The world knew Pastor Han Chung-Ryeol as a persecuted Christian pastor and a man who served North Korean refugees crossing into China—in spite of threats and danger. Dr. Eric Foley, the leader of VOM-Korea, knew Han as coworker and friend. This week Dr. Foley shares personal stories of the courageous pastor murdered by North Korean agents inside China. Pastor Han’s story is the subject of this year’s International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church video from VOM. Just months before Pastor Han’s murder, he visited Dr. Foley and they talked openly about the threats against Pastor Han’s work. One of Han’s coworkers had already been kidnapped and taken to prison in North Korea. There were threats the same thing could happen to Pastor Han. But Pastor Han reminded the Foleys that the shepherd’s job is to care for the sheep—and his sheep were along the North Korean border, where they needed their shepherd. He was willing not only to go, but to lay down his life for the sheep God had entrusted to his care. Listen and be inspired by the example of faithfulness, commitment and courage lived out by Pastor Han Chung-Ryeol, and prepare your heart and your church to pray for persecuted Christians in North Korea and around the world on the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, November 3. Also listen to  Dr. Foley’s previous visit to VOM Radio, where he discussed why the North Korean regime of the Kim family is so threatened by Christianity.

NORTH KOREA: Pastor Han, Good Shepherd

Welcome to The Voice of the Martyrs Radio Network! Join host Todd Nettleton each week as we share testimonies of brothers and sisters suffering for their faith in Christ. 
The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) is a nonprofit, interdenominational missions organization that offers practical and spiritual help to persecuted Christians around the world.

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Many Muslims are ready to hear the gospel and experience the love of Jesus Christ. For more than two decades Peter Smith has prayed for the nation of Iran and connected with ministries reaching people and supporting persecuted Christians in the nation he and his wife “adopted.” Seeing the gospel go forth in the Middle East reminds Peter of the good soil that produced 30, 60 and 100-fold harvests in Jesus’ Matthew 13 parable. Persecution is rising in restricted nations across the Middle East; despite that risk, more Muslims are becoming followers of Christ. Listen as Peter shares the stories of how God worked in the heart of an Uber driver and a divorced woman. “When you adopt a country,” Peter says, “sooner or later you get to adopt the people.” Peter’s wife also has an international ministry—from their home in the United States. She asks the Lord each day for divine appointments and looks for gospel opportunities at the grocery store, in her neighborhood and wherever else the day takes her. Hear how she’s had gospel conversations with women from 54 different countries. Learn how you can pray specifically for Christians in Iran and across the Middle East as Peter shares what current events mean for Christians there and how to pray for what God is already doing. Go to TheRealStoryOfJesus.com to see one resource people are using to share the gospel in the Middle East—a resource also available in English. Hear the story of Peter “adopting” the nation of Iran during  his first visit with VOM Radio. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the podcast. Or you can listen each week—and get daily prayer reminders—in the VOM App for your smartphone or tablet.

MIDDLE EAST: Christians Intentional About Sharing Jesus

Last week, Brother Kevin shared how he came to Christ and how God gave him a passion to reach the 13 million Hui people in China. For members of this people group, to be Hui is to be Muslim. Those who become Christians are considered traitors, bringing shame to their family. Hui Christians face social, psychological, and sometimes financial persecution, typically enforced by members of their own family. They may lose their job, be kicked out of the family home, and even renounced as a member of the family. Kevin came to see the communist authorities as ordinary people doing their jobs and providing for their families. He intentionally chose to see police and other authorities as worthy of his respect and compassion. When Xi Jinping ascended to the leadership of the Communist Party and the Chinese nation, things changed. By 2017, most foreigners were having a hard time renewing visas. By 2018, hardly any foreign gospel workers were able to remain in China. Members of Muslim minorities—including the Hui and the Uyghurs—received “reeducation” enforced by the government. Listen as Kevin shares how his family’s ministry in China ended and how tension grew during their final weeks in country as authorities searched for legal reasons to detain or deport Kevin and his family, including a late-night drive to the airport. Choosing to focus on God’s sovereignty allowed Kevin to shepherd his family and others struggling with their forced departure. Gospel outreach to the Hui did not end with foreign missionaries being kicked out of China. Today they are reached through social media gospel outreach and multifaceted church planting by local Han Chinese believers as well as Christians from non-Western countries. Pray for the Lord to continue moving among the Hui through dreams, visions and divine appointments with followers of Christ. Pray for Chinese brothers and sisters to boldly preach the cross and to prepare new Christians for persecution. Richard and Jeannette had a similar experience in China as Kevin’s family, yet Richard found himself detained by the authorities. Listen to their story. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the podcast. Or you can listen each week—and get daily prayer reminders—in the VOM App for your smartphone or tablet. April is Bible month at VOM! Please consider  giving online to help deliver Bibles to Christians living in restricted nations and hostile areas.

