A VOM worker in Jordan sent this email yesterday:

Earlier this month Asia Bibi’s husband, Ashiq, was able to visit her in jail. At the time of his visit Asia was sick and receiving treatment from the jail doctor. She complained of a lot of pain in her legs, shoulders and arms.

“If you do not denounce this Jesus, you will die on the cross,” Governor Aegaeas fumed. This Christian had caused him personal embarrassment in the eyes of Rome by spreading Christianity throughout the governor’s Greek province and even to his own wife.

“How can us kids help?” — recent commenter on VOM’s Kids of Courage blog

Maybe you are like me and sometimes when you read stories about the persecuted church around the world you can’t help but think “I’m so glad we don’t have persecution here in America.” It’s true that most of us will never have to face the kind of violence, danger or threats many of our brothers and sisters face for their faith. But will you face no persecution?

Did you know that the majority of Muslim international students living in the United States have never set foot inside a Christian home?

Recently during a meeting of VOM’s department directors and executives, the following devotional was read from “On This Day” by Robert J. Morgan. The story was the entry for June 17 in the book.

We are very familiar with the normal reasons to pray: to worship God, to intercede on behalf of others, and to petition God when we desire something from him. For our prayer to be radical it must go beyond the normal reasons and move into a higher or deeper realm. It needs to be seen as a weapon against evil and for good. It becomes intentionally audacious, going into spiritual battle with powers and forces which we cannot see but whose destructive presence we can sense. When we thrust forward in the power of the Spirit, we will meet opposition of some form in our spiritual lives and perhaps in our work or ministry.

How valuable is God’s word to a Christian in prison? More valuable than gold!

“Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels (Hebrews 13:1-2).”