A Reminder: Persecution Still Exists in Cuba

Seeing news images of President Obama doing “the wave” at a baseball game and dancing the tango in Cuba, it would be easy to think that this small communist country is now completely free and open to the gospel of Christ.

But while President Obama was watching baseball, Pastor Mario Felix Lleonart Barroso was sitting in a police station. Barroso, a Baptist pastor, blogger and friend of VOM, was thrown to the ground, handcuffed and detained at his home (which also serves as his church) just hours before Air Force One landed in Havana. A few hours after the president left Cuba, Pastor Barroso was set free and returned to his family. He was tired and weak, having fasted throughout his detention, but happy to be home.

Pastor Barroso is a bold pastor and outspoken advocate for religious freedom in his nation, and as such he is seen as a threat to the communist government of Fidel and Raul Castro. The Cuban government decided to make sure there would be no “distractions” during President Obama’s visit, so Barroso and dozens of other dissidents were detained by police in the days leading up to the president’s arrival.

Pastor Barroso’s name is already familiar to many American Christians who have committed to pray each week for persecuted believers at iCommitToPray.com. More than 400 people in 27 nations have already prayed for the pastor and his wife, who was threatened with imprisonment in 2014.

Each week, VOM posts a specific prayer request on iCommitToPray.com and invites Christians around the world to join in prayer for that request and to type their prayers on the website. Other believers — even believers in hostile and restricted nations — can then be blessed by and join in agreement with those prayers.

Please pray for Pastor Barroso and his wife, Yoaxis, as the pastor recovers from his recent detention.

Sign up on iCommitToPray.com to receive a new prayer request like this one via email each week.

... this blog entry is a copy and paste of a recent V.O.M. Commit to Pray Newsletter.

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Do You Want To See the Love of God?

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Maintaining Faith in India

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Trying to Witness in Buddhist Tibet

The difficulties of being a Christian in Tibet.

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VOM Radio: When an ISIS Fighter Wants to Talk

VOM Radio: When an ISIS Fighter Wants to Talk

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90 Seconds with Displaced Christians Inside Iraq

How V.O.M. is helping Christians in Iraq.

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VOM Radio: Middle East: How the ME Persecution is Converting Muslims!

Yehovah-Yeshua always has a plan, even with our "free will" to do EVIL! Please listen to this 30 min. broadcast. God does not "allow" the evil - He allows free choice.

Freedom, Liberty, and Love is what our God is always about! This basic misunderstanding about the character of God (that He allows/causes evil) is common. Yeshua did not create a mindless slave "creature" - in a Christian or a Muslim!

Click the link below to listen.

VOM Radio: Middle East: 'Even if you take my life'.

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Has America completely abandoned the Iraqis?

What judgment will we receive (in the West) for not helping our brothers and sisters in the middle east?

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Do You and I Have This Kind of Faith?

As a Vietnam Era veteran (I missed Vietnam by the skin of my teeth), this man touches my heart.

He has had to remain in his country, a country the American people forsake, and preach the Word under great duress. We in the West have no idea what this man has had to endure!

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V.O.M. Radio - Mongolia

Published on Jan 9, 2015

Brian and Louise were part of a church planting team in an isolated city in Mongolia. They saw God do amazing things as the gospel took root and the church grew in strength. But they also Satan attack, trying to regain territory he’d lost to Christ’s Kingdom. The attacks even reached into Brian and Louise’s own home. Listen in to hear the story of God’s work in Mongolia, and Brian and Louise’s testimony that even in the darkest times, God was faithful. We’ll also answer a listener’s question about Action Packs and how packing an Action Pack is a blessing for a Christian family in a restricted nation, and for the American family that packs the bag.

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The World's Most Persecuted Minority

Which group is the most persecuted in the world? Is it a particular race or economic class? Or, is it these folks ...?

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V.O.M.in Iraq - Video Diary

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Reenactment Video of What's Happening in Syria Right Now - Brought to you by people on the ground there

WARNING !!! REENACTMENT OF WHAT'S HAPPENING IN SYRIA RIGHT NOW!
DO NOT WATCH UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING!

... and yes, you will need your hanky. (requires a YouTube login to see!)

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This Man has Tortured and Imprisoned at least 30,000 Christians

Kim Jong Un, the current leader of North Korea, is guilty of the imprisonment and torture of Christians and their entire families.

As Christians we have a choice. We can remain silent, say an occasional prayer, or stand up against such atrocities.

