As I have learned more and more about Islam, I’ve often wondered what its appeal is to people. Islam is growing rapidly, partly because so many people are born into the Muslim faith, but also because so many people are converting to Islam.

Christians in Indonesia continue to worship at the Bait el Dokulamo church, eight years after jihad extremists burned their church building and killed 35 people.

A young girl in Laos named “Alani” was extremely sick from a pain in her stomach, to the point that she couldn’t even eat. Her parents first took her to the hospital where they spent a large sum of money running tests, but the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with her.

I have a painting hanging in my office that gives me constant perspective. You may have seen it before: it’s called Safely Home and was painted by Ron Dicianni. Working at VOM, I consistently hear amazing testimonies; people are miraculously saved, protected, released from prison and provided for. God answers our prayers. Just last week after 220 days in prison, Pastor Farhad Sabokrouh was released from imprisonment in Ahvaz, Iran. All of the hundreds of letters and prayers were not in vain. I also consistently hear other stories. Also just this week we heard updates of continual attacks on Christians Egypt, homes were destroyed, at least two Christians were confirmed dead and a 15 year old girl was thrown from the second floor window of her home as her punishment for being a Christian, causing her severe injuries.

Have you ever met someone who has fallen away from the Lord? Certainly, there are many reasons why this happens to people. But there is one re-occurring reason that I have been seeing recently: They accepted the wrong gospel.

“For me the issue has been settled. The Lord called me to reach out to my people and I have to. So whether they are killing me, I will still love them with the love of God. I do not see them as my enemies because they killed my son. I have forgiven them because they do not have Christ and that is all they can think at their level.”

Have you ever heard a Christian say “I don’t really have a testimony”?

“Preach the gospel always: when necessary use words.” This famous quote by St. Francis of Assisi is compelling, but it is also easy to hide behind in the current culture we live in.

Maybe you are like me and sometimes when you read stories about the persecuted church around the world you can’t help but think “I’m so glad we don’t have persecution here in America.” It’s true that most of us will never have to face the kind of violence, danger or threats many of our brothers and sisters face for their faith. But will you face no persecution?

There is a scripture that haunted me in my growing up years. “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required...” (Luke 12:48). It felt like a burden to me. I treated it like a checklist: 1. Did I pray for others in need today? 2. Did I give financially as much as I possibly could? 3. Did I raise awareness about what is going on? 4. Did I tell other people about Jesus because I have the freedom to do so anytime?