Yesterday we shared with you that Gao is alive. Today I wanted to share with you the official release from The Voice of the Martyrs news team.

Compass Direct is highlighting a good news story from Vietnam, concerning Attorney Le Thi Cong Nhan who was imprisoned as a prisoner of conscience for wanting democratic freedoms in Vietnam.

The latest news about Gao is good, but we still need to keep praying so that he can be reunited with his wife and children.

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to go to a nurses convention in order to hand out bibles. It was a very cool experience because not only was I able to give out bibles to someone who didn't have one, but I had the opportunity to share about how Christians in persecuted countries pray, sometimes for decades, for a copy of the bible.

“You are lying!” Lieutenant Grecu screamed at the imprisoned pastor, Richard Wurmbrand. “Tell us the truth about your Christian activities and about others in your church! Here, you must write out for me all the rules that you have broken in the prison.”

The Voice of the Martyrs’ medical program is on the frontlines in Northern Nigeria, providing medical care, support and counseling to Christians following recent attacks by Muslims. VOMedical staff report that many villages have been attacked, the latest occurring on March 17. “Muslims surrounded the small village of Byei, some 30 miles south of Jos. They attacked the homes with AK-47s (judging by the diameter of the bullet holes in the houses’ doors and according to survivors), followed by machetes and fire,” VOMedical staff said. “Thirteen people died in the attack and were buried in a mass grave just outside the village. Seven were wounded and taken to Vom Christian Hospital; five remained admitted when we visited the hospital this afternoon. Most of the wounds were gunshot wounds and burns.” The wounds sustained by believers in this attack are severe. “The severity of the wounds is much higher than those seen in the January riots; there are very, very few with minor wounds, while more than half of the January attack wounds were minor,” VOMedical staff added. “This area has had six or seven villages attacked over the past 10 to 14 days. None of these were the typical Nigerian religious riot; all were deliberate, middle-of-the-night, well coordinated assaults.” VOMedical staff have visited believers in hospitals and consulted with doctors to ensure they are receiving the medical treatment they require. “We were able to see numerous patients at Plateau State Specialist Hospital, one of two of the main receiving hospitals from this attack,” VOMedical staff said. “There were fewer gunshot wounds and far more machete and cutlass wounds. Muslims had sharpened their weapons before the attack, because the wounds on these folks were significantly deeper and more destructive than any of those I saw in January. The epitome was an above-the-elbow amputation on the left arm of a 4-year-old child.”

Recently, Tom White, from The Voice of the Martyrs USA and Michael Wurmbrand, the son of the founder of VOM, Richard Wurmbrand, had the opportunity to go to Romania and visit the prison that Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand spent time in.