“I just want the Bible. How much does it cost?” First, the young Druze woman tried to access and read her own religion’s holy book. But she wasn’t allowed to read it. Then she tried to find a Quran. Finally, she came to a church and asked to purchase a Bible, worried she wouldn’t have enough money to pay for it. The pastor told her that God’s Word is priceless, but that he would give it to her without cost. Shocked, she took the Bible and began to read, eventually giving her life to Jesus. Brother Michael, a gospel worker in the Middle East, will share more of this young woman’s powerful story and the Christian persecution she faced from her family while standing firm in Christ. In spite of persecution, even locked in a room, she continued to share the gospel. Learn what it’s like to live as a Christian in the Middle East, and what believers face after leaving Muslim or Druze backgrounds to follow Christ. As believers engage in conversations with family and friends, they carefully plant spiritual seeds while testing their listeners’ hearts to see if they are ready to go deeper. Brother Michael also shares how he trains and leads discipleship through Discovery Bible Study groups, which are multiplying as new believers share their personal testimonies with family and friends. One group started with nine believers, but today has multiplied into more than twenty groups with 150 believers! Hear how you can pray specifically for Brother Michael and our persecuted Christian family in the Middle East. The International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians (IDOP) is next Sunday! The Voice of the Martyrs offers resources to help you and your church pray for persecuted Christians on November 2–and throughout the year. Be sure to watch the new short film telling the story of ongoing Christian persecution in Democratic Republic of Congo—and how God is bringing healing to Christians who’ve suffered attacks and trauma. Access all the IDOP resources here.
Read MoreHundreds of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes and their countries amidst war and upheaval in the Middle East. Pastor Abraham and Sara are living as representatives of God’s love to displaced people in the Middle East. The ministry can be messy and difficult, yet they persist in demonstrating love in practical ways. And they are seeing great fruit for their ministry. Abraham and Sara will share how one woman—the widow of an imam—had heard all kinds of negative things about Christians. But when she came to the church, she found something very different: people who loved her and helped her. Listen to hear the story of how God answered the woman’s prayer within 24 hours, and how a dream led her to commit her life to Jesus. Leaving Islam behind to follow Jesus comes with a cost, though. Abraham and Sara will also share what Christian persecution looks like in the region, including pressure from families or tribes as well as Islamists or government authorities. “We are planting seeds,” Sara says, “we are the tools for His Kingdom.” Pray for Abraham & Sara’s ministry as they serve lost and forgotten people in the Middle East and seek to reveal Christ’s love for them. The International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians (IDOP) is only a few weeks away. The Voice of the Martyrs offers resources to help you and your church pray for persecuted Christians on November 2—and throughout the year. Be sure to watch the new short film telling the story of ongoing persecution in Democratic Republic of Congo—and how God is bringing healing to Christians who’ve suffered attacks and trauma. Access all the IDOP resources here.
Read More“Even if you take my life here in front of my wife…I will not deny Christ.” The Iraqi Christian stood at an ISIS check point. The fighters’ guns were pointed at him. Their instruction was clear: deny your faith and become a Muslim. He said no, and miraculously God intervened and our Iraqi brother lived to tell the story. This is just one of the stories that Joe, a VOM international worker, will share this week on VOM Radio after returning from a recent trip to the Middle East. He’ll also tell how VOM helps displaced Christians from Iraq and Syria forced from their homes by the Islamic State. We’ll also learn how Muslim converts face persecution right here in the United States, and how your church can engage with Muslim immigrants and refugees in your city.
