This week during the VOM staff chapel service Mrs. Peggy Dau, the wife of VOM President Jim, talked about the significance of July 4th, one of her favorite holidays. As Americans celebrate our nation’s independence today, we trust her words will bless and encourage you, and remind you of the importance of praying for our nation on this day and all days:

Have you ever experienced a good Oklahoma thunderstorm? I’ve lived all over the U.S. and different parts of the world, but I’ve never experienced anything like the thunderstorms here. Each clap of thunder reverberates through the house and in your chest. It’s like a mini earthquake with pyrotechnics (the flash of lightening before each rumble) and a short stint at a concert when you’re right next to the speaker and the drums are booming.

A Laotian house church continues to grow and remain strong despite the death of its leader, “Than,” last year. Than established a church in the rural Laotian village in 2006, and the 10 families in the church experienced much persecution over the years from village officials and neighbors.

On behalf of the children and pastors in Nepal who received Christmas Care and Village Outreach Packs, thank you to all who gave to support this ministry project! Your gifts blessed these Christians — and their families — who pay a steep price for representing Christ in this Hindu nation.

Recently, The Voice of the Martyrs sponsored a Bible distribution in western Uganda. I hope you'll be encouraged by the excitement of this young woman, one of those who received a Bible:

In yesterday’s post, we told you about two former prisoners in Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran. Today we bring word from a current Evin prisoner: Farshid Fathi.

For Agnes, forgiveness was a long time in coming. Agnes is a Christian widow, living in northern Nigeria. In 2004, her shop-keeper husband was caught in a religious riot in Kano. Muslim rioters entered his shop and shot him with arrows. Bleeding, with arrows hanging from his chest, he ran home. The mob chased him and broke down the door. He was killed in front of Agnes and his four kids, who were barely able to convince the mob not to kill them, too.

I remember the day I first learned about the magnitude of evil at work in this world. I was about 8 when the lady across the street, the mother of three of my friends, tried to commit suicide. She was a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust and had seen her entire family die in a concentration camp. My mother later told me the neighbor was watching a TV show about the Nuremberg Trials and had a flashback. Her 5-year-old daughter walked home from kindergarten that day after her mother didn’t pick her up. The little girl found her mother on the kitchen floor and ran to get the neighbor. Medics were able to save her life.

“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.

A few weeks ago I attended my first VOM Conference in Amarillo, TX. A friend invited me along, so I agreed because she spoke so highly of the conferences. I thought it sounded like a fun little road trip mixed with some volunteer work. Since I have worked at VOM for almost six years now, I expected it to be like an extended chapel service, with stories I had read in the newsletter.