It was midnight when officers burst into their home and abruptly awakened Eskinder Menghis and his wife and three children. They walked out to find agents with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior ransacking their home.

UPDATE - On Tuesday, December 13, a Cuban court absolved Rev. Carlos Lamelas of all charges of trafficking in illegal immigrants.

Today we have another great round up for you. Special thanks always to those of you who are participating faithfully.

A few days ago I was reading a very cool little book called Christmas in My Soul (Vol 1) by Joe Wheeler and in the book was a little history of how St. Nicholas became Santa Claus. Well, that captivated me because one of the things I read in this book was that St. Nicholas was a persecuted Christian! So of course, I thought ...this is great for this blog.

On November 26, a house church in Laodong Xincui, Tongling City, Anhui Province was closed by the government. The leaders were told to join the local Three-Self Church.

Father Samy Al Raiys, the kidnapped rector of the major seminary of the Chaldean Patriarchate, was released after being held for six days. According to the official Web site of the Patriarchate, the priest, who was abducted outside his home at the Church of St. George on the morning of December 4, is in good health.

INDIA - On Sunday, December 5, police forced Pastor Jesurathinam and his congregation to stop their worship service in a church in Vellamody village, Kanya Kumari in Tamil Nadu.

I couldn't help but think of the Lord Jesus as our attorney before the Father in heaven. If we receive Christ as our Lord and our Savior, then we have access to the Father in heaven. When we stand before the Father on judgment day and He inquires of us, there is no greater comfort than to know that Jesus is my advocate with the Father, according to 1John 2:1. This story shows how this believer had an unlikely advocate with this lawyer who was "just standing in." I think this is pretty cool.

Yesterday I highlighed the Voice of the Martyrs Kids of Courage ministry and some very cool ways the kids have raised money and blessed the persecuted church. Today I wanted to highlight a few of the very bold believers, that just happen to be KIDS. My prayer is that the courage of these children will inspire you to be bold and courageous as an adult.

Are you a doer of the Word and not only a hearer? Well, I try my best to be and one of the coolest things we can do is also get our children involved. Which is why I'm thrilled to let you know how VOM's Kids of Courage program was used this year.