What would it be like to live in a village that was nearly impossible to drive to? When visitors manage to travel to this type of village, people come pouring out of their homes to see what all the commotion is about.

He has also set eternity in the hearts of men. Ecclesiastes 3:11

The Apostle Paul asked the Thessalonian church to pray that he, Silas, and Timothy be delivered from wicked and evil people (2 Thessalonians 3:2-3). Jesus prayed in John 17:18 that the Father not take his followers from the world, but that they be kept from the evil one. How do we harmonize Paul’s expectation to be persecuted and even Christ’s statements that all of his followers will be persecuted (John 15:20) with the prayer to avoid persecution?

In this week's episode of VOMRadio we talk with Dr. Berhane, a Christians from the small African nation of Eritrea--a nation where almost 1,000 Christians are currently in prison for their faith.

VOM's Todd Nettleton was interviewed this week by Mission Network News about possible developments in Indonesia that could be good news for our Christian brothers and sisters. Here is a portion of the resulting story from MNN:

VOM held 40 regional conferences in 2014, in every corner of the United States. Speakers from many different restricted and hostile nations have shared their stories, as well as VOM workers sharing the stories of persecuted believers they have met and VOM projects that have assisted these believers.

Set within Pakistan’s Punjab province about 40 miles southwest of Lahore, Chak 59 is a rural village where most people work as day laborers. Like many other families here, Christians Shahzad Masih and his pregnant wife, Shama Bibi were compelled to work long days at the brick kiln. Their 6-year-old son and two daughters, 4 and 1 ½, will also be expected to work when they are older.

Yesterday CBS News aired an interview with James Clapper, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, who recently returned from North Korea along with two American citizens who had been imprisoned there.

Tens of thousands of Christians have been displaced by the advance of the Islamic State in Iraq. Many families were forced out of their homes with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.

“Discipleship of one’s household isn’t only for Christians in persecuted and restricted nations. It isn’t only for pastors, youth pastors, and elders…it’s for the whole body of Christ.” — Pastor Eric Foley, VOM’s project partner for North Korea