Earlier this week, we shared a video report from Gary Lane in Tanzania that included the story of Pastor Mathayo Kachili, who was killed because of his faith in Christ. Pastor Kachili’s story is also included in VOM’s June newsletter.

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:

Recently one of our contacts in Laos was invited to visit a village to minister to three people who’d recently decided to follow Jesus. The small house church in their village had no pastor, and so this brother went to disciple the three new believers and other Christians in the village.

The past two weeks have seen two Christian leaders in Tanzania killed by radical Muslims. The first was an Assembly of God pastor killed on Feb. 11 in the northwest part of the country. Pastor Mathayo Kachili was killed when Muslims attacked Christians who had butchered an animal. (Traditionally all of the butcher shops in Tanzania have been run by Muslims, but in recent months Christians have tried to change that.)

Following is a portion from an interview with Padina, an Iranian Christian woman who, along with her husband, is helping grow God's Kingdom in Iran. You can read the full interview here.

When a Christian brother we'll call "Bilal" died last spring in a small Nepali city, it was important to his family that his body be buried. For Nepali Christians, burial is not only a way to dispose of a body but also an "Ebenezer" (1 Sam. 7:12), a permanent landmark of a person's faith and God's faithfulness. But in Nepal, where 75 percent of the people are Hindus, cremation is the expected ritual following a death.

It is very appropriate to have an emotional response to persecution. That is how many of us began in ministry to and with the persecuted church. We deeply identify with their pain and loss, and we are driven to help.

Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from a post on Ravi Zacharias International Ministries' web site, reposted here with permission. The post was written by Jill Carattini, managing editor of A Slice of Infinity for RZIM. You can read the full post here.

This month, VOM's newsletter focusses on writing letters to Christians imprisoned for their faith. From the earliest days of its ministry, VOM has encouraged readers to write letters to Christians imprisoned for their faith. Today you can write a letter to an imprisoned Christian using electronic tools at www.PrisonerAlert.com or VOM's new letter-writing kit.

Just before Christmas I shared with you all a post about what I've learned about the persecuted church and today, as I have thought about what to share with you in my last post for this blog, I wanted to leave a few final thoughts with you all.