Dr. Yousaf Sadiq was born into a Christian family in Pakistan. He will share how his ancestors came to faith in Christ in India out of Hinduism. While his parents never had the opportunity to go to school and learn to read and write, Yousaf shares how they saw education as a privilege.

His mother worked as a cleaner at a local school so that Yousaf and some of his ten siblings would have an opportunity to be educated. In the evenings, he would help his mother clean the school where he was a student during the day. Despite their deep poverty, Yousaf gratefully recounts how his family's needs were always met.

Today Yousaf is a professor at Wheaton College and co-leader of the Lausanne Persecuted Church Initiative. He remembers how his parents invested time and energy in training their children to walk with the Lord, and how they led by example.

"There was a strong training and guidance by our parents," Yousaf said, "They would wake up early in the morning to pray, showing us that prayer was vital."

Yousaf also shares what it looks like to live in Pakistan as a Christian. There are many pressures within the society, but Yousaf understood at a young age that Christian persecution is part of following Christ.

"I felt not only strengthened but also privileged that this was happening," he says.

Pray for persecuted Christians in Pakistan and be encouraged by the faith our brothers and sisters display. You can learn more about Christian persecution in Pakistan through VOM Radio interviews with Dr. Michael Reeves, "Brother Johanna" and Kenneth Charles.

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.

"We are Christians. [Persecution] can happen any time."

As the pastor of an illegal house church in China, "Brother Enfu" knows the truth of that statement. Listen as he shares why and how he prepares his wife and children for the day he may eventually be arrested and sent to prison.

He will give an update on Christian persecution in China and how believers there are responding faithfully despite increasing government pressure. Enfu will explain how a new law prohibits foreigners in China from talking about their faith—even in private settings. He'll also share how the CCP's persecution strategy has changed, charging pastors and other church leaders with "fraud" or other financial crimes rather than using overtly religious criminal charges.

"Christianity is the narrow way, and the government is warning people about it," Enfu says. Instead of large church events, the gospel is spreading through one-on-one conversations with co-workers or neighbors as Christians share what Jesus has done in their lives.

Brother Enfu encourages pastors and church leaders he trains to stay in China and serve Christians there, rather than leaving China for a more comfortable position in the West. He says that when he hears of a brother or sister imprisoned for their faith, it's an encouragement to him, even as he acknowledges the suffering they are enduring.

Pastor Wang Yi is one of those Chinese pastors who stayed in China and stood firm in his faith. He is currently serving a nine-year prison sentence. Pray Chinese believers will be faithful in their daily life and ministry and pray for government leaders, including President Xi Jinping, to find and follow Christ.

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.

"Brother Bayram" is back to finish the conversation we began last week. He came to the United States from Türkiye (formerly Turkey) to further his education and start a business. One day, a Christian woman came to his business and gave Bayram a New Testament. He began to read, beginning a path that would lead him to faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Son of God.

Hear stories of people in Türkiye leaving Islam and embracing Jesus Christ—and the persecution they've endured for making that decision. What are the truths that draw them? What are the misunderstandings of the gospel that Christians can address with Muslims? How do new Christians in Türkiye think about revealing to Muslim family members that they now follow Christ?

Bayram will tell the story of a young atheist who, after talking with Bayram for an entire evening, saw Jesus in two dreams. This young man embraced the gospel and became a follower of Jesus. It was a costly decision: as soon as he became a Christian, everyone around him became an enemy.

Listen as Bayram equips us to pray for Türkiye and for our Christian brothers and sisters there. You can connect online with Brother Bayram and his ministry at www.albtci.org.

In the VOM Radio archives, you can hear David Byle tell his story of persecution in Türkiye. You may also be interested in hearing American Pastor Andrew Brunson and his wife, Norine, tell their story of imprisonment and persecution there.

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.

Brother Bayram came to the United States from Türkiye (Turkey) to further his education. He started a business, where one day a Christian customer gave Bayram a New Testament. He began to read it, the beginning of a path that would lead him to faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and the Son of God.

It was a costly decision: his devout Muslim wife divorced him and wouldn't allow him to see their daughter. His brother had Bayram committed to a mental hospital, thinking anyone who would leave Islam was mentally unstable.

It has been a difficult road, but Bayram's faith has only grown stronger as he has seen God work in his life and his country. Listen as he shares the story of his journey to Christ, and how his family pressured him to return to Islam and persecuted him for his Christian faith. He'll also share stories of others still meeting Jesus in Türkiye.

Bayram will encourage and instruct listeners about how we—like the woman who gave him a New Testament—might help lead Muslims where we are toward Christ.

You can connect online with Brother Bayram and his ministry at www.albtci.org.

We'll finish this conversation with Bayram next week on VOM Radio. Between now and then, you can hear David Byle tell his story of persecution in Türkiye. You may also be interested in hearing American Pastor Andrew Brunson and his wife, Norine, tell their story of imprisonment and persecution in Türkiye.

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.

Hana Menghisteab is back on VOM Radio this week in a follow-up conversation after sharing with us on the 20th anniversary of her father's arrest in Eritrea. This week, Hana shares how that interview—really the first time she'd spoken publicly about her father and her family's suffering—was painful, but also how God used it to open a door for healing in her life.

Before his arrest in 2004, Dr. Tecleab Menghisteab was a medical doctor and a leader in the Eritrean Orthodox Church. He is one of more than 300 Christians currently in prison in Eritrea.

Hana was six years old when her father was arrested. Hana will tell how growing up without her father left her wounded in many areas of her life. However, Hana says, "God does not waste pain; He doesn't waste the years of tears." Instead, the Lord uses suffering to display His glory.

