The Front Line Report

This week on VOMAus Radio, hear from VOM Australia staff member Patrick as he provides us with insights on his recent trip to Nepal.

Though officially a secular republic, Nepal remains a predominantly Hindu nation, and the government is taking a strong stand against religious conversion. This nation is classified as ‘Hostile’ towards the gospel, but there is a small, vibrant and bold church in Nepal faithfully following Christ, sometimes at great cost.

Listen to understand what persecution is like in the diverse and complex nation of Nepal. And hear how our Bibles Plus project is blessing believers.

This week on VOMAus Radio, we hear from Kevin, a gospel worker and church planter in Asia.

Kevin shares how the Lord called him to serve unreached people groups in Asia, and explains what a new believer is likely to face when they come to Christ in a Buddhist and animistic culture, where persecution usually begins at the family or village level.

Because of fear-based animistic practices and the communal culture, the entire community feels like they are at risk when a member of their community becomes a Christian. Kevin has walked with friends who’ve been put in prison or forced out of their villages. Some are living in tents because they refused to recant their commitment to Christ. Yet they meet these hardships with joy, responding in faith and perseverance to their persecution. Learn more about the church in Asia and how to pray for Christians there and around the world who face persecution for the name of Christ.

This week on VOMAus Radio, we hear part two of the interview with Carter Gates, leader of VOM USA’s work in the Asia/Pacific Region.

Some Christians in Malaysia—ethnically Chinese or Indian believers—have freedom to practise their faith. But if an ethnic Malay person becomes a believer in Jesus, he or she will face intense Christian persecution.

As Carter meets with VOM’s ministry partners, one shared key hindrances that keep Malays from following Christ and the questions he uses as he engages them in gospel conversation. One of those questions: are you ready to die for Jesus?

We’ll also share an update on the court case over the forced disappearance of Pastor Raymond Koh in 2017. A verdict is expected in the case in November.

This week, Carter Gates, leader of VOM USA’s work in the Asia/Pacific Region, shares about a recent gathering of VOM front-line workers, where they spent time in fellowship, sharing stories and encouraging one another to continue serving persecuted Christians. These men and women minister in some of the most dangerous places to follow Christ and are often the first responders when Christian persecution happens.

You will hear updates from Myanmar, Laos, and North Korea, places where following Jesus can mean losing everything. Between political unrest, spiritual oppression, pressure from local leaders, economic retaliation and rejection from family, believers in this region are squeezed on every side. Yet, as Carter shares, Christians in these nations remain steadfast and faithful, unshaken despite immense pressure.

This week on VOMOz Radio. Vicky Hartzler, the current chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), shares about her role in reporting on and seeking religious freedom for our brothers and sisters in restricted areas and hostile nations. She also shares her own experiences of advocating on behalf of persecuted Christians directly to leaders of other nations.

Listen for ways you can pray for USCIRF’s work and for followers of Christ working in government to advance religious freedom around the world.

This week on VOMOz Radio, hear from Neda, who was born in Iran to a Muslim family. As a young woman, she felt broken and empty. Neda’s heart searched for God, and she came to faith in Christ through her relative’s witness, and her life was radically transformed. Neda’s husband also found faith in Jesus.

Over the next 13 years, Neda and her husband faced persecution from the Islamic government. In one incident, officials raided their home and threatened her husband at gunpoint. She and her husband ultimately decided to leave Iran, yet they continue to serve from abroad through Iran Alive Ministries.

Neda encourages every Christian to lay down their own desires and fully surrender to God's will, even when it means enduring suffering.

Iran Alive Ministries

A post from Farzin Tarat on Iran Alive Ministries provided by: https://iranalive.org

Last week on VOMOz radio (https://soundcloud.com/vom-oz/mongolia-was-i-called-was-i-chosen-and-did-i-obey), Brian and Louise Hogan, trainers to church planters and former missionaries to Mongolia, shared about their efforts to plant a church in Mongolia – and the high cost they paid for serving there when their infant son died. This week, listen as they unwrap some of the principles they learned in that process, lessons they are now teaching to pastors and church leaders around the world, including hostile areas and restricted nations where VOM works.

Listen also for a special testimony from a former prisoner for Christ in Uzbekistan, Dmitry ‘David’ Shestakov. Hear the difference it made when Christians around the world wrote letters to him in prison. To write to Christians in prison, please visit https://vom.com.au/write-to-a-christian-prisoner/

Brian and Louise Hogan, missionaries and church planters in Mongolia, responded to God’s call with obedience. They arrived in the city of Erdenet in the early 1990s; there were no churches in the city. After the conversion of 14 teenage girls, they witnessed the birth and growth of a church community.

However, as Scripture reminds us, forward motion in God’s kingdom often awakens spiritual resistance. As Brian noted, "Throughout history, whenever the Kingdom has advanced, someone has had to pay a terrible price."

For the Hogans, that terrible price was the sudden death of their newborn son, who passed away on Christmas Eve due to sudden infant death syndrome.

In the depths of grief and isolation, Brian and Louise felt God's closeness. They were aware that Christians around the world were praying for them. Louise found strength through a question inspired by Elisabeth Elliot: “Was I called? Was I chosen? And did I obey?”

She says it should not matter what God does with our obedience; we are simply called to obey.

Despite their loss, the Hogans chose to remain in Mongolia, grieving alongside their Mongolian Christian family. Their suffering became a powerful testimony of hope and resurrection in a culture unfamiliar with such concepts. In their loss, they were able to share unshakable Christian hope: “We are going to see our son again.”

Brian is the author of There’s a Sheep in My Bathtub and An A to Z of Near-Death Adventures.

Mona and Michael are zealous disciples dedicated to sharing their faith and helping those in need, particularly within their community in Egypt. Mona grew up in a Christian family and found comfort in her faith after a difficult childhood marked by her mother's death. Michael, on the other hand, discovered his faith in Jesus later in life. Together, they felt called to ministry and have committed their lives to sharing the hope and love that can only be found in Jesus.

Listen as they talk about Christian persecution faced by believers in Egypt, including discrimination in employment and education. These hardships have led church members to rely on one another. As Mona says, "The church becomes our family. We need each other."

Muslims who choose to follow Jesus often face severe persecution from family and community, and at times from the government. They may also face severe pressure from a Muslim spouse.

Mona reminds us, though, that Muslims around them are not their enemies. They know that the real enemy is the devil and emphasize that we are called to love others in the same way Christ loved us.

Michael and Mona actively support refugees from war-torn countries, including Sudan, providing food and resources regardless of religious background. These acts of care and service often open doors for conversations about faith.

Please pray for followers of Jesus in Egypt to remain strong and to be equipped to help those in need.

“I have claimed this land for God.” The words were written by John G. Paton and adorn the grave of his wife and child. It was a declaration of faith that God would bring the people of the New Hebrides, now Vanuatu, to Himself. The islanders were thought of as savages; in fact Paton slept on the grave to prevent the bodies of his wife and child from being eaten by cannibals. Paton famously said, “If I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms.”

Today the islands are full of churches—even some very close to the site of Mrs. Paton’s grave. is the producer and director of a six-part video series called Missionary, which includes an episode about Paton, as well as others which tell the stories of famous missionaries. Listen as he tells why the church today needs the example of men and women sent by God and obedient to the Great Commission. Watch this of Stephen and the team tracking down Paton’s legacy in Vanuatu. He'll also share about filming in England on the path of William Tyndale, as well as stories of David Livingston, Amy Carmichael, Hudson Taylor and William Carey.