“Pastors are only asking for prayer for the ministry to continue, and prayer for conversion of [their] persecutors,” Brother Vijay says, “No one is asking that the persecution would stop.” Brother Vijay, a gospel worker in India, is back to share what it means to follow Christ in India today, and how pastors and believers there take persecution in stride. The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi sees any Christian gathering as a crusade—an attempt to convert people. Authorities even send spies to monitor Christian gatherings. But spies in church still hear the message; listen for the story of a former spy who is now an ambassador for Jesus Christ. As more of India’s states enact “anti-conversion” laws that outlaw gospel preaching, Vijay says in some states it has become virtually impossible for church congregations to gather for Sunday worship. Dozens of pastors are currently in prison in India. Yet, God is still at work, building His Kingdom. “The most interesting thing is I see the kingdom of God prospering in a situation like this.” Vijay says, “The more pressure, the more victories.” You’ll also hear how Vijay and other gospel workers train up pastors (and “Timothys”) to lead the church, how he prepares for persecution, and more stories of persecuted Christians in India. Brother Vijay knows he could face persecution at any time; he willingly risks his safety to serve the Lord. “I want to continue to be faithful. I know that I, too, have been called to pay the price. And I’m willing to pay the price anytime.” Revisit Brother Vijay’s first conversation on VOM Radio, and listen to a Christian human rights lawyer in India who is also prepared to face any trial, knowing it is from the Lord. Pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in India as they follow Christ, no matter the cost. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians throughout the year, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.
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Villagers in Chhattisgarh state reacted violently against local Christians who buried a non-Christian man on their property. The burial of Chamru Ram Salam on Dec. 16, 2025, was conducted according to the rites of a traditional tribal religion. However, because half of Salam’s family, including three of his five sons, are Christian, the mob called the burial an insult to their deities. More than 500 villagers with wooden sticks and slingshots attacked mourners at the grave. Several people were injured, and the family and other Christians fled the village for weeks.
Read MoreAfter months in prison for sharing the gospel with Hindus, Pastor Paul’s health was failing. He offered a desperate prayer: he asked God to allow another pastor to be arrested who could come to the prison and encourage Paul. “Lord, arrest one pastor and bring him to be in prison so we can have fellowship.” God answered Paul’s prayer, and four days later, he read in the newspaper that a pastor had been arrested. Two weeks later, that pastor was with Paul in the prison, and he brought him great encouragement: “My church has been praying for you!” After his fellow pastor arrived to the prison, Paul says his tired faith became, “like concrete.” They began to pray together in prison. Soon, other prisoners were asking for prayer. The two pastors would often raise their hands in prayer, claiming spiritual victory. When prison guards asked what they were doing, the two pastors said, “We are praying for you!” The two pastors had the opportunity to pray with 70 other prisoners who came to them asking for prayer and to know more about Jesus. One of those was an American prisoner named Daniel. He went to India on a quest for spiritual enlightenment; inside that Indian prison, Daniel found what he sought—in Christ. You’ll also hear how the Lord moved pastor Paul’s wife to bring his bail application to the Supreme Court, and how God answered their prayers that a specific judge would hear his case. Hear how you can pray specifically for Pastor Paul, including that all charges against him will be dropped, and go to www.PrisonerAlert.com to learn how you can pray for other persecuted Christians still imprisoned for their faith. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily in 2026 for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, Iran and Bangladesh, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.
Read MorePastor Paul was doing gospel outreach in Northern India when he was arrested by police and accused of “forcing” Hindus to convert to Christianity. He wasn’t forcing anyone but only sharing with people who expressed a hunger to hear the truth. When police arrived, Paul and his coworkers weren’t having a service or studying the Bible; they were eating a meal. Still, it was considered a crime. “Which god are you praying to?” police asked. Little did Pastor Paul know that his faith would be tested as he heard that question repeatedly over the coming weeks. Pastor Paul and his three gospel coworkers suffered tremendously in police custody. Police threatened them constantly, putting fear in their hearts. They were repeatedly offered freedom if they would only renounce their faith in Jesus Christ. Police put the four Christians in a filthy prison cell that also served as the police station latrine. They allowed a mob of radical Hindus to beat them. Paul prayed that God would strengthen him. “Lord, please help me not to fear their words because You are in charge of every situation,” Pastor Paul prayed, “You controlled the lion’s mouth when Daniel went inside.” As Pastor Paul fervently prayed, the Lord provided him many opportunities to share his faith in Christ and the strength to stand firm against the enemy’s schemes. Listen as he shares his prayer for a forgiving heart when police threatened to beat him, stories of times the Lord gave him moments of relief, and how God sustained him even when his coworkers renounced Christ and turned their backs on him. The Lord opened fellow prisoners’ hearts to hear more about his faith as they watched Pastor Paul. Living out 1 Peter 3:15, he made the most of every opportunity to share the hope of Jesus Christ. Mistreatment and terrible prison conditions impacted Paul’s health; he thought he was going to die. When his wife was finally allowed to visit, he assumed it would be the last time he saw her on earth. He encouraged her to continue forward with Christ and not turn back, even if he died in prison. Paul had two final requests as he cried out to the Lord: to see revival in Uttar Pradesh state, and for the Lord to allow another pastor to be arrested and come and encourage him in prison. Tune in next week to hear the rest of Pastor Paul’s story and whether God answered his request. Pray this week for the Lord to give our brothers and sisters in India strength and courage to withstand Christian persecution and hold fast to their faith in spite of anti-conversion laws and unjust treatment by the Hindu nationalist government. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily in 2026 for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, Iran and Colombia, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.
