What does the pulpit look like at your church?

Before sunrise, a North Korean Christian seals his small, secret radio into a plastic bag and buries it in the ground. He will dig it up late that night to listen again to Biblical teaching while trying to avoid the prying eyes of his neighbors and his government.

When his wife, Cheng Jie, was sent to prison because the kindergarten she managed used Christian materials to teach the children, Pastor Du Hong Bo was left alone to raise the couple’s two children.

Two of my friends recently attended a conference to learn about outreach ministry to Muslim women. They had the opportunity to visit a local mosque. They did not participate in the prayers, but they were still welcomed by the Muslim women. My friend shared with me that the hospitality the Muslim women displayed astonished and humbled her. She didn’t expect to be welcomed at all, but instead, the women warmly greeted her, asked questions about her life and her family, and demonstrated an openness that went beyond her expectations.

Paul connected his own personal suffering to his responsibility for fulfilling his call. That suffering would be a part of his calling was stated explicitly by God to him. Since Paul had been a persecutor of the church before his conversion, he knew best what was waiting for him.

Christians in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan are under attack from their own government. When a plane flies overhead, our Sudanese brothers and sisters dive into foxholes to escape falling bombs. Hospitals and even schools are specifically targeted by the Islamic government of Sudan.

“They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth” (Hebrews 11:37b-38).

“I just need to release myself to learn and pray for the opportunity to know more,” I heard Raphael say clear as day through his heavy Nigerian accent. It was like a message from God piercing through my inner panic and I immediately realized I needed to just calm my nerves to listen and learn. I don’t need to know everything yet. I’m still a student and an intern.

Sergio Cariello is a world-famous comic-book artist. And he’s a missionary.

The focus for VOM's free monthly newsletter in June is Christians facing persecution in Africa, with stories from Niger, Uganda and Kenya.