For almost 20 years, Brother David was a mission worker in Turkey — until he was deported from the country and told he’d been permanently banned from re-entry. His legal appeals to stay — to Turkey’s Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights — have, so far, failed.

In a holding cell awaiting his final flight out of the country, David’s biggest disappointment was that he didn’t have cell mates with whom he could share Jesus!

David and his family are currently doing mission work in Muslim neighbourhoods and on busy street corners in Germany. God continues to show why He brought David and his family to Europe through each ministry opportunity He sets before them.

Living and working in a free country, David is shocked at busy street corners where no believers are taking advantage of their freedoms to witness to the lost. He challenges listeners to be more engaged in reaching the lost — wherever they are.

David gives an update on the situation for persecuted Christians in Turkey and helps us pray for the many mission workers who’ve been forced to leave the country, as well as for Turkish Christians still serving Christ there.

To find out more about our ministry, please visit www.vom.com.au.

An imam (Muslim leader) in Bangladesh was reading the Quran when he came across the name of a person he didn’t know much about: Isa (Jesus).

As a local mosque leader, he felt he should learn more about this person mentioned in the Quran, so he asked around his village for a book about Jesus. He was given a New Testament and began to read — and soon recognised that Isa is far more than a prophet. He’s the Son of God, and the only way to salvation! But following Jesus can be dangerous in a place where Christians are persecuted, as this now-former imam learned.

That’s just one of the stories you’ll hear this week from Matthew Hanson, VOM’s regional leader for South and Central Asia.

Matthew will also share what Christians in India are facing at the hands of a Hindu nationalist government and a nationwide network of radical Hindus infiltrating churches, persecuting pastors, and instilling fear in the local people to persecute their own neighbors because of their faith.

In spite of that persecution, though, he says Indian Christians — including children — are responding with grace and boldness to their persecutors.

You’ll also hear the story of a Nepali missionary working in a difficult place — and how God miraculously helped her learn the language in only six months!

Matthew will equip listeners to pray for our brothers and sisters in South Asia who are being disowned and threatened by family members because of the gospel.

One Christian woman whose entire family rejected her said, “Jesus has given me life. He is real. He is the only God.” Pray that believers in South Asia will continue to hold their confidence in Christ.

To find out more about our ministry, please visit www.vom.com.au.

In 2021, as the US prepared to withdraw its military presence from the country, radical Islamist Taliban forces swept across Afghanistan. Many Christians—especially those publicly known to follow Jesus—needed to flee the country or risk immediate execution.

Charmaine Hedding, president of The Shai Fund, has worked to help persecuted believers around the world since 2014. When Christians needed help getting out of Afghanistan, she and a committed team quickly stepped forward to help. They arranged flights, helped Afghan Christians hide and get to the airport, and helped find nations willing to accept them as refugees. They worked around the clock to help Afghan believers.

Listen as Charmaine shares how she became involved in helping persecuted Christians, first-hand stories of the hardships Afghans faced, and God’s faithfulness to answer prayer amidst the chaos and upheaval of the Taliban takeover.

She will also share specific ways we can continue to pray for our Afghan brothers and sisters in Christ—both those still living in Afghanistan and those who have relocated to surrounding Islamic Nations.

Helen Berhane, worship leader and former prisoner in Eritrea, joined us last week to share the first part of her story: how she was persecuted for her faith and yet encouraged all believers to count the cost of following Christ. Helen is back this week for the second half of that conversation.

Thankfully, she had access to the Bible while imprisoned, and the Lord revealed new wisdom and understanding of Him to her as she read from Genesis to Revelations 15 times!

Her knowledge of Jesus increased, and the Holy Spirit gave her overwhelming love and forgiveness towards the ones persecuting her. Supernaturally, she knew when people were praying for her while she was in prison. Many letters were sent, from around the world, to encourage her in prison, and even though she was never able to read the letters, she knows they made a difference.

Helen Berhane was tortured then imprisoned in a metal shipping container in the African nation of Eritrea. But in spite of terrible persecution, she kept singing praises to God!

In 2002, the Eritrean government banned evangelical churches from holding public worship services – forcing Christians to meet illegally, in secret. Helen and other believers did not stop meeting, and it wasn’t long until she and many other persecuted Christians were imprisoned. Helen had intentionally prepared herself; she was ready to stand firm in her faith for Christ even in the face of the persecution she knew was coming. Everything, she says, has a price, including following Jesus.

Listen as Helen shares how she prepared for her trials and the Bible verses that encouraged her even as she was held in the harshest of prison conditions. God’s presence continued to strengthen her to deny herself, stay disciplined and even gain a better understanding of Jesus’ suffering.

Helen would cry – not because of the situation, but because of her experience of the unconditional love of God. And through it all, Helen chose joy and kept on singing. Instead of worshipping in the front of the church or in the spotlight, she worshipped simply in the presence of God.

