In the early morning hours of Feb. 23, 2015, guards in the Assyrian Christian villages along the Khabur River in northern Syria left for duty in Hassaka. An hour later, ISIS militants burst into the homes of villagers, taking hundreds of men, women, and children as captives.

More than two years ago, I was handed a slip of paper with the name “Nguba Buba” on it.

Imagine seeing three of your best friends murdered for their faith in Christ. Brother Gokhan experienced that loss, living in Malatya where three Christians—all part of his church—were murdered. Today Gokhan is a part of Sat-7 TURK, sharing the gospel across the nation via satellite television. He tells us that risk is a part of sharing the gospel in Turkey. “We need to be sacrifice people,” he says. But he reminds us that the power to endure persecution doesn’t come from us, it comes from God.

The United States and Cuba have resumed diplomatic relations after more than 50 years of animosity. President Obama recently visited Cuba. But has anything changed for the church or for Cuban Christians?

In the front section of the New York Times on Sunday was a story on the ongoing destruction of churches and removal of crosses from church buildings. The article says as many as 1700 crosses have been taken down in the past two years in Zhejiang Province; Bob Fu, president of China Aid Association, told VOM Radio the number may be even higher.

Seeing news images of President Obama doing “the wave” at a baseball game in Cuba, it would be easy to think that this small communist country is now completely free and open to the gospel of Christ. But while President Obama was watching baseball, Pastor Mario Felix Lleonart Barroso was sitting in a police station. Barroso, a Baptist pastor, blogger and friend of VOM, was thrown to the ground, handcuffed and detained at his home (which also serves as his church) just hours before Air Force One landed in Havana. A few hours after the president left Cuba, Pastor Barroso was set free and returned to his family. He was tired and weak, having fasted throughout his detention, but happy to be home. Pastor Barroso is a bold pastor and outspoken advocate for religious freedom in his nation, and as such he is seen as a threat to the communist government of Fidel and Raul Castro. The Cuban government decided to make sure there would be no “distractions” during President Obama’s visit, so Barroso and dozens of other dissidents were detained by police in the days leading up to the president’s arrival. Pastor Barroso’s name is already familiar to many American Christians who have committed to pray each week for persecuted believers at iCommitToPray.com. More than 400 people in 27 nations have already prayed for the pastor and his wife, who was threatened with imprisonment in 2014. Each week, VOM posts a specific prayer request on iCommitToPray.com and invites Christians around the world to join in prayer for that request and to type their prayers on the website. Other believers — even believers in hostile and restricted nations — can then be blessed by and join in agreement with those prayers. Please pray for Pastor Barroso and his wife, Yoaxis, as the pastor recovers from his recent detention. Sign up on iCommitToPray.com to receive a new prayer request like this one via email each week.

Nine years after the torture and killing of three Christians in 2007, a civil court in Turkey has ruled that the Turkish government failed in its duty to protect them. On April 18, 2007, Ugur Yüksel, Necati Aydin and Tilmann Geske (German) were murdered at the Zirve Publishing House, a Christian organization where all three worked. The brutal killing was carried out by five youths who were detained at the scene and were each found with identical notes reading: “We did this for our country…. They are attacking our religion.”

The following is excerpted from a recent report of persecution in Laos as published by Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom:

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

In the April 27, 2015, issue of TIME Magazine, Dr. Tom Catena was identified as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World." Dr. Tom is a family practice physician who has been in the Nuba region for seven years, as the only remaining physician at the hospital he helped found.