Hana says her interview last year opened wounds she'd wanted to keep covered up. "God forced me to reopen them and partake in my father's suffering," she says. She'll tell how the Lord has allowed her to surrender her wounds to Him and encouraged her to be bold in sharing her story with others.

She'll also share how an internship at VOM impacted her understanding of suffering and how God works through it. Hearing and reading stories of sisters and brothers also afflicted with suffering for their faith has shown Hana the beauty of those scars, even amidst the pain.

Listen to Hana's previous visit with VOM Radio.

There are a few seats remaining at VOM's From the Field 2025 National Conference. The conference will take place in Bartlesville, Oklahoma September 25-27. Attendees will hear from persecuted Christians—including several former VOM Radio guests—during the conference. Learn more and register online today.

When Yang Rongli, a pastor of Linfen Golden Lampstand Church in Shanxi Province, China, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, she responded with words of celebration.

"I got the top reward!" she said, considering it an honor to suffer for Christ and referring to the fact that her prison sentence was longer than other church members. She and her husband, Pastor Wang Xiaoguang, remain in prison.

Listen this week as Bob Fu, former prisoner for Christ in China and the founder and president of China Aid Association, shares updates from persecuted Christians in China, including Pastor John Cao, Pastor Wang Yi, and other Chinese Christians. The Chinese Communist Party continues to pursue absolute government control of churches and other religious institutions in China. Pastors and church leaders face long prison sentences for "fraud" when their church collects tithes and offerings, or "illegal border crossing" if they travel to meet with fellow believers outside China.

Despite being prevented from leaving China following the completion of his seven-year prison sentence, Pastor John Cao continues serving the Lord through daily prayer meetings. He's even baptized new believers—despite Communist guards required to escort him everywhere he goes!

Bob Fu, author of God's Double Agent, reports on recent church raids in China, including arrests of children attending Vacation Bible School. The Communist Party forbids any religious outreach or training for children under age 18.

With two years remaining in his nine-year sentence, Pastor Wang Yi has composed books in his head during his time in prison, as well as praying daily through a list of more than 1,000 prayer requests. You can write letters of encouragement to Wang Yi and other Christian prisoners in China, Eritrea, Iran and other nations at www.PrisonerAlert.com.

There are a few seats remaining at VOM's From the Field 2025 National Conference. The conference will take place in Bartlesville, Oklahoma September 25-27. Attendees will hear from Bob Fu and other persecuted Christians—including several former VOM Radio guests—during the conference. Learn more and register online today.

Do we really believe that to live is Christ, and to die is gain?

After serving for more than a decade as a gospel worker and church planter in Asia, Brother Kevin asks all believers to consider whether we actually live as if we believe these words from Philippians 1:21. He says that of ten people who come to faith in Christ in the area where he works, nine recant when the pressure of persecution rises. Yet seeing the joyful endurance of the one who remains faithful is a great source of encouragement to him.

Kevin will share how the Lord called him to serve unreached people groups in Asia, and explain 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 kicked 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.

Kevin will discuss how individualistic worldviews in Western nations like the United States compare to the collective Asian culture, and how believers show the unity within Christ's body as they rely on each other when part of the body is hurting.

Learn more about the church in Asia and how to pray for Christians there and around the world who face persecution for owning a Bible, gathering for a church service, or simply wearing the name of Christ.

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.

Some Christians in Malaysia—ethnically Chinese or Indian believers—have freedom to practice their faith in Christ. But if an ethnic Malay person becomes a believer in Jesus, he or she will face intense Christian persecution. The Malaysian government sees ethnic Malay people as off limits for evangelism and holds them subject to Islamic Shariah law.

"To be Malay is to be Muslim," says Carter Gates, leader of VOM's international ministry work in Asia/Pacific. "Ethnic Malay's can't even [openly] say they are interested in learning more about Jesus."

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? Gates says he was challenged as he thought about evangelism in free nations versus in Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam, China and other restricted areas and hostile nations.

"This pastor is in a context where he knows what [sacrifice] means," Carter says. "We should consider these costs in America too."

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. Listen to what Susanna Koh shared during her first visit with VOM Radio about how she and her family struggled after her husband's abduction. She also shares how the Lord helped her to forgive those who persecuted her husband. Please pray for truth to be revealed through this legal process and pray for the Koh family as they await the verdict.

The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians—in Iran and other nations—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.

This week, Carter Gates, leader of VOM'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.

The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians—in Iran and other nations—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.

Established 28 years ago by Congress, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is charged with monitoring religious persecution around the world, reporting to Congress, the President, and the Secretary of State and making recommendations on advancing religious freedom through US foreign policy.

Vicky Hartzler is the current chair of USCIRF. Prior to that appointment, she served in Congress from the state of Missouri. Even before her service in Congress, Hartzler came with a group from her church to volunteer at The Voice of the Martyrs. Listen as she shares more about her role in reporting on and seeking religious freedom for our brothers and sisters in restricted areas and hostile nations. She'll also share her own experiences of advocating on behalf of persecuted Christians directly to leaders of other nations.

After getting VOM's monthly magazine and reading Richard Wurmbrand's story in Tortured for Christ, her eyes were opened to Christian persecution and she was moved to pray for our persecuted Christian family, taking Hebrews 13:3 to heart.

Hartzler was impacted by her time serving at VOM. Her heart was also moved when she met a Chinese Christian woman at her church. The woman shared how she'd felt alone in solitary confinement in China—until she had a vision from the Lord of people praying for her.

"God may be enabling somebody in prison to see and to hear our prayers—and to be encouraged," Hartzler says.

In Congress, Hartzler adopted three Christian prisoners in China to advocate on behalf of. Pastor Wang Yi—one of the three—is still in prison, serving out his nine-year sentence. You can write a letter to him, and petition government officials on his behalf, at PrisonerAlert.com.

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.

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.