The Voice of the Martyrs invites you to take part in a new ministry campaign. Sign a letter to Kim Jong Un, and let him know that we are committed to standing with our Christian brothers and sisters who are suffering in North Korea’s notorious concentration camps.

To learn more, please see THIS website.

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Nigeria: 2 Kidnapped Girls Escape

VOM is providing assistance to two sisters who recently escaped captivity from Boko Haram.

Two sisters, Kamka, 19, and Naya, 16, were sleeping when radical Muslims invaded their home. The armed terrorists entered their brother's room and shot him in the hand before demanding to know where the girls' father was. When they realized the two sisters were not married and their father was not home, they took the girls by force.

The Boko Haram terrorist group has declared war on Christians in Nigeria, frequently attacking Christian villages, burning Christians' houses and murdering indiscriminately. They also kidnap teenage girls and force them to convert and marry Boko Haram members.

After forcing Kamka and Naya to walk through the woods at gunpoint, the terrorists immediately put them to work fetching water and cooking. A few days later, the girls were told that both of them were to be married. “We're too young,” Naya protested. But the leader then showed them his daughter, a girl of 7 or 8, who was already married.

“If we refused to cooperate, we would be killed,” Naya told a VOM worker. “The man whom I was forced to marry took me. He picked up his gun and a knife and threatened to murder me if I continued to resist.”

The sisters cried and prayed together, unsure of what would become of them. But after two weeks, a Muslim woman took pity on them. While fetching water with the girls, she showed them an escape route and told them to run away.

The girls escaped under cover of darkness. They knocked on the door of the first house they came to, praying the owner would be friendly. Although he was Muslim, the man took pity on the girls. He allowed them to bathe and eat, and then had his sister take them to a nearby Christian village.

The girls were traumatized by their experience but are now doing reasonably well. Since it is unsafe for them to return to their home, VOM is providing care for them at a safe house through one of our project partners.

“I thank God that He has saved us from the hands of these bad people,” Naya said. “Everything is now behind me and I'm not afraid anymore. I only want to look forward now.”

And Kamka is also thankful for God's protection. “I am very grateful that many Christians pray for me,” she said. “Despite what I've been through, I still have faith in God.”

 

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3 Video Offerings from Voice of the Martyrs

I am a Hebrew Roots person. Even though I may disagree with some aspects of V.O.M.'s theology, one thing you don't do is take away people's hope! V.O.M. does an amazing and worthwhile work helping others. And yes, WORKS do matter! - : ) Tiger

Imagine Joel Osteen's MegaChurch in your mind, then watch this video.  Where do you think Yehovah-Yeshua is?


The physical needs of the Persecuted are a necessary part of V.O.M.'s work.


The "hope" keeps them going!

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A Series of New Prayer Bulletins - Please Pray

NEW PRAYER BULLETIN: VIETNAM FAMILY PERSECUTED	February 12, 2014
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. ...     NEW PRAYER BULLETIN: MALAYSIA CHURCH ATTACKED February 26, 2014 A church in Penang was attacked on Jan. 26, when two men on a motorcycle threw Molotov cocktails at the building. Thankfully, the building was not seriously damaged. The attack came less than 24 hours after five separate churches found banners hung on their property with the phrase, "Allah is great, Jesus is the son of Allah" -- a slogan that is extremely offensive to Muslims. It appears the banners were put up by a group wishing to increase tensions between Christians and Muslims. ...   NEW PRAYER BULLETIN: VILLAGE ATTACK IN NIGERIA March 05, 2014 Members of the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram attacked the Christian village of Izghe, in Borno state, on Feb. 15, killing 106 residents. They also looted businesses and stole residents' vehicles. Nearly 100 members of Boko Haram, which seeks to eradicate Christianity from Nigeria and establish Sharia law, entered Izghe on trucks and motorcycles, witness Ali Ndume reported to the BBC. They shot and hacked to death male residents who had gathered in the town square. ...     NEW PRAYER BULLETIN: KAZAKHSTAN PASTOR UPDATE March 12, 2014 Bakhytzhan Kashkumbaev, the retired pastor of Grace Church in Atsana, Kazakhstan, was released on Feb. 17 after spending nine months in jail awaiting trial on a charge of "intentionally inflicting serious harm to health." He was convicted of the charge and received a four-year suspended sentence after the family of a church member accused him of putting drugs in the Communion drink. ...   NEW PRAYER BULLETIN: INDIA HOUSE CHURCH March 19, 2014 On Jan. 24, Hindu radicals attacked a group of house-church believers at a one-day prayer meeting in Karnataka. The leader of the house church, Pastor Anand, has ministered in the area for more than three years, and the house church is attended by about 10 families. At about 4 p.m., six hours after the prayer meeting began, Hindu radicals arrived at the house church and interrupted the meeting by shouting at the believers. ...

