A 16-year-old Christian girl is being prevented from attending church by her Buddhist family members. "Tien" loves God and loves attending church, but her family has prohibited her from attending church because she refused to go to temple with them. Tien continued to attend church despite her family's demands, until her grandmother began coming to the church every week to yell at church leaders.
Tien has stopped attending church because she does not want to cause the church trouble. "I really love God and I want to go to church," Tien said. "Please pray for me, that one day my grandmother or my family will understand me."
VOM Sources
Please Pray!
Pray that Tien will be allowed to go to church.
Pray that her family will see the change in her life and be attracted to Jesus.
Pray that the other church members will find ways to encourage her.
Voice Of the Martyrs is assisting believers in Laos by supporting itinerant pastors and evangelists, providing training Bible to new believers and vocational training to girls like Tien whose families reject them.
Iranian authorities recently confiscated a Bible and several Christian books from Pastor Behnam Irani, who is serving a five-year sentence on two separate convictions of "crimes against national security." Prisoners are supposed to be allowed religious materials in their cell, regardless of their religion.
The pastor is currently recovering from a February 2014 abdominal surgery. You can write an encouraging letter to Pastor Behnam Irani at www.prisoneralert.com.
Present Truth Ministries Photo: Pastor Behnam Irani visits with his younger brother while recovering from surgery
Please Pray!
Please pray for Pastor Behnam as he recovers from surgery.
Pray also for his family; the pastor has a wife and two young children.
Pray that the Scripture he has hidden in his heart will be a comfort to him as he serves his sentence.
Three unidentified, armed men attacked the Joy of Christ Church near Mombasa on Sunday, March 23, killing Pastor Philip Msasa and five others. The gunmen entered the church during Sunday morning service and opened fire on worshipers.
In addition to the six believers who were killed, 15 others, including some children, were hospitalized with gunshot wounds. The men later attempted to attack the nearby Redeemed Church, but security guards prevented them from entering.
The attack on the church came one day after Internal Security Cabinet Secretary Joseph Ole Lenku warned a radical Islamic imam to stop inciting youth to violence. On Feb. 2, police stormed the Masjid Musa mosque and arrested several youth after finding materials linking them to radicalization.
One week later, six bombs, an AK-47, ammunition and grenades were found in a vehicle in Mombasa. The situation is very worrisome for Christians, who have been the main target of these attacks.
VOM Sources, AllAfrica
Please Pray!
Please pray that God will stop the infiltration of radical Islam in Kenya.
Please pray that He will protect the churches and believers there and give them a stronger burden to reach the lost with the gospel.
Pray for the injured and the families who have lost loved ones.
Kenya is listed on Voice Of the Martyrs' prayer map as a Monitored Nation - an area being closely monitored by VOM because of a trend toward increased persecution of Christians.
On March 6, Pastor Amin Khaki and seven other believers were arrested by Iranian intelligence agents while having a picnic in a park near Shoush, Khuzestan province. The officers reportedly pulled their guns on the believers and beat them, even injuring one man. The Christians were blindfolded and detained in interrogation rooms for six hours.
Five of the believers were released, but Pastor Amin and two other church members remain in prison in Shoush. No charges have been filed, and no bail has been set. Pastor Amin's wife reportedly received a very brief phone call from him in which he simply told her that he was doing fine.
Please pray that God will comfort and protect these believers while they are in prison and that other prisoners will be drawn to the truth of the gospel through them.
Pray that the Iranian authorities will be favorably disposed toward the believers and that they will be released soon to return to their families.
"For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven the LORD viewed the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to release those appointed to death."
- Psalm 102:19-20 -
The Voice of the Martyrs helps Christians in Iran by providing Farsi Bibles and by supporting Christian satellite broadcasts.
Youa Thao lives with his wife and three children in Va Who village, Dien Bien Province. When he became a Christian, his relatives began to harass him. But Youa refused to give up his Christian faith.
On Dec. 9, 2013, Youa Thao's relatives burned his house and everything inside. They then kicked Youa Thao and his family out of the village. Local officials refused to take action because he is a Christian.
Youa Thao and his wife don’t know how they will survive without their home and belongings. They are currently living with a Christian family in a nearby village.
Pray that God's faithfulness will see them through this trial and that their faith will strengthen as they see His hand at work in their lives.
Pray for the salvation of Youa Thao's relatives, village officials and others in the village.
"For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." Heb. 2:10
Voice Of the Martyrs assists believers in Vietnam by providing Bibles, shortwave radios, Christian literature and support for families of prisoners, among other means of assistance.
More ‘killed for faith’ in Syria in 2013 than in whole world during 2012
The civil war in Syria has been especially deadly for the country's dwindling Christian population.World Watch Monitor
Nearly twice as many Christians died for their faith in the past year
than in 2012, according to Open Doors International’s 2014 World Watch
List.
Open Doors International, a charity that supports Christians under
pressure for their faith, said 2,123 Christians were reported to have
been killed during the 12 months ending Oct. 31, 2013. That compares to
1,201 during the previous 12 months. During the most recent period, more
Christians were killed in Syria alone than were killed globally in the
previous year.
The World Watch List, which annually monitors the media worldwide for
all reported incidents, emphasises that this is the “very, very
minimum” count – only those who have been documented as killed.
Beyond those killed, the World Watch List recommends that three more
categories of Christians should be considered: Christians whose death is
never reported; Christians killed due to increased vulnerability, such
as those in conflict areas; and Christians who die due to long-term
discrimination.
Taking these into account, as well as those whose deaths are reported
by the media, the World Watch List suggests Schirrmacher’s estimation
is roughly accurate, although the figure may be higher still.
“Christians aren’t always directly killed, but are so much squeezed
with regulations and vulnerabilities that they just perish – not at
once, but in the course of years. If we would include them in the
counting, it would be an enormous number of people. However, the precise
number of Christians who die due to these factors is very difficult to
quantify,” according to the World Watch List.
Not surprisingly, Syria heads the list of the countries in which the
most Christians were killed for their faith (1,213), followed by Nigeria
(612), Pakistan (88) and Egypt (83).
Of the top 10, six are in Africa – with Kenya (20), Angola (16),
Niger (15) and the Central African Republic (9) joining Nigeria and
Egypt on the list.
The World Watch List states that the number of Christians killed in
the Central African Republic is especially likely to have been
under-reported because “most analysts still failed to recognise the
religious dimension of the conflict”. The list says the same is true of
North Korea, where “it is extremely difficult to get public
information”.
Beyond the number of Christians killed, the World Watch List focuses
upon other instances of violence, including: physical aggression;
threats; the destruction of churches or other Christian buildings;
attempts to destroy churches or Christian buildings; the closure of
churches or Christian buildings; house expulsion or destruction; kidnap
for ransom or intimidation; sexual assault; arrests; and displacement.
Considering only the sum of violent incidents recorded, Egypt (167) tops the list, followed by India (125) and Nigeria (118).
Mohammed Hegazy, now known by his Christian name, Bishoy Armia Boulos, was arrested on Dec. 4 at a cafe in Minya, Upper Egypt. Security forces claimed he had been working for a Christian satellite TV channel and contributing to a "false image" that Christians in Minya are targets of violence.
Boulos's friends believe his arrest was another attempt to persecute Egypt's "best-known convert from Islam." Boulos was the first Egyptian to file a lawsuit in an attempt to change the religious identity on his ID card. He had previously been arrested and tortured because of his conversion to Christianity, and he was forced into hiding after receiving death threats.
On Dec. 10, Boulos was transferred from the prison in Minya to a prison outside the city, due to concerns for his safety. Informants had told prison security that Muslim prisoners were planning to kill Boulos for becoming a Christian.
Pray that God will intervene and protect Boulos and that international attention will result in his release.
Pray for his wife and two children, believed to be living abroad.
Pray that Egypt's new constitution will protect the religious rights of its citizens.
"The proud have dug pits for me, which is not according to Your law. All Your commandments are faithful; they persecute me wrongfully; help me!" Ps. 119:85-86
Voice Of the Martyrs assists Christians in Egypt through the VOMedical fund, Families of Prisoners fund, Christian radio broadcasts and discipleship training for former Muslims.
On Oct. 12, 2013, an appeals court upheld the sentences given to four believers who have been detained in Shiraz since February 2012. The four, Homayoun, Korosh, Mojtaba and Vahid, were convicted on June 10, 2013, on charges of attending a house church, spreading Christianity, having contact with foreign ministries, propaganda against the regime and disrupting national security. They each were sentenced to three years and eight months in prison. Homayoun and Mojtaba have previous convictions, from 2008, for which they received suspended sentences.
On Oct. 20, four other believers were sentenced to 80 lashes each after being convicted of charges related to drinking communion wine. The men submitted an appeal, but it was rejected, according to a key source.
Across Iran, a number of other believers remain detained for their faith or Christian activities, and others await court hearings
Iranian Christians supporting these believers request our prayers that Homayoun, Korosh, Mojtaba and Vahid will know the presence and peace of Jesus each day.
Please pray that others detained for their faith and/or Christian activities will also know the presence and peace of Jesus, and be released soon.
Pray also that all officials involved will act justly, learn about Jesus and choose to follow Him.
"Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I will arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me." Mic. 7:7-8
The Voice of the Martyrs helps Christians in Iran by providing Farsi Bibles and by supporting Christian satellite broadcasts.