Read MoreMiddle East Concern was founded in 1991, in response to needs expressed by Christian leaders in the Middle East and North Africa. Through a network of ministry partners, Middle East Concern seeks to help Christians facing persecution across the Middle East and North Africa. They work to come up with strategies to improve conditions and protect rights of Christians with a goal of seeing Christians able to live out their faith in Christ freely. Brother Rob, a researcher for MEC, shares with VOM Radio this week about his work and about persecution faced by Christians in the MENA region. One of Rob’s areas of interest is Iran, and he will tell us about recent large-scale research that shows how many Iranians are questioning and even rejecting Islam since the Islamic Revolution. Many of those have become followers of Jesus Christ—despite the risk of persecution. Rob also tells how God is bringing good out of Christian persecution in Türkiye (formerly Turkey) as Turkish Christian leaders are stepping up to shepherd the church after the expulsions of numerous foreign Christians. The Turkish government’s strategy since 2019 has been to designate Christians from other countries living in turkey as a “threat to national security” and force them to leave, causing upheaval to many families who’ve lived there for decades. David Byle was one of those pushed out of Türkiye after fighting the expulsion order through the court system. Israel is another country where Rob monitors religious freedom and you’ll hear about challenges to gospel outreach there. Brother Rob will also share how we can pray for Israel, including Palestinian Christians in the West Bank and Gaza, as there is so much conflict there. “The Christian community in this part of the world,” says Rob, “are the light and salt in these lands.” Prayer is the central part of the ministry at Middle East Concern as they continue to seek God’s wisdom in each sensitive situation. Learn how you can pray specifically for Christians in Israel, Iran and Türkiye as Rob shares the needs of the church in these nations. Never miss an episode! Subscribe to the VOM Radio podcast.
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A former Muslim has been arrested and drugged against his will yet continues to share Christ with others. This man, who serves in the military in a Middle Eastern country, became a follower of Christ in 2024. Not long after his conversion, his own parents reported him to authorities, who arrested him. He spent a month in jail, and then the courts ordered that he be committed to a psychiatric hospital, where he is forced to take drugs that cloud his thinking.
Read MoreWahid was persecuted by his family to the point of mental instability but still seeks Christ. A former Muslim, Wahid had a cousin who became a follower of Christ and shared the gospel with him. On hearing the gospel explained, Wahid became convinced of its truth and placed his trust in Christ. But when Wahid’s family discovered his conversion, they locked him inside an unused tomb, causing him to lose his sanity. When he emerged, they forced him to deny Christ, which he did and afterwards fell into a coma-like state.
Read MoreSarah’s father imprisoned her for her faith, yet she was rescued. She became a follower of Christ after Christians invited her to church. When her Muslim father discovered her new faith, he locked her within his guarded compound and confiscated her phone. For 10 days, he asked her to return to Islam; she refused. Then he threatened to marry her to a Muslim man, saying her husband could then kill her. “Let your God save you from me,” he taunted. Sarah prayed to God, “Where are you? You said you would be with me, but I am here. What am I supposed to do?”
Read MoreBrother Yazan, once a jihadi, now serves Christ despite persecution. He served as a jihadi fighter with al-Qaida in Syria, then joined the al-Nusra Front, an Islamist group fighting a civil war against the Syrian government. At one point during the war, the self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS) began fighting against al-Nusra Front, upsetting Yazan. “How could two Muslim groups want to kill each other?” he thought. He soon ceased to be a jihadi soldier.
Read MoreBasma, who comes from a fervent Muslim family, placed her faith in Christ in 2018. As a result, her husband and brother began to abuse her violently. Eventually, Basma escaped from her family and took her two teenage children, who had also become Christians, with her. Basma said that if her brother and husband find her, they will surely kill her. Basma requests prayer for her son, who feels he cannot trust anyone, and for her daughter, because they live in constant fear that someone will turn them in.
Read MoreIshaq is active in evangelism and Bible distribution in the Arab nation where he was born, but his future there is tenuous. Ishaq was permitted to be in the country while his Eritrean father, who had lived and worked there for decades, maintained his official work status. But when Ishaq’s father died during the coronavirus pandemic, Ishaq’s residency visa expired, and he has been unable to renew it. Ishaq has not been arrested for his unofficial status but has been stopped by police numerous times. “If he were to be deported to Eritrea, where he has never lived, it could be very dangerous for him,” said a front-line worker.
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