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Nigeria: "Muslim herdsmen" murder four Christians, including two small children

... from Jihad Watch and Morning Star News

Gotta watch out for those "herdsmen." "Two Small Children Among Four Christians Slain in Plateau State, Nigeria; 'Muslim Herdsmen' Likely Killers," from Morning Star News, November 15:

JOS, NIGERIA – Gunmen who killed four family members in their home in Plateau state this month, including 2-year-old and 4-year-old boys, were likely Muslim herdsmen, church leaders said.

In Rantis village, 70 kilometers (43 miles) south of Jos, the suspected ethnic Fulani Muslims launched a guerilla attack on a home at about 7 p.m. on Nov. 4 (not the wee hours of Nov. 5 as Nigerian newspapers reported), pastors said. Killed were Joel Pam, 50; his wife, Jemimah Pam, 40; and two of their children, 2-year-old Jephtah and 4-year-old Joseph, said the Rev. Dacholom Datiri of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN).

"These attacks are on the increase as they are being carried out against our church members almost on a daily basis, and the security personnel seem helpless in checking them," Datiri told Morning Star News.

The victims belonged to Datiri's church. The couple's two surviving children, 10-year-old Susannah and 15-year-old Alfa, were wounded in the attack. Both of them are receiving treatment at Jos University Teaching Hospital, he said.

Capt. Salisu Mustapha of the Nigerian Army, and a spokesman for the Special Task Force created to help prevent such attacks, confirmed the raid.

"Yes, we received a distress call from that community and we sent out security personnel there to contain the situation," Mustapha said.

The assault on Rantis village took place after a similar attack occurred in Gyel village, near Jos, on Nov. 2, when Muslim Fulani gunmen carried out a night-long attack on Christians, though no lives were lost, sources said.

Davou Pam, pastor of the local COCIN congregation in the area, told Morning Star News that the assailants were Muslim Fulani herdsmen.

"They [Christian villagers] sent distress calls to me that night pleading that we inform security agencies about their plight," said Pastor Pam of the COCIN congregation in Gura Dabwam, two kilometers from Gyel. "We thank God that some vigilantes were able to rush there to assist the members of the community, and so no life was lost in the attack."

Christians believe Islamic extremist groups have increasingly incited Fulani Muslims to attack them in Plateau state as well as in Kaduna, Bauchi, Nasarawa and Benue states. They fear that Fulani herdsmen, with backing from Islamic extremist groups, want to take over the predominantly Christian areas in order to acquire land for grazing, stockpile arms and expand Islamic territory....

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Syria: The New Road to Damascus

- article from VOM newsletter ...

From Infidels to Bible People

The war in Syria is one of the greatest crises seen in the Middle East in the last 20 years. It has claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people, both Muslim and Christian. More than 2 million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries. In the midst of this crisis, our persecuted family is boldly reaching out. And the reactions of Muslims have been astonishing.

“When you hear about one Muslim coming to Christ, it’s a great thing, and everybody rejoices,” said a VOM Syrian contact. “Today in Syria I’m not talking about one person. We’re talking about hundreds and even thousands of Muslims coming to know Christ.”

Teams of believers are working in the refugee camps, providing Christ’s love while sharing material aid, such as medical supplies and Bibles, as well as spiritual aid. Christians, widely considered “infidels” in Syria, are now often and affectionately referred to as “the Bible People.”

“This war is like a knife in the heart of the church. No human can stand that suffering. But there is God’s presence. I can see Christ in the midst of darkness.”

Please pray for Christians who face not only the horrific effects of war but also continued persecution. Please also pray for those who are bravely using this opportunity to advance the kingdom.

“God is doing miracles inside the country,” a Christian worker told VOM. “But even if he allows us to die, it will be an honor for us to die for his name, to glorify his name.”

The opportunities for ministry in Syria today exceed what we thought possible. Working with the Syrian church and local workers, VOM continues to distribute material aid, Bibles and Christian literature, and support for pastors and the evangelistic teams. VOM will continually seek ways to increase our efforts.

During this time of crisis and opportunity, VOM

invites you to make a special contribution to support this ministry in Syria.

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The Slaughter of Christians in Nigeria - Victoria: IDOP 2013



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