Recently I was talking to a couple of believers about the times in which we live. We were talking about Christian persecution and how as followers of Christ, we see the world becoming darker - literally. There is no doubt about it. We live during wicked times here on this earth, and as Christians we have been called for such a time as this to be the light that the world is so desperately needing.

On the night of August 5, more than fifty Hindu militants stormed the House of Hope orphanage in Dantewara, Chhattisgarh state in an attempt to forcibly close it. According to VOMC sources, the mob was armed with clubs and bamboo sticks. They beat the director, Suresh (35), and threatened to kill him if he continues with the orphanage. They also questioned and threatened several of the children.

The following information is taken from this weeks Canada's Persecution & Prayer Alert As you read through this prayer need, please remember to pray for those doing the persecuting.

I was thinking this morning about how I might encourage all of us to be serious about praying for the persecuted saints, as well as just nurturing our prayer life in general and I started to think about kneeling.

This special prayer request is from this weeks VOM-USA Prayer alert. If you'd like to get these requests in your email every week, click on over to www.persecution.com and sign up today. You'll be glad you did.

This morning I had the privilege of joining with some members of my home church for a time of prayer. Six others arrived at the prayer meeting besides myself, and I have to tell you that I was GREATLY encouraged to see seven of us there! It was really amazing to me, especially since in Southern California where I live, the majority of people I know just do not make the time to come together and fellowship with one another and the Lord.

(Compass Direct) Freed on bail, a Pakistani man charged with raping Ribqa Masih has continued to threaten the young Christian woman who accused him of pressuring her to convert to Islam by violating her. "I'm afraid to go outside," said Masih before breaking into tears. "Mentally, I've been too disturbed to study." Masih had finished her high school examinations and was awaiting the results in September 2005, when wealthy Muslim neighbors in this town near Faisalabad kidnapped and raped her, she said. Among them was Muhammad Kashif, who was granted bail on a technicality the law gives to criminal suspects suffering from illness. His illness is psoriasis. "Psoriasis did not stop him from raping Masih," said Khalil Tahir Sindhu, Masih's lawyer. Nor did it keep Kashif from fleeing police in a Faisalabad courtroom last October when his initial request for pre-arrest bail was rejected.

(VOM Canada) On May 1, 2006, Ka Tamong (22) came to faith in Christ in the Louangphrabang area of Laos and immediately set out to share his faith with the people in his home village of Omdong. Using a cassette tape given to him by a pastor, he began sharing his new found faith with his family and fellow villagers and many expressed interest in becoming Christians. However, the village head reported him to the district police and he was arrested on May 16. His Bible and cassette player were confiscated. Contacts report Ka Tomong was released from Nong Ngiao prison on or around June 24th and has led three more people to the Lord. Pray that Ka Tamong will remain faithful to his newfound faith. Pray that he will find opportunities to share Christ and that other believers will be encouraged because of his faithfulness. Pray that the villagers that have heard the gospel will respond with open hearts to Jesus Christ.

For those of you with a heart for the nation of India, here's a special request for you.

Precious Friends, today I decided I wanted to do something different with our prayer requests. Instead of giving you one of the prayer requests that The Voice of the Martyr's offers in their weekly prayer alerts, I'm going to give you all of them in different posts.