concentrated prayers during this Christmas season. I have really sensed God's presence, and while it has been a hard time, "the joy of the Lord" has been my strength.
I just got back from seeing Glenn. The past 2-3 days the pain has diminished considerably so the doctor has started lowering his dosage of Methadone. As the pain is going away on it's own, there will be no need to do a nerve block now, which on one hand is a relief. For about 3 weeks now, Glenn has been sleeping most of his days and nights away, so as you can imagine he has gotten quite weak. The last 2 mornings he has had raspy breathing, which is beginning to concern us. The doctor says his lungs sound clear so far, but we are keeping our eyes on it. We are hoping that once the Methadone dosage is lowered, Glenn's mind will clear up and he will be able to be awake more and able to think clearly. Besides that, there really isn't much else to report.
All the best to each of your in the coming year.
Thank you all of continuing to pray for Glenn, Denita and their family during this hard time. The Lord is good and continues to show His strength in these circumstances.
I wanted to let you all know about the latest with The Voice of the Martyrs Canada's Glenn Penner. Glenn remains hospitalized and was in the hospital during Christmas.
Denita, Glenn's wife writes in her latest post on his blog:
Not much has changed. He usually wakes up around 3:00 a.m. with a lot
of pain and it takes until about 9:30 a.m. before the drugs kick in to
make him comfortable enough to be able to sleep. He then spends most
of the day sleeping so that when I go to see him in the evening he is a
bit more alert and able to visit for a bit.
Please remember to keep the Penner family on your prayer lists. Thank you so much for encouraging them and lifting them up to our Lord who can bring healing and strength.
Today I wanted to ask everyone to please keep our friend Glenn Penner in your prayers. Glenn is suffering with cancer and also has a lot of side effects due to the cancer and various treatments. Right now he is in the hospital still in very severe pain. Glenn's wife Denita has updated his blog with the following. Please pray for Glenn and his whole family.
Hi! Just wanted to write a quick note to let you know that Glenn is back in the hospital. Last weekend was a nightmare as far as the pain was concerned, so on Tuesday, the doctor decided the best thing would be to change Glenn's medication from the pain pump to Methadone and oral drug. He told us, though, that it is very difficult to figure out the proper dosage with Methadone, so he wanted Glenn in the hospital for the switch over. Thursday night was the worst night of pain for Glenn yet, so when the doctor came to see him in the morning he told Glenn he was going to increase the dosage, but he would be very sleepy. By that time, Glenn was about ready for anything and he agreed so for the last 2 days Glenn has been sleeping most of the time. Yesterday Glenn woke up with a fever and his hemoglobin was down to 69, so blood cultures and other tests were done to see if he has an infection of some kind and he was given another 2 bags of blood last night. When I saw him last night he had better color and was more alert so the extra blood seems to have helped him a bit.
Please pray for peace for Glenn. He is quite discouraged by this latest turn of events. I will try to keep you informed.
Denita
If you'd like to keep up on the latest with Glenn and Denita, please bookmark Glenn's personal blog at http://glennpenner.blogspot.com . You may leave comments there to encourage them. Please do.
A few days ago we invited you to join VOM in giving Christmas to children in Vietnam with our Vietnam Christmas Care Packs.
We are so happy to tell you that the children are already receiving the gifts (see picture from a recent distribution) and even better yet, there is still time to get involved and participate today.
For only $25 you can send warm clothes, toiletries like soap, toothpaste, and a toothbrush, school supplies, special treats, toys, vitamins and a nice Christmas book.
When you think of it, how can you not get involved. If you're in America, you take all of these things for granted - like a toothbrush, when was the last time you worried about that! If you're like me, probably never. In fact, I have a 3 pack of toothbrushes in my bathroom still in the package because I have enough for extra. But these children in Vietnam don't, so please take a minute today to get involved and share what you have with those who have not. Click here for more information.
