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
VOMRadio
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
VOMRadio
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
VOMRadio
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_outlineThe government views Cuba’s people as sheep who will blindly follow rules and restrictions communist leaders force on them.
There is another group the Bible compares to sheep: followers of Jesus. Romans 8:36 says, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
This week on VOM Radio we’ll hear from two Cuban Christians, each with different experiences of Christian persecution. David faced persecution as the son of a pastor in Cuba; authorities even demanded that he secretly report to them his father’s ministry activities. Eventually the pressure and persecution forced David to leave the island.
Brother Joshua is still serving as a church leader in Cuba. He will share about the different ways Cuba’s government has put pressure on him to stop his ministry. They’ve shut his electricity off. They’ve denied him permission to hold services or events. They’ve put pressure on his children and kept them from academic and extracurricular opportunities. They’ve mockingly reminded Joshua he could die in a car “accident” at any time.
Despite the pressure and threats, Joshua continues gospel outreach to children and young people, reaching and discipling the next generation for Christ. One of the tools he uses is sports ministry.
Pray for Brother Joshua and Brother David and for the church in Cuba this week. Pray for boldness and encouragement for persecuted Christians there. Pray for pastors and their families who face so much pressure to stop their ministry activities.
September 2024 will mark the ten-year anniversary of VOM Radio. Let us know how you’ve been encouraged and inspired by the testimonies and stories of our persecuted Christian family over the past 10 years.
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