“The life of man is a continual death, unless it be that Christ lives in him.”

How can you pray for persecuted Christians this week? Here are some specific requests for this week. (Feel free to print them out and take them with you to church this weekend to share with Christian friends and others who will pray with you.)

Have you ever read the book of Acts and wondered why it doesn’t feel like God is working as miraculously in the world as he did then? Peter and the other disciples stood on the temple grounds on that Pentecost day and spoke in the tongues of many nations and about 3,000 people came to Christ in one day.

Nepal is one of the world's poorest nations. In addition to poverty, our brothers and sisters there face persecution from Hindu and Maoist fanatics. Attacks on individuals and churches are not uncommon for believers living in this hostile nation. Just recently, a pastor was stabbed to death by a man who had asked him to come pray for his healing.

Timothy Samuel Shah, Associate Director and Scholar-in-Residence at the Religious Freedom Project, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs at Georgetown University, recently penned an opinion piece about persecuted Christians around the world that appeared on FoxNews.com. The piece explores five "myths" about Christian persecution, and reasons why it is largely ignored in the West, especially by the media.

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:

With the exception of Peter and Paul, we have more information on the subsequent life of Thomas than on any of the other apostles. Most of the material comes from tradition. For a disciple with a doubtful reputation, he certainly left behind a variety of regions that name him among the founders of their ancient traditions of faith.

Walter Brueggemann, Old Testament scholar, says that Israel’s experiences of pain as recorded in the Old Testament are answered by God’s actions. He hears their cries of pain and responds. Hope in ancient Israel was expressed by “the relentless insistence that social hurt is not permanent, that oppression is not for perpetuity” (Old Testament Theology: Essays on Structure, Theme, and Text, 7). Israel believed that God would change things abruptly (“an inversion of circumstances”). It is a radical idea—that the present is not permanent and that there is genuine hope for the future. Things will change because God will change them. It was an optimism based on the intervention of God into human history. His kingdom would come and it would last forever. The kingdom of God has come in Christ, and will be consummated when he comes again.

Each month VOM produces "The Jesus Freaks Minute," a daily radio-PSA that shares the stories of the persecuted church with Christian radio listeners all over the United States and around the world. Here's the script for one of the spots that will air next month, a spot entitled Wurmbrand on Forgiveness:

"Every time you kneel down and pray for Vietnam, you are working with us in Vietnam."