Persecution Blog

Bringing in The Harvest in Ethiopia

In the past 30 years, evangelical Christians in Ethiopia have grown from 1% of the population to more than 20%. Allan Sherer, the Horn of Africa Director for Front Line Mission, calls that church growth "one of the great gospel stories of our generation."

That growth hasn't come without challenges and persecution. And now the challenge is to keep up with the demand for trained pastors and leaders. Hear about Front Line's efforts to meet that need, as well as the amazing ways God is raising up leaders and church planters in Ethiopia and even into neighboring countries on this week's episode of The Voice of the Martyrs Radio.

 

You can also access every episode of VOM Radio as a podcast.

VOM Radio: Zero Percent Chance of Hearing Gospel

The people of Central Asia are caught between their Islamic culture and the authoritarian remnants of 70 years of communist domination. Statistically, many of the region’s people have a zero-percent probability of meeting a follower of Christ or hearing the gospel message of Jesus' love.

"Brother Harold" has served more than a decade building relationships and planting gospel seeds among Muslim people in Central Asia. This week on VOM Radio he shares about the persecution Central Asian Christians face, some of his challenges and God’s victories during 15 years of ministry, and thoughts on how Christians in the United States can minister to Muslims right where we live. He also offers advice to those who sense a calling from God to serve in missions.

 

You can also access every episode of VOM Radio as a podcast.

"God Had Their Back"

Jesus told his disciples to "Go into all the world." He didn’t say it would be easy.

Verne and Denny Johnson have experienced the joy of seeing people come to Christ while serving as missionaries in Ivory Coast. But they’ve also experienced dark days. They watched their children almost die from malaria. War forced them to evacuate their home and leave the people they loved.

But God even used those dark times to bring blessings into their lives, and to open the door for further ministry. Listen as Verne and Denny share their story, and share specific ways for you to pray for missionaries and gospel workers around the world.

 

You can also access all episodes of VOM Radio as a podcast. Visit the VOM Radio web site at www.VOMRadio.net. 

VOM Radio: Tearing Down Walls in North Africa

“Brother Jay” has served more than a decade among Muslims in North Africa, sharing the love of Christ and discipling believers to become strong in their faith and share Jesus’ love with their countrymen.

This week on VOM Radio, he shares how God is tearing down walls to allow His word to go forth. Jay has seen the persecution Muslim converts face, often persecution that comes first from their own families. He’s also seen Western Christians expelled and sent home.

Jay will share with us about the faithfulness of God—even amidst persecution—and how Christians overcome fear to boldly share the gospel and keep serving the Lord in North Africa.

 

VOMRadio: When An ISIS Fighter Wants to Talk

An ISIS fighter wants to talk with you. He says he wants to know more about Jesus. What will you do?

You’d probably have lots of questions. What are his intentions? Is his spiritual hunger real, or is it a trap? Is the Lord really calling me to go to this meeting?

Those questions aren’t new. Ananias had the same doubts when he was told to go visit a man named Saul.

Christians in the Middle East face this dilemma today. This week on VOMRadio we’ll hear what happened when a Christian worker from YWAM was introduced to an ISIS fighter, a man with Christian blood on his hands.

 

You can also access all VOMRadio episodes as a podcast.

VOMRadio: "We Believe in the Power of the Gospel"

Is it easy to reach Muslims with the message of salvation through Christ? No. But Prem Kumar says, “We believe in the power of the gospel.”

Prem is training church planters and sending out gospel workers all over South Asia…including some of the region’s most difficult areas. This week on VOMRadio he tells us how they prepare those workers to face persecution without losing their faith, and about the challenges they are facing and how they overcome. He also shares ideas for reaching out to Muslims, and help us pray more effectively for missionaries working on the front lines.

 

VOMRadio: Tanzania

Tori Rasmussen is a missionary to Tanzania, focusing on spreading God’s Word into African villages and equipping and training national Christians to become missionaries themselves.

In this week's episode of VOMRadio he shares about his work in Tanzania, about the persecution Christians there are facing and about the challenges of equipping tribal believers for outreach to other tribes and cultures. He also shares thoughts for American Christians about gospel outreach to Muslims right here at home.

 

You may also find this episode of VOMRadio interesting and helpful as you are praying for the people of Nepal after the devastating earthquake there over the weekend.

He Has Joined a Great Assembly

James Chalmers was a carefree, high-spirited Scottish boy. “I dearly loved adventure,” he later said, “and a dangerous position was exhilarating.” Perhaps that’s why he listened carefully one Sunday when his minister read a letter from missionaries in Fiji. The preacher, tears in his eyes, added, “I wonder if there is a boy here who will, by and by, bring the gospel to the cannibals.” Young James said quietly, “I will!”—and he wasn’t even yet converted.

In 1866, having been converted and trained, he sailed for the South Pacific as a Presbyterian missionary. Chalmers had a way with people. “It was in his presence, his carriage, his eye, his voice,” a friend wrote. “There was something almost hypnotic about him. His perfect composure, his judgement and tact and fearlessness brought him through a hundred difficulties.” Robert Louis Stevenson, who didn’t like missionaries until he met Chalmers, said, “He is a rowdy, but he is a hero. You can’t weary me of that fellow. He took me fairly by storm.”

