Thirteen–year–old Danjuma Shakaru was critically injured during an attack on his village in northern Nigeria. Muslim militants struck Danjuma on the head, arm and body with their machetes. Thinking he was dead, the villagers who found him dug his grave.

She’s my age.

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

“If they want all three of our kids,” said Tawadros’ widow, Malaka, “it isn’t too much [to give] for Christ.”

A 15-year-old girl can dream about her future again after a harrowing escape from her abductors. The teenager survived seven weeks in the custody of Islamic terrorists Boko Haram, who kidnapped her in October from her home in northern Nigeria.

While the assaults by radical Muslims in Nigeria have faded from the news, the attacks on Christians have continued to escalate.

Weng Goodluck Tshua was three weeks old in March 2010 when Fulani Muslims attacked his village of Dogo Nahawa and slaughtered 501 Christians. All nine members of his family, including his father and mother, were killed. He was rescued from his burning house, but not before the fire had consumed his feet. As Weng has grown over the past few years, he has been unable to run around or even walk. But a VOM prosthetics team is helping change that.

With less than two weeks to go before this year’s International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) on November 3, is your church planning to “Remember them that are in bonds” (Hebrews 13:3) on this significant Sunday?

The day after her husband was brutally murdered in the offices of a Christian publishing house in Turkey, Semse Aydin announced on national TV that she had forgiven the men who committed the murder.

The feature story in VOM’s June newsletter focuses on the rise of Islam in Africa, with stories of recent persecution from Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. Gary Lane contributed to that feature story, and also filed this video report to CBN News: