VOMRadio

“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. Stephen McCaskell [https://www.youtube.com/@StephenMcCaskell] 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 behind-the-scenes video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEsUoazIYz8] 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. Stephen also shares what he wants viewers and churches to take away after viewing the Missionary film series [https://www.missionary.com/product/missionary-obeying-the-great-commission-box-set]. The VOM App [https://www.persecution.com/app/] for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians throughout the year, as well as providing free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vom-app/id432550884] or Android [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.persecution.VomPrayerCalendar&pli=1] device today.

After working in South Asia and living in Nepal for 18 years, Matthew Hanson has taken on leadership of The Voice of the Martyrs international ministry efforts on a new region: West and Central Africa (WACA). Listen as he tells how the persecution of Christians looks different in Africa from South Asia. The church in Africa is large; attacks on Christians there often affect a larger scale. Radical Islamist groups are the main persecutors in his region, and Matthew will share how it’s affecting believers in his region, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burkina Faso, Benin, Nigeria and Togo. Just in the DRC, there are 100+ active rebel groups. Church attacks and the displacement of followers of Christ has become sadly common. How does The Voice of the Martyrs respond to the intense persecution Christians in his region are facing? Listen as Matthew explains how he and his team evaluate needs and work through partnerships and local believers to help meet those needs and encourage believers. Matthew will share about the ministry of presence and how it plays such a key part of helping with trauma recovery for persecuted Christians. As Islamist groups move into places like northern Togo, a new addition to VOM’s Global Prayer Map [https://www.persecution.com/globalprayerguide/togo/?_source_code=WHPB20C], Matthew and his team are hearing new reports of persecution and needs that VOM can help to meet. “The church does an incredible job of serving one another,” Matthew says, “it’s a community of believers coming together, and it’s really exciting.” Hear stories from Matthew about a woman’s joy when she received a Bible provided by VOM, the holy moment when eight new believers from Muslim backgrounds took the step of baptism, and the story of a kidnapped Christian miraculously saved from a jihadist group. Please pray for persecuted Christians in West and Central Africa. The VOM App [https://www.persecution.com/app/] for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians throughout the year, as well as providing free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vom-app/id432550884] or Android [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.persecution.VomPrayerCalendar&pli=1] device today.

Miguel Angel Angeles, executive director of Bethel Radio & TV [https://betheltv.tv/], shares the history of a ministry that started with one Christian asking a radio station to play audio cassettes of his sermons on the air. As the radio ministry encouraged and built up the church, it expanded into Venezuela, Colombia, and other areas. Today, Bethel is a network of hundreds of radio and television stations, based in Peru and reaching Spanish speakers all over Latin America and the world. Miguel will share about his own start serving in IT with Bethel TV, and how he came to understand the importance of bringing awareness of the persecuted body of Christ through Bethel programming. “My first time listening about the persecuted church was when Petr Jasek came to a conference in Peru to share his testimony,” Miguel said, “and it created a hunger for me to learn more.” After hearing Petr Jasek [https://www.vomradio.net/petr] speak at a conference about his own arrest in Sudan, Miguel’s church began to meet every Monday to pray for the persecuted church and to learn more about fellow believers facing Christian persecution. Week after week, God prepared Miguel’s heart as it was continuously stretched by the stories of bold faith in the face of hostility and persecution. After reading Tortured for Christ, by Richard Wurmbrand, the founder of The Voice of the Martyrs, Miguel knew he needed to share about persecuted Christians with the broader church in Latin America and with his radio audience. Listen as Miguel shares the heart of his church for missions. Churches dedicate one Sunday a month to focus on missions and missionaries. You and your church will be encouraged to make missions and praying for persecuted Christians a regular part of your worship gatherings as well. Pray this week for Miguel, his family, and Bethel Radio & TV as they continue serving the Lord and sharing the voice of persecuted Christians with Spanish-speaking people around the world. The VOM App [https://www.persecution.com/app/] for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians throughout the year, as well as providing free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vom-app/id432550884] or Android [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.persecution.VomPrayerCalendar&pli=1] device today.

Nik Ripken and his wife, Ruth, spent decades sitting down with hundreds of persecuted Christians in restricted nations and hostile areas around the world. They didn’t go to instruct these bold believers. They went to learn from them. The lessons they learned were published in The Insanity of God [https://nikripken.com/books/insanitybook], Nik’s book, and now he and Ruth have created a video series called Insanity Unleashed [https://nikripken.com/insanity-unleashed]. In this series, they share lessons from believers in persecution to help Christians everywhere know how to live as sheep among wolves (Matthew 10:16). The lessons come from more than 650 interviews with persecuted Christians in more than 70 countries. Listen this week to hear stories from Nik and Ruth about their travels and what they’ve learned from persecuted Christians. They’ll share how meeting believers in other countries gave them a better understanding of the Biblical truth that we are all part of one global Body of Christ. Nik and Ruth have been humbled by the fervent prayers of brothers and sisters around the world as they pray for Christians in free nations. Nik will explain how this video series has the aim of raising up evangelists and church planters who will go to the unreached, rather than only pastors and teachers who are trained to minister to those who’ve already heard the gospel. “[Many American seminaries and Bible colleges] train you up to be sheep among sheep,” Nik says. “We are teaching [Christians] how to be sheep among wolves.” Ruth and Nik also share advice on succeeding in the marathon of ministry, including the importance of daily time in God’s Word and memorizing scripture—just as our persecuted family does as they prepare for persecution. The VOM App [https://www.persecution.com/app/] for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians throughout the year, as well as providing free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vom-app/id432550884] or Android [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.persecution.VomPrayerCalendar&pli=1] device today.

In April, we asked VOM Radio listeners to sponsor Bible delivery [https://www.persecution.com/bibles/?_source_code=VOMRadio] to Christians living in restricted nations and hostile areas. This week, Ty Scott, VOM’s Regional Leader for East and Southern Africa, tells us about the work and effort involved in actually placing Bibles into the hands of Christians living in cities and villages in Sudan, Tanzania, or the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Statistically, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Tanzania are majority-Christian nations. Yet each has communities where almost every person is a Muslim. How is the gospel spreading in such places? And how are new followers of Christ treated by their families and the wider Islamic community? Ty will share about family persecution in Comoros, a country we’ve never discussed on VOM Radio, where Christians comprise only tenths of a percent of the population. Listen as Ty and VOM Radio Host, Todd Nettleton, discuss places where ethnic identity and Islam are completely intertwined. As gospel workers share the hope of Christ in those places, they don’t ask people to leave their ethnicity but to fulfill what God would have them be. Hear the amazing testimony of a young man who brought his father, an imam (Islamic prayer leader), to faith in Christ, and how the gospel brought many into Christ’s kingdom through his father’s witness. Ty will also share specific ways you can pray for Christians in eastern and southern Africa. The VOM App [https://www.persecution.com/app/] for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians throughout the year, as well as providing free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vom-app/id432550884] or Android [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.persecution.VomPrayerCalendar&pli=1] device today.