Persecution Blog

Pastor Held During Obama Visit to Cuba

Seeing news images of President Obama doing “the wave” at a baseball game in Cuba, it would be easy to think that this small communist country is now completely free and open to the gospel of Christ.


But while President Obama was watching baseball, Pastor Mario Felix Lleonart Barroso was sitting in a police station. Barroso, a Baptist pastor, blogger and friend of VOM, was thrown to the ground, handcuffed and detained at his home (which also serves as his church) just hours before Air Force One landed in Havana. A few hours after the president left Cuba, Pastor Barroso was set free and returned to his family. He was tired and weak, having fasted throughout his detention, but happy to be home.

Pastor Barroso is a bold pastor and outspoken advocate for religious freedom in his nation, and as such he is seen as a threat to the communist government of Fidel and Raul Castro. The Cuban government decided to make sure there would be no “distractions” during President Obama’s visit, so Barroso and dozens of other dissidents were detained by police in the days leading up to the president’s arrival.

Pastor Barroso’s name is already familiar to many American Christians who have committed to pray each week for persecuted believers at iCommitToPray.com. More than 400 people in 27 nations have already prayed for the pastor and his wife, who was threatened with imprisonment in 2014.

Each week, VOM posts a specific prayer request on iCommitToPray.com and invites Christians around the world to join in prayer for that request and to type their prayers on the website. Other believers — even believers in hostile and restricted nations — can then be blessed by and join in agreement with those prayers.

Please pray for Pastor Barroso and his wife, Yoaxis, as the pastor recovers from his recent detention.

Sign up on iCommitToPray.com to receive a new prayer request like this one via email each week.

Sign up on iCommitToPray.com

VOM Book Nominated for 2016 Audies

When the Audio Publishers Association announced the nominees for 2016 Audio Book Awards ("Audies"), The Pastor's Wife by Sabina Wurmbrand was one of the nominees. Sabina (1913-2000) was the wife of Pastor Richard Wurmbrand and the co-founder of The Voice of the Martyrs.

The audio version of The Pastor’s Wife was narrated by Sadie Alexandru and published by Voice of the Martyrs. The audio version was produced and released by christianaudio. It was nominated in the Inspirational Non-Fiction category.

Cory Verner, President and Publisher of christianaudio offers, “The Pastor's Wife is a gripping account providing background on the founder of The Voice of the Martyrs, a ministry that serves the persecuted church. It truly is an honor to play a part in publishing these audiobooks and make them known to new audiences. Awards like this speak every bit as much to the underlying content as they do the professional narrators who read them. It is difficult to listen to books like... The Pastor’s Wife and walk away unchanged.”

The Audie Awards are the Audiobook Publishing Association’s highest honors. The Audies gala will be held Wednesday May 11 at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago.

Bold Believers in Syria

VOM’s Kids of Courage resources help parents and educators teach children ages 5 to 13 about persecuted Christians. The resources provide opportunities for children to serve and pray for their suffering brothers and sisters around the world.

The following story for children comes from the Bold Believers in Syria activity book, available free from the Downloads section of www.kidsofcourage.com  Bold Believers in Syria includes stories, activities, crafts, recipes, and history and culture facts that help children understand the daily lives of their brothers and sisters who are facing Islamic extremism.

To find information and resources for youth and adults about bold believers living under Islamic extremism, go to www.i-am-n.com.

Syrian Kids Protected from Bomb

At a Christian school in Syria, the students fast and pray for peace in their country. They memorize Psalm 91, and they use the psalm to guide prayers for their families. “We shall not be afraid of the terror by night,” they pray. Thankfully they have seen answers to their prayers.

One night, a driver made a serious mistake in the city where the children go to school. He got into his car after he had been drinking alcohol, and he tried to drive. But he could not drive straight. His car ended up sideways, blocking the road. The driver got out of the car and walked away.

The next morning, no vehicles could drive on the street because the car blocked the way. The school children were stuck on the road in their buses as people looked for the car’s driver.

While the children waited for the road to clear, a bomb exploded farther down the street. At that time of the morning, the school buses were usually near the place where the bomb exploded. The car that blocked the road prevented them from possible injury.

Read Psalm 91. Why do you think the Syrian children use it to guide their prayers? (Share your answer in the comments to this post.)

"I Simply Trusted the Lord"

Over two episodes of VOM Radio earlier this month, we heard Australian John Short tell the story of his detention in North Korea after leaving gospel tracts outside a Buddhist temple.

This week we hear another side of the story, from John’s wife, Karen, who was at home in Hong Kong dealing with the media, praying for her husband and receiving encouragement from all over the world.

Listen in as Karen shares about how God ministered to her, how she and John stayed connected through Scripture even though they couldn't talk to each other, how journalists and others responded to her calm assurance and how she found out that her husband would be coming home. She'll also share the one thing she wishes she'd done differently during that time period—and it will surprise you!

