The terrified couple clung to each other inside their one-room home while the mob of angry Muslims outside shouted insults and threats: “They have burned the Holy Quran! We will teach them a lesson!” Shama cried as her husband, Shahzad, tightened his arms around her and began to pray. At 6 a.m., more than 500 Muslims had gathered outside the young couple’s home near the brick kiln where they worked as bonded laborers. Shama’s husband couldn’t believe the events of the last few months had come to this. Indentured Workers in Pakistani brick kilns Shahzad, his father and four brothers moved to the brick kiln near Kot Radha Kishan, Pakistan, in 2000, when Shahzad was 16. As poor Christians (Pakistan’s lowest social class), they had few employment options. While the work in a brick kiln was grueling, it at least provided them food and a place to sleep. However, as often occurs with poor Christians in Pakistan, the family soon became indebted to the brick kiln owner. The debts are eventually passed on to the children, indenturing many families for life. Although Shahzad’s family was Christian, his father, Nazar, became friends with Muslims living near the kiln. He often read
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Several families have been kicked out of a village in eastern Oaxaca state because of their Christian faith. The traditional religion of the village honors pagan idols through drunken festivals, and the Christian families refused to participate in the festivals.
Read MoreA Moroccan man has contacted front-line workers seeking more information about Christ. Mustafa grew up as a Muslim, but he rejected Islam and is no longer practicing any religious faith.
Read MoreSymona serves in a VOM-sponsored front-line ministry advancing the gospel in Lebanon. Because of the deteriorating social and economic conditions in the country, life for Symona and her family has grown increasingly challenging.
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Sept. 11, 2014, began as a happy day for Mary Patrick. She and her older sister were walking to a wedding in a nearby village with the bride-to-be and the bride’s younger sister. But their lives, like those of many other young women in Nigeria, changed forever with the terrifying sound of yelling and gunfire. Mary, who was 24 years old, quickly hid in a nearby house with the others when the Boko Haram attack began in Adamawa state, in northeastern Nigeria. They hid in the house for four days before being captured while trying to escape. “The only thing I was thinking when they took me is that I will die,” Mary said. “I know they will kill me. I’m just praying to God everything that I do that is wrong, that the good Lord will forgive me.” The horror that Mary faced during four months of captivity with Boko Haram became clear to a front-line worker when he tried to buy her a meal. “I wanted to buy food for her and bought some meat,” the worker said. “She told me she couldn’t eat the meat. She said, ‘In the camp they used to eat human flesh, so
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Ten or 20 years ago, persecution of Christians in China varied greatly across China’s 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions. Bob Fu—a former teacher at the Communist Party School in Beijing and prisoner for Christ in China—says things are much different today. Chinese Christian persecution is driven by the national government in Beijing; every province is expected to control religious expression. Fu is the Founder and President of China Aid Association and author of God’s Double Agent. Listen as he shares how the communist government has cracked down on Christians in recent years and how Christians have suffered ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. Bob says persecution of Christians in China today is the worst it’s been since the 1960s and 70s Cultural Revolution. Xi Jinping and other officials are increasing efforts to imprison and detain unregistered church leaders and members—but leaders in state-sanctioned TSPM churches are also persecuted. Communist ideology is also enforced through digital surveillance. Every Chinese person is required to install a “health app” on their phone, and surveillance cameras throughout the country monitor movement. Online meetings with any religious purpose are now required to register and be approved by provincial authorities, and Bible apps have been forbidden. As the eyes of the world turn toward China during the Games, join Christians around the world to pray for Chinese Christians—and for their persecutors. Go to www.PrayForChina2022.com to learn more about what is happening in China and how you can pray for Christian brothers and sisters there.
Read MoreMultiple Christians have been killed since the beginning of 2022 by attackers who are suspected to be connected to Al-Shabaab, an Islamic extremist group that targets Christians throughout Somalia and Kenya. Since Jan. 3, attackers organized in groups of around 30 people and armed with guns and knives have led brutal assaults on multiple villages in Lamu County.
Read MoreMilitant Fulani Muslims attacked two predominantly Christian villages last month, killing four and wounding others. Two of the Christians were ambushed as they returned from their farms, while the bodies of the other two were discovered later by villagers who survived.
Read MoreFront-line workers connected with two Christian women, a mother and daughter, who were forced to flee their home because of their Christian faith. Though raised as a Muslim in North Africa, the daughter came to faith in Christ. When her father, a Muslim extremist linked to Islamist groups within their country, discovered her newfound faith, he became furious, and he began to abuse her over a period of time.
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