Last month I visited Nepal to meet with and interview persecuted Christians. One of the brothers we met was a young pastor who'd been attacked by radicals just months before our visit. He was beaten up for trying to perform a Christian funeral and burial for a member of his church who'd died. I want to share a portion of our conversation, where he talked about the challenge of forgiving those who had attacked him:

Todd: Have you forgiven the people who beat you?

"Brother S": Yes, I forgive them.

T: How?

S: It is very difficult to forgive anybody that I am knowing and receive forgiveness from people. When I was praying and I understood, when reading Bible I understood that I have to forgive because the Lord says if you don't forgive others you will not be forgiven. So at that time the words were pricking my heart. Because…I have also done some other wrong things, some mistakes, so the Lord is working so I have to forgive. The compulsion was coming from [my] heart and I said okay Lord – the Lord was speaking to me: "Forgive them. [Those who attacked you] have to come to the Lord – they have to come to Me." The Lord was speaking to me. Then I said yes, they have to come – I have to work with them so they will come to Christ. I said okay – I forgive.

T: How long after the attack was that when you were able to forgive them?

S: For one week, I couldn't sleep. But after one month I could forgive.

T: So for one week afterwards you couldn't sleep. Then after one month you were really able to forgive from your heart?

S: Yes.

One of the amazing things I find as I meet with persecuted Christians is their ability to forgive those who attack and persecute them. And beyond even forgiveness, they show love and pray for God's blessings on them.

In Brother S's case, this was a month-long process involving much prayer and wrestling with God before he came to the point of forgiving. I remember meeting the widow of a martyred Christian who said she never felt anger or hatred for the men who killed her husband; forgiveness came to her as a gift from God almost instantaneously.

Most American Christians don't deal with persecution first-hand. We are not attacked for our faith, beaten for our beliefs or forced to bury martyred family members.

But all of us are called to forgive. All of us must ask God to help us work through the pain and frustration of being wronged and come to the point of forgiving. Next time you face that challenge, I hope you'll remember Brother S and be encouraged by his example.

Todd Nettleton is the Director of Media Development for The Voice of the Martyrs. More stories of persecuted Nepali Christians will be featured in VOM's February, 2013 newsletter. If you are a U.S. resident, you can click here subscribe to the newsletter.

Recently the staff of The Voice of the Martyrs sent out an email to our Be-A-Voice-Network about our next big project to help encourage teens and young adults get involved in ministering to the persecuted church.  Here's the email letter.

Dear Friends,

Generations of Christians like you have supported their persecuted brothers and sisters around the world. Young people will determine to what extent that support continues, and now is the time for Christian teens across the United States to join this cause with eternal consequences.

The Voice of the Martyrs has launched a program to connect Christian teens to the work of the persecuted Church worldwide. We are calling teens to become part of the next generation of Christians who help, love and encourage the persecuted.

Follow VOM Next on Facebook and Twitter to stay connected and learn about exciting, new opportunities coming in the near future.

Thank you for your efforts on behalf of the persecuted Church, and God bless you!

VOM Staff

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.

Todd and Janet discussed many countries we need to pray for and also the upcoming International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church on November 14th.

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.

Romans 12:14

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.

Romans 5:10–12

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.

Includes 25 booklets and maps.

Thank you all for continuing to pray for Glenn Penner, our friend from The Voice of the Martyrs Canada. 

Sunday Glenn posted a one minute video from the hospital, giving us all an update.

He asks for continued prayer for himself and his wife Denita who is now also sick.  

Please click here to watch Glenn's message and please keep praying.

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.

Greetings from the hospital

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.