Dr. Pam Arlund, Global Training and Research Leader for All Nations International, joins The Voice of the Martyrs Radio this week to share about John Chau’s mission to North Sentinel Island, where he was killed in 2018. Arlund was part of screening John for mission service and training him to go and serve.

As a teenager, John sensed God calling him to take the gospel to the Sentinelese people. For nine years, he prepared to go to the island, live among the people, learn their language and share Christ with them. John’s story and legacy are being commemorated this year on Day of the Christian Martyr.

Listen as Arlund shares her memories of John, including his hunger for training and knowledge and his in-depth preparation and planning for life on the island. She’ll also talk about the days after John’s murder, the extreme pressure All Nations leaders experienced from media and others, and the surprising response from some North American Christians.

Pam also shares how we can pray for North Sentinel Island and for God to raise up individuals willing to heed His call to missions and to take the gospel to the ends of the earth—even to places where Christian persecution is common.

The Bible promises Christians will be persecuted (John 15:18-20; II Timothy 3:12), yet most Christians in the United States and other Western nations have not experienced persecution for their faith. But what if that’s changing? How should Christians in free nations prepare for possible future persecution?

VOM Radio host, Todd Nettleton, shares specific lessons from Christians who have already faced persecution and victoriously endured. Todd will also share how followers of Christ in free nations can put these lessons into practice in our own spiritual walk, starting right now.

Listen also for the blessings found in the midst of suffering for Christ and ways God uses persecution to grow and strengthen His church.

“Benesh” has been a believer in Christ less than five years, but in that short time she’s already planted more than 30 house churches in The Islamic Republic of Iran!

Benesh grew up in a Muslim home, but over time she began to question many aspects of Islamic teaching. As a teenager, she overheard some women talking about the fact that Christian women—without the oppressive restrictions of Islam—were more free than Muslim women. Benesh was curious to know more about Christianity and the peace and love Jesus offers.

While she was in college, Benesh’s father became very sick. Her mother prayed repeatedly to Allah to heal him, but it didn’t work. Her father died. Shortly after, her mother died also. Her grief at the loss of her parents pushed Benesh further to seek answers about Christ. First, she looked on the Internet. When she moved to a bigger city for employment, a co-worker there invited her to a church meeting. Experiencing Christian worship and fellowship for the first time, she knew Jesus wanted her to put her faith and trust in Him.

In spite of her parents’ death Benesh had peace from God, which shocked her sister and other family members. Many were curious why she was different, which gave her open doors to share Jesus. At first, Benesh feared what her family or others would say or do if she shared Christ with them, but she quickly overcame that fear when she realized how hungry Iranians are for the truth.

Sharing your faith can be a dangerous task in Islamic countries, but Benesh was so focused on sharing the joy she’d found in Christ that she almost forgot about the threat of the Islamic regime! Listen as Benesh shares how we can pray for her ministry, for the Iranian regime, and for bold witnesses for Christ in the Middle East—and as she challenges every Christian to tell others about Jesus.

As a missionary kid, Brother John was raised by parents focused on bringing glory to God’s Kingdom. His father taught theology in the Bahamas and eventually moved the family to an unreached area –British Guiana – so people there could know that true freedom is only in Jesus. As a grown man, John took his own family to serve among Muslims.

Brother John is now the Vice President of Global Engagement for the International Mission Board, helping send missionaries and plant churches all over the world, with a special focus on unreached peoples and areas.

Listen as Brother John shares the story of Dr. Martha Myers and other Christians who served in Yemen before being martyred for their faith in Christ. Yet even in that loss and heartache, the Lord moved to further His Word. With an emphasis on the authority of scripture in missions work, Brother John loves distributing audio Bibles since many unreached people are illiterate or prefer listening to the scriptures rather than reading. He’ll also tell of hearts transformed in the deaf community as they reach out with God’s Word.

More than 90% of the IMB efforts are focused on reaching the unreached for Christ. Pray unreached peoples will encounter the gospel and that the Lord would open doors in restricted nations for Bibles to be distributed.

With a heart to share the gospel, Kenneth Charles has experienced the different forms of persecution Christians in Pakistan face. Kenneth experienced the reality of being persecuted for Christ even as a young boy. He first learned of The Voice of the Martyrs through Tortured for Christ; the book was translated into Urdu by Kenneth’s brother.

Growing up in a Christian family living in an Islamic context, Kenneth knew persecution would come. When he was a young boy, a peer attacked him with a knife. He still bears the scar.

Kenneth came to know Christ through a miraculous healing; a pastor then helped deepen his understanding of Biblical truth. The very next day, Kenneth was accompanying that pastor in ministry – sharing the gospel in villages around the country.

Now, through God’s Vision Ministries, which he founded, Kenneth is distributing audio Bibles in the Urdu language, conducting street ministry, and giving seminary training to church leaders throughout Pakistan—and even in other nations. Listen as Kenneth discusses the great need for leadership training in Pakistan and equipping believers there to answer questions from their Muslim neighbors—many of whom are curious about Christianity.