“Are you willing to go to jail for three years in order to keep working with us on this project?” It is an intimidating question, but those who secretly deliver Bibles to China’s Christians know that it is a very real risk.

As the director of Voice Ministries at VOM, I have the privilege of helping connect believers in the United States with their persecuted family. In my conversations with believers, I have seen some common misconceptions about persecuted Christians.

The idea that someone or something suffers for the benefit or as a representative of another is a theme that runs through the Bible. In the Old Testament, animals were substituted for persons to bear the punishment for human sin. They represented the sinful human, vicariously suffering even though they were innocent because they could not make moral decisions. The suffering servant of Isaiah 53 introduces the idea of a person suffering on behalf of others. In the New Testament, Jesus becomes the ultimate sacrifice for our sin and our substitute. He was the Suffering Servant prophesied by Isaiah and suffered vicariously for us. He willfully went to the cross for us.

She’s my age.

Most American Christians think persecution is something that happens only in far-off places. Many don’t realize that Christians in Mexico—right next door—can face persecution. In Chiapas, Zapatista rebels pressure those who choose to follow Jesus to renounce their faith in Christ and return to the traditional religion and superstitions of the area. Christians are kicked out of their homes and villages, left with nothing. “Ivan” oversees VOM’s ministry to these bold believers, and this week he shares about meeting with them and how God continues to work in spite of the persecution they face.

Last summer VOM asked our readers to send a letter to Kim Jong Un, the brutal dictator of The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Not just any letter, either, but a letter of confession. Each letter began with the words, “I am a Christian.”

It is the fourth week of Ramadan, and Muslims around the world are fasting and praying. Muslims are required to cease eating and drinking from dawn until dusk. Only those who are traveling or who are sick are exempt from the requirement of fasting during this time.

I had the pleasure of spending a few hours with my dear friend, Merv Knight, last week.