Editor's note: This post originally appeared on the blog of Eternal Perspective Ministries with Randy Alcorn. It was written by Tami Yeager ahead of this year's International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP).

I recently returned from an iCommit conference hosted in the state of Washington. While there I heard a young man named Gilbert Hovsepain share his testimony. Gilbert is one of the sons of Rev. Haik Hovsepian, who was martyred in 1994 in Iran. The documentary A Cry From Iran , tells the story of Rev. Haik and his family.

The Voice of the Martyrs' vision is to bring every believer in the United States into fellowship with our persecuted family. But we can't achieve this vision alone. We invite you to join in sharing stories of our persecuted brothers and sisters by becoming a VOM Voice. The Be-A-Voice Network will now be known as Social Voice, one of four new tracks of volunteer groups. You may have noticed this name change on the Be-A-Voice website. We are now offering the following four options, which provide greater flexibility in choosing your level of involvement. SOCIAL VOICE - If your time is limited, consider serving as a Social Voice. As a Social Voice, you can pray, write or use social media to share about your persecuted family with others in your sphere of influence. CAMPUS VOICE - If you are a college student and you would like to tell others about persecution against Christians around the world, consider being a Campus Voice. As a Campus Voice, you will take a stand with persecuted Christians by being a voice for them on your college campus and challenging other students to get involved in helping them. CHURCH VOICE - If you would like to keep your church informed about and involved with your persecuted family, consider being a Church Voice. As a Church Voice, you will provide materials and facilitate events for prayer or hands-on projects. VOM will provide you with the training you need to become an official representative of The Voice of the Martyrs in your home church. COMMUNITY VOICE (formerly known as the Voice Volunteer Network) - As a Community Voice, you will speak on behalf of your persecuted family and have the opportunity to see lives changed through their powerful testimonies. VOM will provide you with the training you need to become an official speaker for The Voice of the Martyrs in your community. Would you pray about whether or not God is calling you to serve our persecuted family by being a voice for them, and what level of involvement He is asking of you? For more information on these opportunities, visit www.vomvoice.com.

If you’ve ever come to volunteer at VOM, it’s possible that you stayed in one of the Burton Swartz guesthouse apartments. But you may not know who Burton Swartz is.

As I recently watched and listened to the news of the attack and subsequent slaying of those in the office of French magazine Charlie Hebdo, I found my thoughts immediately drawn to a comparable, yet very different story. Both stories share the similarity of bloodshed at the hands of adherents to radical Islam. Each story is painfully tragic. I wondered if any of those slain in France had met their attackers before that fateful day. I thought of the life and deaths of Necati Aydin, Ugur Yuksel and Tilmann Geske, who were murdered in their office at Zirve Publishing in Malatya, Turkey on April 18, 2007.

A trip to the Middle East is not needed to learn that untold numbers of people are suffering in these ancient lands. Multiple media outlets are sharing unimaginable stories riddled with pain and affliction. Followers of Jesus Christ, once known as the 'sect of the Nazarene,' are being relentlessly pursued by radical Islamic factions. They are being kidnapped, tortured, raped, and forced to flee their homes and the birthplace of Christianity. A genocidal fire fueled by fierce evil is scorching the Middle East, and leaving in its wake death and destruction.

The following account comes from VOM’s Be-a-Voice Network member, Jessi S. For information about how you can be a part of the Be-a-Voice Network, visit http://www.be-a-voice.net.

We have a new Be-A-Voice-Network Prayer Bulletin available for you to download and share with your friends today. Since I am in an area using internet that won't let me access certain websites at the moment, including the Be-A-Voice-Network website, I can only share with you the first sentence of our new bulletin. Sorry about that.