Persecution Blog

Todd Nettleton on Printing the Gospel of John

Hi Everyone!  I hope you had a restful weekend like I did.  And now for some news...

Agape Press is reporting in an article today words from our very own Todd Nettleton concerning the pastor that dared to print the Gospel of John on a little printing press.  Todd discussed this with me last week.  If you missed our first podcast, please click here and you can listen now.

Earlier this month, five plain-clothes police officers raided the home of Pastor Eliseo Rodriguez Matos in the Cuban city of Colon. The officers confiscated a printing press and printed Gospels of John, and the Assembly of God church pastor was taken to the local police station for interrogation.

Todd Nettleton is with Voice of the Martyrs, a ministry to persecuted Christians worldwide. He says the Minister of Religion had harsh words for Matos. The Havana-based official, an atheist named Caridad Diego, said the printing press was "very dangerous," a characterization the VOM representative sees as very ironic.

"It's just a small [device], almost like a mimeograph machine," Nettleton points out, "and yet the minister of religion for the whole country of Cuba considers it to be very dangerous." Of course, he notes, the Cuban government has recently stepped up its campaign against unregistered house churches. In that environment, printing and disseminating the gospel is an activity that would prove dangerous indeed -- dangerous for the believer involved.

Please keep on praying.  We know and believe the Lord is in control and has the whole world in His hands.

A Weekend Devotion

This week I thought I'd leave you with an article that is posted on the Christian Post website that I thought was very thought provoking.  The title of the article is To Whom Much is Given: America and the Global Tithe.

Here are some excerpts...

Worldwide it is believed that more believers were martyred in the last century than during the previous 1900 years of Christian history. They were martyred by secular religions like Communism and Nazism as well as theistic ones such as Islam. The numbers were in the millions. The 21st Century is shaping up to be no better. One look at the atrocities now being committed against Christians in the Sudan is a stark reminder of this fact. But one place this slaughter has never occurred is in the United States. We have been blessed for hundreds of years to live in a nation that has allowed us the precious freedom to live out our faith in peace and security. Yes, there has been some persecution against believers here during recent years but such difficulties are not worth comparing to what has been inflicted on the saints in other parts of the world. We are blessed beyond measure to be Christians living in the United States.

Finish reading... and remember to be praying for our family in Christ who is suffering.

Banned for Praying in Jesus' Name in the US Military

Did you know that this was happening here in America?  Here's a story published by KESQ News.

CAPITOL HILL More than 50 members of Congress are asking President Bush to issue an executive order permitting military chaplains to pray however God leads them.

Congressman Walter Jones says he wrote and circulated the appeal after hearing from military chaplains who say they're being banned from praying in Jesus' name.

The North Carolina Republican says one chaplain wrote that "religious persecution is taking place in the Army on a daily basis."

Jones says he's heard similar complaints from the Navy, Air Force and Marines.

Congressman Jones says he hopes Americans will call the White House and urge President Bush to uphold what he considers chaplains' free speech and religious rights.

Many chaplains chose to pray non-sectarian prayers to accommodate persons of all faiths.

What do you think about this?  Should Christian chaplains have to stop praying in Jesus' name?

Indonesian Christians Attacked at Prayer

If you don't believe some Muslims are not peaceful.  Please read this article.  Sometimes fewer words here, are better.

The Miracles of a Missionary Almost Murdered

I love reading good news stories especially when they concern God's miracles.  One such story I found today is called Recovery of Missionary Shot in Brazil .

Note the miracles in this story..

1. The missionary did not die.

2.  His recovery was less than 3 months when it was predicted it would be at least 6 months.

And my favorite quote from the article...

"God closed one door. He opens another," said Leonard. Leonard built five churches in Brazil and carried the message of salvation to the masses. He took two bullets and is too humble to retire. "I didn't wanna just lay around the rest of my life. I wanted somethin' to do," Leonard says.

Isn't our God awesome!

New Tribes Mission Gains Support While Potentially Being Expelled from Venezuela

This is a sad story concerning the President of Venezuela who is attempting to expel New Tribes Mission from the country. 

In early October this is what happened according to The Christian Post -

In an unexpected declaration on Oct. 12, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ordered NTM to leave the country during a nationally televised speech. Chavez accused the mission group of collaborating with the CIA, violating custom laws, and living in luxury, among other allegations.

Personally, I think this is just absolutely ridiculous.  Like a missions organization is in bed with the CIA, give me a break.  Coincidently this also happened after Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Hugo Chavez.  Robertson later apologized for his remarks.

Voice of the Martyrs has responded to this through Todd Nettleton -

“Our response here at Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) is essentially sadness at the lost of the people of Venezuela, of the service of New Tribes Mission if in fact this threat is followed through on and all the missionaries are forced to leave the country,” said VOM Spokesman Todd Nettleton.

“This is a mission organization with a great history of service in that country; a great history of service to the people of Venezuela, the indigenous people, the tribal people and the poor people.”

I agree with Todd.  I had some friends who worked with NTM and they had the best experience ever.  Please remember this situation in prayer and join me in asking the Lord to give favor to NTM and also to keep the doors open to the gospel in all countries we are currently ministering in.

The Bible is a Treasure to the Persecuted

Today I was listening to the radio and the show I was looking forward to hearing was preempted and in it's place was a fundraising program for another ministry that deals with the persecuted church - The Bible League.  Since it had to do with the persecuted church I listened to the full program and heard some very cool stories.

One testimony they shared was about a pastor in Nigeria who started singing once he got a bible in his hands.  See, unlike in America where there are literally millions of bibles, Christians in Nigeria and other nations actually PRAY to receive a bible!  So this pastor got his bible and he started singing about it being a treasure!

Isn't that cool!  I think so.

They also talked about how pastors have to share bibles in order to teach their congregations and also how sometimes as a result of not having a complete bible sometime the understanding of Scripture is wrong.

All I can say is that after listening to that show I totally felt guilty for not valuing the multiple bibles that I own.  The bible and it's eternal saving message is Life and I want to challenge you to take the time to read the bible, study it, and then donate money to ministries you trust to dispense it to those who really really want one.

Allow me to introduce myself

I am a new poster to the persecutionblog, and I thought as my first post you might like to know a little more about me.  Below is my basic bio.

I look forward to being a part of this discussion; I consider it a great honor to work on behalf of my brothers and sisters in restricted nations, and to be a part of VOM's efforts to tell their stories to Christians in the free world.  Thanks for reading!

                              -Todd

Todd Nettleton is the Director of News Services for The Voice of the Martyrs, working with the media to tell the stories of persecuted Christians to people in the United States. Todd helps manage the production of VOM’s monthly newsletter, which goes out free to about 200,000 homes. In his role with VOM, he has met with Christians who face persecution in Sudan, China, Egypt, Turkey, Eritrea, Vietnam, Pakistan, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Bangladesh and Azerbaijan.

Todd is a former sports writer and a graduate of Bartlesville Wesleyan College (now Oklahoma Wesleyan University), and has done postgraduate work at the University of Oklahoma.

The son of missionary parents, Todd did part of his growing up in Papua New Guinea, and the rest in Southern California.

Todd and his wife, Charlotte, have two sons, ages 9 and 11.  In his spare time, Todd enjoys reading, writing and sports, especially golf.  Last year Todd self-published his first novel. He is also the commissioner of a fantasy football league. 

Bloggers Take on Darfur's Persecution

A few weeks ago I mentioned that bloggers have taken up the mission to follow the atrocities that are happening in Darfur, Sudan.  Today I wanted to update you and give you a few links to blog sites that are still writing and praying about the situation.  Please join them in prayer and tell a friend to get involved.

Swap Blog has a whole series of blogger posts called Spotlight  on Darfur #2 - MUST READ

Sleepless in Sudan writes today about some solutions he has about the situation in Darfur.

Darfur Daily News discusses why we need to help Darfur.

Exclusive Interview with Todd Nettleton of VOM

Todd Nettleton & Stacy Talk About the Latest Persecution News

Please listen to our first interview with Voice of the Martyrs Director of Communications Todd Nettleton.  The interview is only 14 minutes and Todd touches on a recent incident where a printing press was confiscated because it was being used to print the Gospel of John.  Read the story at World Net Daily.

Todd also thanks all of you who are blogging and spreading the word about the persecuted church. And I thank you too.