Yobiri heard the gospel at a young age through a foreign missionary and desired to know more. He didn’t own a Bible nor know how to read, so he relied on Christians from other villages to share God’s Word with him.
Read MoreOn February 13, a Christian named Nin died, leaving behind two daughters, Neung and Nom, and a son, Ram. Since 2009, the three teenagers also lost their mother, a sister and their grandmother, all of whom were believers. After Nin’s death, his older brother and sister-in-law blamed the deaths on the family’s belief in God.
Read MoreCoronavirus restrictions have limited opportunities for evangelism during past Persian New Year celebrations, but this year, Christian workers reached many travelers with the Good News about Christ. On March 25, front-line workers met a young Iranian lady, Fariba, in a shopping center and gave her a package of gospel materials, including a Bible.
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It was 7:30 on a Sunday morning when two brothers, ages sixteen and eighteen, rode their motorcycles to the Santa Maria Catholic Church in Surabaya, Indonesia, and detonated their explosives, killing themselves and six others in the blast. Five minutes later, the boys’ father drove a car filled with explosivesinto the Surabaya Center Pentecostal Church. The bombs detonatedoutside the building, killing the driver and six churchgoers. In another part of town, the boys’ mother and two sisters, ages nine and twelve, approached the Diponegoro Indonesian Christian Church with explosives strapped to their bodies. When a security guard stoppedthem, they detonated their explosives, killing themselves and the securityguard. No church members were killed in the blast. A single family attacked three separate churches within a span of ten minutes. Twelve Christians were killed, and more than forty men andwomen were injured. Shortly after the attacks, the self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the bombings. Investigators eventually learned that the family had spent time in Syria and was working with the group Jemaah Ansharut Daulah, an Indonesian militant group with close ties to ISIS. Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation in the world. Althoughattacks against Christians there have become less
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Simo is a tall man with straight posture, hinting at his careers in the army and later as a police investigator. Like many of his countrymen, Simo was born a Muslim but had always held his faith lightly. It was tradition and it was culture, but he had felt more loyalty to his country than to his Muslim religion. In the early ’90s, Algeria transitioned from a one-party political system to a multi-party system, and surprisingly an Islamist party then won the election. To avoid the possibility of a government led by extremists, the army quickly took over, launching an insurgency that lasted six years. Simo served as a police detective during the insurgency, and one day he found himself interrogating a young Muslim man who justified his violent actions by citing the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. “I thought, if all this is right and Islam is telling us to kill, then Islam is not a religion and I cannot follow it anymore,” Simo said. Disillusioned with the religion he had grown up in, Simo began to consider Christianity. After visiting some churches, including a Kabyle Protestant church, he noticed a real difference between followers of
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Muslims around the world are commemorating the holiest month on the Islamic calendar: Ramadan. Muslims fast from sunup to sundown as a way to dedicate themselves to Allah and earn his approval. It is a strategic time for Christians to pray fervently for the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus and the truth of the gospel during Muslims’ heightened spiritual interest. Listen as guests explain the significance of Ramadan, then lead in praying for Muslims to encounter Christ during this month. They will also help listeners pray for persecuted Christians serving amongst Muslims. Our guests, who work in Muslim nations and among Muslims, will provide specific ways we can pray during this Ramadan month and especially the “Night of Power.” Set a reminder to pray each day during this pivotal time for the Holy Spirit to reveal Christ to Muslims during Ramadan–through dreams and visions, a Christian friend, a Bible, gospel broadcast, social media post or in some other way. Guests leading us in prayer include: Susanna Koh, the wife of kidnapped Pastor Raymond Koh, from Malaysia. (Hear her story.) “Soher” from Yemen Tom Doyle, Uncharted Ministries(Previous appearances on VOM Radio here and here.) JoAnn Doyle, Not Forgotten Ministries(Previous appearances on VOM Radio here and here.) Mehrdad Fatehi, PARS Theological Center(Previous conversations on VOM Radio here and here.) “Shawki” from Bahrain Lucy, Global Catalytic Ministries(Listen to “Ali,” also from GCIC, here.) Amir Bazmjou, Torch Ministries(You can hear Amir’s story here.) (Amir’s wife, Rashin, is the daughter of martyred Iranian Pastor Hossein Soodmand. Hear her story here.) Dick Brogden, Live Dead Ministries(Previous conversations on VOM Radio here and here.) David from Egypt Mike Ansari, Heart 4 Iran Ministries(Previous conversations on VOM Radio here, here, and here.) Hormoz Shariat, Iran Alive Ministries(Previous conversations on VOM Radio here and here) Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the Podcast.
Read MoreOn Tuesday, March 8, armed assailants abducted Rev. Joseph Akeke from his home in southern Kaduna state. During the abduction, the assailants shot and killed Luka, the church security guard.
Read MoreJacques Coutou is a former pastor who now equips other pastors with God’s Word. Jacques converted a room in his home into a warehouse where he stores the Bibles he helps distribute to pastors throughout Mali.
Read MoreAfter numerous surgeries and doctors could not treat his 8-year-old daughter, a Muslim man reached out to his Christian sister for prayer. The Muslim brother had treated his Christian sister badly and had not spoken to her for nearly a decade because of her decision to follow Christ.
Read MoreDalo arrived at the hospital with second-degree burns over most of his body. He had been left for dead by Fulani Islamic militants after one of a series of attacks that June that had killed hundreds, including his parents and siblings, while leaving thousands homeless. But eight-year-old Dalo did not despair. Though he had lost everything, the words on Dalo’s lips were not filled with anger or revenge. He was praying for those who had attacked him and his family. Life for Christians like Dalo in central Nigeria had not been considered especially dangerous relative to what believers faced in the north. Muslims in northern Nigeria have long desired to create a separate country governed by Islamic law, and the extremist group Boko Haram has served as the primary weapon in that fight, recently enlisting the help of Fulani Islamic militants. But violence from the northern states has gradually crept southward, and in late June 2018, five hundred armed Fulani Islamic militants attacked the areas of Barkin Ladi and Jos South, killing two hundred and displacing ten thousand — mostly Christians. The attacks ripped apart families and left thousands grieving. Oneyoung girl arrived home from school to find that her
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