In 1877 Chalmers sailed on to New Guinea. His ministry was successful there. Packed churches replaced feasts of human flesh. But as the years passed he grew lonely. He was delighted when young Oliver Tomkins came to join him in 1901. The two men decided to explore a new part of the islands, and on Easter Sunday they sailed alongside a new village. The next morning, April 8, 1901, Chalmers and Tomkins went ashore. They were never seen again. A rescue party soon learned that the men had been clubbed to death, chopped to pieces, cooked and eaten.

News flashed around the world. “I cannot believe it!” exclaimed Dr. Joseph Parker from the pulpit of London’s famous City Temple. “I do not want to believe it! Such a mystery of Providence makes it hard for our strained faith to recover. Yet Jesus was murdered. When I think of that side of the case, I cannot but feel that our honored and noble-minded friend has joined a great assembly.”

Story excerpted from “On This Day in Christian History: 365 Amazing and Inspiring Stories about Saints, Martyrs and Heroes” by Robert J. Morgan. (Disclosure: VOM is part of the Amazon Associates program. If you click on the link above and purchase the book from Amazon, VOM will receive a very small percentage of your purchase as a referral fee.)

Photo credit: Public Domain via Wikipedia

VOMRadio: Jesus is Worthy

Last week Brian and Louise shared about their efforts to plant a church in Mongolia, and the hardship they faced in that process.

This week they unwrap some of the principles they learned through that experience, lessons they are now teaching to pastors and church leaders around the world, including nations where VOM works.

We’ll also hear a first-hand report from a former prisoner for Christ in Uzbekistan, who tells us that the letters we write to Christians in prison really do make a difference. You can  write a letter to a Christian imprisoned for their faith at www.PrisonerAlert.com.

 

If you have comments about VOMRadio, or questions you'd like us to answer on the air, feel free to leave them as a comment to this post. You can also submit questions and comments via the VOMRadio web site.

We Will Endure

This week on the Persecution Blog we’re sharing excerpts from At The Foot of the Snows: A Journey of Faith and Words Among the Kham-Speaking People of Nepal by David E. Watters with Steve and Daniel Watters. (Read more about the book in Tuesday’s post.)

We have shared about a low point in the Watters ministry, and then about the moment the Kham people began to come to Christ. But their new-found faith came with a price. In this final excerpt we’ll hear how the believers suffered arrest and imprisonment, but more importantly how they responded and how God used it to grow the Kham church.

First an excerpt from a letter from Bishnu, one of seven Kham believers arrested and put in prison for their faith:

“We’re a little bit concerned, wondering what will happen to us. But whatever it be, we have cast ourselves upon God. Whatever he wants to do is his will. He knows. Thanks be to God. Up until the time that we have written this letter we are sitting in the gloom of the police fortress. But God’s glory is with us.

Regardless of what suffering comes in the name of our Lord Jesus, we will endure it. Do not concern yourself. Be of good confidence. We can never repay the debt for all that we have received from our Lord. This present suffering is of no significance. What is it compared to the suffering our Lord endured?”

* * * * *

The men began talking of about their dark, gloomy prison cell as “the house of God,” and their chains as “the ornaments of God.” Amazing! These were unlettered, unschooled men, but they stood like the giants before and after them…

* * * * *

We discovered quickly that the men’s imprisonment was the number one topic of discussion in every Kham village. Around every hearth the gospel was being discussed, by believers and unbelievers alike. “What does the gospel say, and why is it so bad?” All seven men were considered model citizens, and it baffled everybody that the government should wish to put such men into prison. “Why?” they asked. “What in those booklets is so terrible that it would put a man in prison?” So they began beating a path to Hasta Ram’s village to buy booklets and find out for themselves.

Nancy and I have often commented since that if we had hired those seven men to preach the gospel in every village, it would not have been nearly so effective as having them go to prison.

* * * * *

Later, Karna Bahadur would say with a grin on his face, “How stupid could they be? They thought they could beat God out of us with a stick!”

* * * * *

I am thankful for the legacy of David Watters and these bold Kham believers. And I'm thankful for great books like At the Foot of the Snows, that inspire us to seek God's will for our own lives and to boldly serve Him wherever He may call us. I encourage you to read the book, and to read it to your children and grandchildren.

[YOUR TURN:] What biographies have inspired you in your Christian faith and in your desire to serve Jesus more fully? Share thoughts in the comments to this post.

Todd Nettleton has served with The Voice of the Martyrs for 16 years. He’s travelled to more than 20 restricted and hostile nations and interviewed hundreds of believers who’ve faced persecution for their Christian witness. As VOM’s principle media spokesperson, Todd has done more than 2,000 interviews with media outlets ranging from Moody Radio to the BBC and Los Angeles Times. He is the principle author of Restricted Nations: North Korea and was part of the writing team for four other VOM books. You can see all 26 books that Todd read in 2014 on his personal blog.

Disclosure: VOM is part of the Amazon Associates program. If you click on the links in this post and purchase the book from Amazon, VOM will receive a very small percentage of your purchase as a referral fee.