The story of Karen's faithfulness will inspire you to trust more deeply in God and dive deeper into His Word, even if you're not planning a trip to North Korea.

 

If you missed our conversation with Mr. Short the past two weeks, you can listen here to Part 1 and Part 2.

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Richard Wurmbrand: A Message for Good Friday

Seeing Beyond Suffering to Resurrection and Glorification

“When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. … He will glorify Me. …”

—John 16:13–14

As we approach Good Friday again, let us, who complain about many things, remember how much Jesus endured and how He took suffering.

VOM founders, Richard Wurmbrand (1909–2001) and Sabina Wurmbrand (1913–2000)

He entered this world in utter poverty, born in a dark cave fit only for beasts and cradled in a manger. Within months, Herod tried to kill Him. Immediately thereafter, for an unknown period, He was a stranger in a strange land. All His brothers refused to accept Him or acknowledge who He was. In fact, for 30 years He was ignored: “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11).

When He went forth teaching and preaching, His words were warped and twisted to mean the opposite of what He intended. More often than not, His words and actions were met with ingratitude. His good deeds were misapprehended, even maligned. He knew loneliness and sorrow; even His closest friends were insensitive to His needs. He was betrayed with a kiss for a paltry sum….

In His hour of trial, all His close friends forsook Him and fled. Of the three closest, one denied Him vehemently. Condemned to a cruel, agonizing death, He felt deserted even by His Father in heaven. He who came as Savior of the world was mocked and derided for being “unable” to save Himself.

Nevertheless, “He opened not His mouth.” He endured to the end, knowing that beyond the cross and the tomb lay victory.  Through the Spirit of truth, God would glorify Him. Good Friday was followed inevitably by Easter, death by the Resurrection.

Christians who suffer in prisons nurture the same blessed hope. We commend to you, in all your difficulties, the faith that sees beyond suffering to resurrection and glorification.

(Excerpted and edited from the April 1982 VOM newsletter)

About Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand

When communists seized power in Romania and began to control or eliminate Christian activities, Pastor Richard Wurmbrand and his wife, Sabina, chose to continue their work as part of the underground church, meeting in the woods, in caves and in other secret locations. Both Richard and Sabina paid dearly for their evangelistic work. Richard served a total of 14 years in prison, enduring severe mental and physical torture, and Sabina was forced into slave labor for several years on the Danube Canal. In December 1965, Christian organizations paid the Romanian government a $10,000 ransom in order to get Richard and Sabina out of the country. Just under two years later, they started the ministry of The Voice of the Martyrs with $100 and an old typewriter. Pastor Wurmbrand’s testimony is told in his acclaimed book Tortured for Christ, which is available from The Voice of the Martyrs.

LifeWay Christian Stores and VOM Partner to Bring You Family Med Packs

Be one of the first to fill a Family Med Pack.

Visit a LifeWay Christian Store near you this Saturday, March 26, to participate in VOM’s new Family Med Pack program. Take one or more Family Med Packs home and fill them with items like bandages, gauze and lip balm, and VOM will distribute these useful packs to Iraqi Christians that have lost everything at the hands of ISIS. Pick up your pack(s) and instructions at any LifeWay Christian Store for a practical way to assist Iraqi Christians.

Along with your Family Med Pack, get your copy of VOM’s new book, I Am N. You will be inspired to a deeper commitment to Christ as you read the compelling stories of believers who have remained faithful to Christ in the midst of persecution from Islamic extremists. Find out more at the LifeWay Christian Store near you this Saturday.

 

Find a LifeWay Christian Store Near You

If you don't live near a LifeWay Christian Store, you can order Family Med Packs online.

VIDEO: VOM Worker Visits Martyred Relatives' Grave

In 1934, John and Betty Stam were kidnapped and killed by communist soldiers in China. Today their distant niece, Dory, works at The Voice of the Martyrs.

Recently she was part of a VOM team visiting China, and while there she attempted to visit the place where the Stams were buried. Watch the video below to see the story:

 

Dory also spoke with VOM Radio about her visit to China and the Christians she met. Listen here.

Assyrian Christians Are “N”

In the early morning hours of Feb. 23, 2015, guards in the Assyrian Christian villages along the Khabur River in northern Syria left for duty in Hassaka. An hour later, ISIS militants burst into the homes of villagers, taking hundreds of men, women, and children as captives.

In one village, ISIS militants forced 21 people into a small room. Most in the group were men, but there were a few women, including one man’s aunt and his six-year-old daughter, Mariana. For three hours, they listened to gun battles and explosions just across the river as ISIS militants battled with Assyrian soldiers and Kurdish forces. It was not clear what the extremists intended to do. Death seemed imminent.

