Church Bombings, Terrorist Attacks: Preparing Disciples for Persecution in Congo
Release Date: 06/15/2024
IMPRISONED ERITREAN PASTOR: “Everything Done for the Glory of Christ Will Be For Eternity”
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“Every time I doubt, ‘What’s the purpose of this suffering?’ I like to reread this and say, ‘My father actually chose the right cup.’” As of November 19, Dr. Tekleab Mengisteab, both a medical doctor and pastor, has been imprisoned in Eritrea for twenty years. This week his daughter, Hana, is back on VOM Radio to share her father’s own words, which show clearly that he had counted the cost of serving Christ and knew he was likely to be arrested and imprisoned. Dr. Tekleab’s words, through his writings, books, and sermons, still inspire and encourage believers in Eritrea and...
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ERITREAN PASTOR’S DAUGHTER: “I Realized My Dad Wasn’t Coming Home”
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Dr. Tekleab Mengisteab was a medical doctor and a leader in the World Health Organization for the nation of Eritrea. He was also an ordained minister in the Orthodox Church of Eritrea. Since November 19, 2004—20 years ago this week—Dr. Mengisteab has been a prisoner for Christ, imprisoned without charge or trial by the government of Eritrea. Today he is one of more than 300 imprisoned Christians there. This week on VOM Radio Mengisteab’s daughter, Hana, shares the story of her father’s arrest and of God’s faithfulness to her and her family through the past 20 years. She will tell us...
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NORTH AFRICA MINISTRY: “Difficult Does Not Mean Impossible”
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“Pastor Joe” was drawn to North Africa not by a call to gospel work but by his own dreams and interests. However, once he was there the Lord opened his eyes to the needs of the people and gave Joe a deep love for them. Ministry in North Africa is difficult, but as Pastor Joe and his family read the Bible, they see that it’s not about them. Rather it’s all about Christ. “We are just the instruments,” says Joe. “We don’t count on ourselves; we count on God.” As Muslims seek spiritual truth and come to Christ, they encounter challenges with unbelieving family and friends. Pastor...
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BHUTAN: Prayers Answered On College Campuses
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With almost 90% of people in identifying as Buddhists, those who follow Christ are a tiny minority. Pastor Rajiv, a church planter and leadership trainer in South Asia, works to reach Bhutanese people for Christ and knows what happens when someone follows Jesus in this restricted nation. In Bhutan, the king is seen as both a political and religious leader. One of his duties is defending Buddhism in the nation. Becoming a Christian is seen as being a traitor to the country and the king. It’s also against the law, so Christians who gather together must do so in secret. Yet being in fellowship...
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Islam Incentivized; Pray for Holy Boldness in the Christian Church
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Fred and Karen, long-time gospel workers in Asia, share this week about the church in Brunei and the challenges they face daily to live boldly for Christ. Christians there can live comfortably—if they don’t share the gospel or attempt to witness to ethnic Malay people. Ethnically, the church there is primarily made up of Chinese, Indians and other expats. It is illegal for ethnic Malay people to be present in a church, and many Christians are hesitant to speak about Christianity to a Malay person for fear of Christian persecution. With such strong repercussions for a Malay person following...
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MIDDLE EAST: Leaders Arising Amidst Christian Persecution
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was founded in 1991, in response to needs expressed by Christian leaders in the Middle East and North Africa. Through a network of ministry partners, Middle East Concern seeks to help Christians facing persecution across the Middle East and North Africa. They work to come up with strategies to improve conditions and protect rights of Christians with a goal of seeing Christians able to live out their faith in Christ freely. Brother Rob, a researcher for MEC, shares with VOM Radio this week about his work and about persecution faced by Christians in the MENA region. One of Rob’s areas of...
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MISSIONS: Translating Training Tools to Strengthen Pastors and the Church
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J.D. Bridges, Vice President of Global Outreach for , tells us this week about Ligonier’s efforts to produce content and teaching materials to defend and teach the holiness of God—not only to American Christians but to Christians around the world, including persecuted Christians in hostile areas and restricted nations. Since 1971, when R.C. Sproul founded the ministry in the Ligonier Valley of western Pennsylvania, Ligonier has continued to produce more and more Biblical content. As people from other nations discovered the work and requested resources in their own languages, Ligonier’s...
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CENTRAL ASIA: Please Pray We Would Be Faithful to Jesus
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Sister Sara wrestled with faith questions as she studied Christianity, Islam and other religions in a years-long quest for truth. Last week, Sara shared her struggle to understand and believe how Jesus could be God—a common stumbling block for Muslims hearing the gospel message. Listen this week to hear what happened after she received forgiveness of sin through Christ—and how you can pray for her and other Christians living and ministering in Central Asia. As soon as Sara read Matthew 28:18-19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,” she gathered her words to tell others the...
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CENTRAL ASIA: So Many Questions, Then God Spoke Her Language
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As a young woman in an Islamic culture in Central Asia, Sara was drawn to stories of Jesus. He was a good man, she thought, one whose life matched his teachings. But how could Jesus be God? Sara wrestled deeply with this question in her search for truth. Intellectually, she found the Bible to be true, but she couldn’t commit to everything it said. Eternal life was attractive, but the idea that Jesus was God was confusing to her. Sara poured herself into studying different religions, desperate to figure out how she could be confident she’d go to heaven when she died. She prayed, “God,...
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10th Anniversary Special: Arrested in Tibet, She Experienced the Presence and Power of God
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This month we are commemorating the 10th Anniversary of The Voice of the Martyrs Radio. This week we look back on one of the most powerful conversations ever shared on VOM Radio airwaves. Sister Amber spent more than a decade in Tibet providing vocational training to local people and sharing the gospel. She felt God’s call especially to work among Tibet’s nomadic tribal people. Amber watched as God brought about a great ministry breakthrough: people who’d been completely closed to her message were now asking to learn more about Jesus! But just days after the breakthrough Amber...
info_outline“When people are not discipled, they are frail. Their faith is not strong.”
Dr. David Kasali, founder and president of Congo Initiative, is determined to disciple more Christians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a place where they are being specifically targeted for persecution by terrorist groups and radical Islamists.
Listen as David tells about recent attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), including one where a Christian man was murdered on the spot just for acknowledging his faith in Christ and another where a nearby church was bombed during services. Such attacks are becoming more and more common in DRC.
Born into a pastor’s family, David shares about his heritage and his father’s love for the Lord and for his people. He’ll tell of his father’s efforts to win an entire village to Christ and plant a church there.
David shares how he helps prepare Congolese Christians for persecution and the importance of standing strong in Christ during hardship and suffering. Desiring to see the next generation equipped for spiritual victory, David disciples Christians to read the Bible and pray everyday. He says when we take the Bible and apply it into the context of where we are living, then we can face any challenges of the culture around us.
When you do that, David says, “You’re creating disciples and creating people to know what they believe and why they believe it.”
Hear David share how the ADF knew a Christian pastor was praying against the activities of their forces, and learn how you can pray for the church in the Congo and how The Voice of the Martyrs is helping provide Bibles and serve persecuted Christians there.
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