CHINA MISSIONS: “Your Ministry is Over”

Within two months of Brother Kevin and his wife beginning gospel work in India, more than a thousand people had come to Christ! The fruit of the gospel was immediate. Local missions leaders asked them to stay on and help disciple these new believers. They saw the opportunity, and the incredible growth of the ministry. But Kevin couldn’t dismiss an urge to visit China before agreeing to stay and minister in India. It was on that first visit to China that Kevin was asked a question which would change his life and guide his mission efforts going forward: “Have you heard of the Hui people?” Kevin and his wife had not heard of the Hui, and they began to ask questions about this mostly-Muslim unreached people group of 13 million people. They were told that, in the area they were passing through, the Hui people had no church, no missionaries, and that there was no church or organization committed to sharing the gospel with them. “That’s when we felt the call.” Kevin says now. Today Kevin and his wife have spent more than a decade living among and serving the Hui people. Listen as Kevin shares his testimony of coming to Christ as a young adult, and about his calling to be a missionary in a restricted nation where Christian persecution is common and fierce. Kevin opens up about some of the struggles they faced as cross cultural gospel workers, and how their clear calling from God kept them in obedience to Him. Be sure to listen next week as Kevin shares more about their work in China and how they experienced a sudden forced ending to that chapter of their ministry. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the podcast. Or you can listen each week—and get daily reminders to pray for the persecuted church—in the VOM App for your smartphone or tablet.

CHINA MISSIONS: “That’s When We Felt the Call”

“For us, it’s not AWANA, it’s ‘Can we disciple one more child?’” Gajendra Tamang is the Regional Director of AWANA in South Asia, coming alongside pastors and local churches to help reach and disciple children from many different religious backgrounds. Gajendra knows first-hand how a life can be changed through a simple invitation to a Christian activity. He came to faith while attending college in India, where a Christian classmate invited Gajendra to come to church with him every Sunday for a year. Finally Gajendra decided to see why his classmate loved going to church. He didn’t understand everything being said, but he loved the music, and a few months later he came to know Jesus as Savior and Lord. As seminary students Gajendra and his wife were recruited to serve as AWANA volunteers. They continued serving in AWANA throughout their seminary training. After graduation the couple became AWANA missionaries, and today they are tasked with training volunteer leaders to help serve in local churches in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In most AWANA groups in South Asia, 20 to 25% of the children come from non-Christian homes, including Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists. Some parents restrict their children from coming after they learn that Bible stories are being shared, while others accept the care and blessing their child receives even though it is coming from Christians. Gajendra will help us understand and pray for the training process to equip more leaders and ultimately to tell more children about Jesus. Listen for the story of an entire family coming to Christ through one child's prayer for healing and learn how you can pray for the salvation of the next generation—and their parents—in South Asia. Pray for more AWANA leaders willing to be disciple makers on the front lines and for believers and local churches facing persecution for their faith in Christ. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the podcast. Or you can listen each week—and get daily prayer reminders—in the VOM App for your smartphone or tablet.

SOUTH ASIA: Children are Included in the Great Commission

Fidel Castro, leader of Cuba’s communist revolution, died in 2016. But has Castro’s death changed the level of Christian persecution in Cuba? “No difference at all,” Pastor Mateo, a church leader in Cuba, says emphatically. The Cuban government attempts to restrain the gospel in many ways. Yet despite persecution, the church in Cuba is growing—stretching beyond buildings and homes and gathering on the streets and in open fields to pray and worship and share the gospel. Listen as Pastor Mateo shares the many restrictions Cuba’s communist leaders enforce on pastors, church buildings, ministry efforts and families. Even pastors’ children become targets for persecution because of their parents’ ministry. But government efforts to curtail church growth are failing as the church continues to multiply. Large events in Cuba are bringing together thousands of believers for prayer and fellowship. Mateo reminds us, “In Matthew 16, Jesus says, ‘the gates of hell will not prevail against the church.’” Cuban Christians are experiencing the reality of Jesus’ promise. “You will never be able to stop the movements of the church.” Mateo says. Today, he encourages young pastors to remain faithful and never renounce Jesus, even as they encounter government threats. Listen also for ways you can pray specifically for Mateo and persecuted Christians in Cuba to remain strong in the Lord as they face hostility and persecution. VOM Radio host Todd Nettleton will also give a recap of the recent I Am N Virtual Event. If you missed the event, it is now available for viewing on demand. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the podcast. Or you can listen each week—and get daily prayer reminders—in the VOM App for your smartphone or tablet.

NORTH KOREA: Pastor Han, Good Shepherd

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