Around 7:40 p.m. on March 17, as Pastor Yallam Shankar spent time with his family, five masked men came to his house, calling his name. As he exited his home, the men shot him in the chest and slit his throat.
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Christians in coastal Kenya were targeted in multiple Islamic attacks during June and July 2014. While Christians compose the majority of the population in Kenya, Muslim influence has grown, and Christians have faced increasing persecution from Islamic militants in recent years, notably from the Somali-based al-Shabab. Al-Shabab first targeted the village of Mpeketoni in June. Nearly fifty militants stormed the village, going door-to-door asking villagers if they were Muslim or Christian, and then killing the Christians. “My husband told them we were Christians, and they shot him in the head and chest,” said attack survivor Samantha. The attack lasted five hours, leaving sixty people dead. Days later, Poromoko, Kenya, was targeted in an attack in which fifteen were killed and twelve women abducted. As in the Mpeketoni attack, armed men went door-to-door in the middle of the night, dragging people outside and ordering them to recite the Islamic creed. Those who couldn’t or wouldn’t were killed. Almost two weeks later, fourteen were killed in an attack on the village of Hindi. Militants again went house-to-house and dragged Christians out of their homes. They tied up the Christian men before shooting them or slitting their throats. One man who refused to
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Soner Tufan says many Muslims in Turkey no longer believe Islam can answer the needs of their heart—or their country. Soner leads Radio Shema, broadcasting the gospel message, encouraging persecuted Christians and reaching curious Muslims all over Turkey. And God is multiplying the reach of His message. During Covid quarantine, Radio Shema used digital platforms like Instagram to reach millions of people, seeing ten times more feedback from listeners and twenty times more responses from people coming to faith! Soner also shares memories of his three friends, martyred 15 years ago this month in the offices of a Christian publishing house in the city of Malatya. Soon after the killings, four teenagers came to the radio station where one threatened Soner: “If you say anything, I will kill you.” Soner will also help us pray for Christians in Turkey, and for the ministry of Radio Shema. Pray for protection and courage for Christians in Turkey as they face strong opposition. Pray for effective discipleship to raise up more pastors and leaders for the persecuted church, and pray many more Muslims in Turkey will hear the gospel. Soner is also praying for more radio stations—he estimates that 95% of the people in Turkey have not yet heard the gospel message. Last week, Soner shared how he came to faith in Christ after growing up Muslim, the opposition from his family and friends, and how the ministry of Radio Shema came to be. Listen to last week’s episode here. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the Podcast.
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Tani, a Tunisian, and Boutros, a Syrian, had “seen” one another engaging with Muslim seekers in Christian chat rooms and respected one another as fellow Christian converts from Islam. Then, when they finally met face to face at an organizational meeting in Egypt, they fell in love. When it became clear that God was bringing them together, they began to pray about a legal issue that threatened to keep them apart. Tani’s Tunisian ID card identified her as a Muslim, while Boutros was registered as a Christian. After becoming a Christian as a young man in Syria, Boutros had fled to Egypt to escape family members who were trying to kill him. He was then adopted by a Coptic Christian family in Egypt. Neither Tunisia nor Egypt would allow a Muslim woman to marry a Christian man, but by God’s grace the Tunisian embassy in Egypt issued the paperwork, and the couple were able to marry in 2009. Tani and Boutros continued their work, reaching out to Muslims on the Internet, but now they were working together. Called to Tunisia In 2010, the couple felt called to Tani’s home country of Tunisia. “We were praying all the time,” Tani said,
Read MoreMariam, 18, and Sarah, 16, grew up in a Christian home and trusted in Christ at a young age. In 2020, the sisters were threatened and beaten after sharing the gospel with a Muslim coworker. Though the coworker responded eagerly to the gospel, others complained about Mariam and Sarah to their manager, who warned the girls to stop sharing their faith.
Read MoreAuthorities detained Christian YouTube evangelist Muhammad Kace on Aug. 25, 2021, for making disparaging comments against Islam during his ongoing public proclamation of the gospel. In prison, Muhammad has been brutalized, threatened and humiliated.
Read MorePolice officials closed the Sudanese Church of Christ, located in a community about 85 miles away from Khartoum, and questioned the leaders for hours following complaints from local Muslims about the church’s activities.
Read MoreCheryl Beckett was excited about the opportunity to accompany a medical team on a service trip to remote Afghan villages. During her nearly six years of living there, she had traveled to several places outside Kabul, but this new trip was to an area she had never visited before. It was also an area featured in one of her favorite stories by Rudyard Kipling, “The Man Who Would Be King.” She knew in her heart that it would be a memorable, life-changing experience, albeit one that might also hold some danger. Certainly, the thirty-two year-old humanitarian aid worker never could have foreseen that it would be her last adventure on Earth and the beginning of her eternal adventure in Heaven. To some degree, living in Afghanistan always held the prospect of danger, yet Beckett had felt a calling from the Lord to serve there, leadingcommunity development projects. Mainly, she taught villagers how toprovide food for themselves through nutritional gardening, and she alsoworked in women’s clinics, teaching mothers and children how to keepthemselves healthy. Whenever the opportunity arose, she shared about herfaith in Jesus. This new trip with International Assistance Missions wouldtake her to the province of Nuristan, meaning “Land of
Read More“I’m proud of being Turkish and, at the same time, I am a follower of Jesus Christ.” Soner Tufan’s words may not seem remarkable to people in Western nations. But in Turkey, where people consider being Muslim an inherent part of their identity and culture, his words immediately capture attention. Radio Shema, the ministry Soner leads, is broadcasting the gospel message all over Turkey, along with the testimony that a person can be a patriotic Turk and also a follower of Jesus. His message is being received—by Turks curious about Jesus and by those opposed to the gospel. Soner received a 14-page threat letter from ISIS. He’s lived under 24-hour police protection. He says more threats come every week. But he’s seen the Turkish church grow from a handful of believers to thousands, and he refuses to turn away from the work God has called him to. Soner became a Christian in 1985 through the witness of his Taekwondo instructor. At that time, there were perhaps fifty Christians in Turkey. Today, there are 7,000, and one of the key ways God is reaching Turks is through radio and TV broadcasting. Listen as Soner shares how God opened the door for Christian radio broadcasts in an Islamic nation—even while constructing a church building was impossible! Soner will share more details of his life as a Christian, the amazing transformation of his brother—who persecuted Soner when he became a Christian—turning to Jesus, and how God has made the impossible happen with Radio Shema in Turkey. Never miss and episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the Podcast.
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Jaffar’s maimed leg throbbed as he sat awake in his room in the middle of the night. The 23-year-old Iraqi felt the burden of his loneliness and depression like a physical weight on his shoulders. His friend was dead, and his faith was gone. In desperation, he challenged the Creator of the universe: “If you are there, show yourself!” Exhausted from pain, frustration and weeping, Jaffar finally fell asleep. It was then, he said, that he experienced an amazingly detailed dream. Jaffar said he dreamed that he was perched on a narrow bridge wide enough for only one. Beneath him was an abyss of smoke and fire, radiating heat upward. He could hear the screams of others behind him as the bridge crumbled beneath their feet and they plunged into the gulf below. Terrified, he took one careful step after another. After reaching a door at the end of the bridge, he knocked and a man in a white garment opened the door. “Who are you?” Jaffar asked. The man told him he was the owner of the door and invited him in. He warned Jaffar, however, that if he stepped through the door, he could never go back out.
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