Be inspired by this inspirational story from the book Extreme Devotion, which you may purchase in our The Voice of the Martyrs bookstore.

KHARTOUM, Sudan, January 20 (CDN) — Police this week beat and arrested a church leader in Khartoum, sources told Compass. Evangelist James Kat of the Evangelical Church of Sudan was arrested on Tuesday morning (Jan. 17), with officers beating him as they took him to a North Division police station, the sources said. He was released on bail the same day. Police detained Kat, who lives at the church site, apparently because he was using the place as his home. “They forced him to go with them to the police station,” an eyewitness said. The arrest came amid increasing harassment of Christians by Sudanese authorities following the secession of South Sudan on July 9, 2011. In a Jan. 3 letter to Sudanese Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) leaders, Sudan’s Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowments threatened to arrest pastors if they carry out evangelistic activities and do not comply with an order for churches to provide the leaders’ names and contact information. Hamid Yousif Adam, undersecretary of the Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowment, warned “We have all legal rights to take them to court” in the letter. SPEC leaders said the government is increasingly trying to limit church activities.

This week we have prayer requests from Pakistan, Israel and Afghanistan. I would also ask you all to keep Christians in Nigeria in your prayers, as not only has violence continued to increase, but even our workers, at The Voice of the Martyrs, have left for safety reasons. Please share with your friends, church and family.

I love a good news story don't you? Well, here's an update about a young lady who has suffered for her faith, sadly, from her Muslim father who locked her in a room with very little water and food. Please keep Susan in your thoughts and prayers.

Nigeria (MNN/ODM) ? Hundreds of Nigerian Christians fled from Yobe State after incessant Boko Haram (a militant Islamist sect demanding the rule of strict Muslim law in Nigeria) attacks took refuge in Jos, the Plateau State capital. Fleeing is a bit like jumping "out of the frying pan into the fire."

After the conclusion of Egypt’s parliamentary elections last week, many Christians fear that government control by Islamists will lock them into second-class status and increase persecution against Christians. However, some believers rejoice that the recent wave of persecution has prompted many nominal Christians to turn to Christ for solace.

Yesterday Todd Nettleton, the Director of Media Development for The Voice of the Martyrs, appeared as a guest on In the Market with Janet Parshall to discuss the latest news concerning persecuted Christians around the world.

A few weeks ago we started the new year finding out that Gao Zhisheng was located in a prison in China and we let you know that his brother tried to visit him, but was denied access.

Three years after the widespread persecution of Christians in Odisha (formerly Orissa) state, India, gained worldwide attention, Christians in Kandhamal district continue to suffer at the hands of Hindu extremists. Three Christian leaders were brutally murdered in Kandhamal in 2011, and local authorities apparently did little to find and prosecute their killers.