Read MoreIn India, carrying a Bible to a meeting—or even offering a Hindu tea and cookies—could be construed as illegally “enticing” that Hindu to change his or her religion. Under anti-conversion laws currently enacted by 12 of India’s states, such “enticement” can result in a long prison sentence. And once charges are filed against a pastor or other Christian, there is no presumption of innocence; it is up to the accused to prove their innocence. Sister Joti, a human rights lawyer in India, has worked on numerous religious freedom cases. She will tell listeners about 80 pastors currently in prison, accused of “forcible conversion.” Listen as Joti shares how the courts have tried to navigate the seeming opposites of a constitutional promise of the freedom to practice and propagate one’s religion and state laws that require a person to notify the government, in advance, of their conversion. She’ll also tell how she and her coworkers are advising pastors and churches to document interactions with Hindus and even record their sermons in order to create an evidence trail against possible future legal challenges. Joti knows her work could put her in danger, yet boldly continues in what God has called her to do. “The work impacts real lives and real people,” she says. “I am here to serve, for as long as I can.” Pray for Christians in India to be bold in showing love to their neighbors, and for lawyers like Joti on the frontlines serving persecuted Christians in the court. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians throughout the year, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.
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After traveling to a large Indian city to study God’s Word for several days, a group of young Christians returned to their predominantly Muslim village emboldened in their Christian faith. The youth, all of whom were related as either siblings or cousins, had come to know Jesus Christ through the witness of older relatives. After studying God’s Word, something impossible for many of their parents who cannot read, they learned firsthand the cost of following Christ in their Muslim community. But when everything seemed hopeless, the Holy Spirit led them and others to boldly stand for Jesus. False Accusations While the youth were away for Bible training, neighbors questioned their parents about where the children had gone. Soon, various rumors began to spread through the community, including allegations of sexual abuse that made their way to the ears of Islamists. As a small minority in the area, Christians must keep their faith secret. Believers often hide their Bibles, understanding that their discovery by Muslim neighbors could result in violence. “We know people from this community who have had their house burned down, been beaten, been kicked out of their home and kicked out of their family,” said Aarav, a front-line
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Insights From Cole Richards, VOM President, On Hinduism’s Impact in India The following reflection is written by Cole Richards, President of The Voice of the Martyrs. In this insightful passage, he reflects on the dangers of Hinduism and how it affects our brothers and sisters in India Hinduism is misunderstood in the United States. I am often asked how the same religion that is viewed as a source of positivity in our popular culture can produce such violent persecutors of Christians. The answer is that the seemingly peaceful and tolerant ideas that have been extracted from Hindu belief and popularized in the U.S. since the 1960s do not reflect the religion as practiced by approximately 1 billion people on the Indian subcontinent, the place of its origin and historic majority. At Hinduism’s core is the caste system, which is easily among the most oppressive and restrictive social constructs ever devised. In the West, many admire the concept of karma as the belief that if one does good, one will receive good. And reincarnation is viewed as an attractive idea of unending life. But those concepts are foreign to Hinduism as practiced in India, where the caste system traps each individual at
Read MoreOn April 16, 2025, prison authorities in India’s Odisha state released one of the men who had murdered Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons, Philip and Timothy, in January 1999. Mahendra Hembram, who set fire to the car in which the family was sleeping, was sentenced to life in prison in 2003 but was granted early release for good behavior. Hembram’s release was celebrated publicly by Hindu nationalist organizations such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad, who called it “a good day for us.” The convicted murderer was greeted at the gate of the prison by crowds chanting Hindu slogans and welcoming him as a hero.
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Bindi met her future husband in 2017, when her father brought a young coworker named Kande to their home in India’s Jharkhand state. Among their earliest conversations was a discussion about someone named Jesus, whom Kande was eager for Bindi to know. “He told me about his life-changing experience with Jesus and the peace he had been experiencing,” Bindi recalled. “He helped lead me to accept Jesus as my Savior.” Although Bindi’s parents held animist beliefs, they approved of their daughter’s decision to follow Christ as well as her desire to join Kande in marriage. After the wedding, the newlyweds moved into a home Kande had built in a nearby village, where they were the first — and only — Christians in the Hindu community. As they got to know their neighbors, Bindi and Kande often shared the gospel with them and prayed for those who were sick. Soon, however, their Christian faith caught the attention of village leaders. And some in the community started calling them names, eventually leading to threats of violence against the couple. “With prayer and our trust in God, we continued our journey with Jesus,” Bindi said. An Unthinkable Attack Kande served at his church
Read MoreA pastor named Hira Singh has used notoriety from being persecuted to share the gospel with even more people. In 2000, Hira Singh, who was formerly from a high-caste Hindu background, came to faith in Christ in Himachal Pradesh. This region is a North Indian state known as Dev Bhoomi (Land of Gods) and a prominent Hindu pilgrimage destination. In the early years of his Christian faith, Hira faced opposition from his family and community.
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