Photo credit: Assyrian International News Agency

Caption: In the weeks before the attack, ISIS fighters told the villages to remove the crosses from their churches. After crosses came down, some of the men defied the Islamic extremists and put the crosses back on top of their churches.

During a lull in the fighting, the Christians hear the village church bell ring three times. It gave them hope that God was still with them.

Immediately, their ISIS guards became fearful and demanded to know who else was in the village. No one could explain why the church bell rang. Thousands of those who once lived in these villages had already left, and only 3,000 or so remained. Taking no chances, ISIS loaded group into trucks and took them into the mountains. Eventually the Islamic extremists would bring 253 hostages into this area. Nearly every day, the ISIS fighters pressured the Christians to convert to Islam.

The Islamic extremists began negotiations to exchange the hostages for ransom almost immediately. Within a week, the 21 who were held in the room were among the first to be released. However, just as they were releasing the hostages, the extremists decided to keep 6-year-old Mariana. Her father and great aunt pleaded with the extremists, who tried to force them to leave without the girl. Finally, the men relented and told the father to bring more money for his daughter’s release, and they allowed Mariana’s great aunt to stay as her guardian.

Mariana and her great aunt were eventually released along with around 30 of the others after ransoms were paid.

In November 2015, ISIS released a video showing three men from the Khabur region dressed in orange jumpsuits and kneeling in front of black-clad ISIS members. The men stated that they were Christians from the Khabur region, and they were executed on-camera. The video threatened that if ISIS did not receive $10 million dollars,

ISIS demanded nearly $10 million dollars for the remaining hostages, then believed to be about 202 people. The Assyrian Christians remained committed to their faith. None of them would convert to Islam, despite the pressure to do so.

On Feb. 22 of this year, following their year-long captivity with ISIS militants as their guards, the last of hostages from the Khabur River region were released. The 43 men, women, and children are thankful for all the Lord has done.

They ask that Christians remember them in prayer. While all of those who were taken captive from the villages along the river are accounted for, there are still hundreds of missing Assyrian Christians who have been taken from other villages. More than 200 were taken from another village in Qaratyain, Syria this past August. They too, need Christian brothers and sisters who will not allow them to suffer in silence and will stand with them in prayer for their faithfulness, courage, and perseverance.

Fear and Faith Cannot Coexist

Australian John Short was detained inside North Korea after leaving gospel tracts near a Buddhist temple. He was facing years in prison--but he wasn't afraid. "Fear and faith cannot exist within my heart at the same time," he says.

This week on VOM Radio, in the second part of our conversation with Mr. Short, he shares how he prayed--out loud--throughout his captivity, how his captors responded to his faith and how his "letter of confession" and eventual release came about. The conversation is especially relevant coming after North Korea sentenced an American college student, Otto Warmbier, to 15 years of hard labor last week for allegedly stealing a patriotic poster from his hotel.

He'll also share how, upon landing back in China, he learned that his captivity was international news. He was deeply moved to learn that Christians in many nations were praying for him during his trial, including a group of Chinese house churches that prayed around the clock during his detention. Finally, Mr. Short shares specific ways we can pray for the "hermit kingdom" of North Korea. (If you missed the first part of this conversation, listen to it here.)

 

 

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A Prison Letter

VOM received this letter from a prisoner in the Ukraine. Even in prison, this brother is sharing Christ. He prays that we believers will learn to love and serve Muslims.

Dear VOM ministers, brothers and sisters! Peace be with you! The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. 2Cor. 13:14

By God’s grace, since 2014 I have been receiving your VOM newsletter. Thank you very much! In it I find encouragement and support. The difficulties I face as well as my life sentence are nothing compared to the suffering that our brave brothers and sisters in Christ undergo. Every day I send my prayers to God for all his suffering children. I thank God for the honor to be a partaker in their sufferings!

We are not able to change Muslims, but we can do our best to change ourselves, to become disciplined and faithful in prayer, and become a light to them. In our prison, there are a few Muslims with a life sentence. Recently God put me into the same cell with one of them. I shared about Christ with him and prayed five times a day right next to him – he prayed as a Muslim and I prayed as a Christian. In Mt. 10:16 the Lord says, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”

I read that Mahatma Gandhi once said, “I like your Christ, but I do not like Christians, who are not like Jesus Christ!” There are so many people around us, who do not know God, but none tells them about Him. We Christians, are often busy with our own problems, struggles and fights with one another. I thank you very much for sending me your materials that remind me to re-evaluate my Christian life and my values! I pray that Christians learn to love Muslims and serve them, while preaching them the Gospel of Jesus Christ by the way they live and act towards other people.

I have a dream to organize a tent camp near my house in Yalta for children whose parents are in prison, in order to share Jesus with them. I keep all the materials for kids that were inserted into your NL so that someday I could send them to this camp!

With gratitude and love, your brother,

Victor