VOMRadio

Ruslan Chaldanbayev worked as a youth pastor for 10 years in Central Asia, seeing many young people leave Islam to follow Christ. Today he helps lead a youth movement called 2CA; their goal is to see 2% of Central Asian youth become followers of Jesus Christ. He and his wife both have amazing testimonies of coming to faith in Christ as young adults, which you will hear as Ruslan shares his upbringing in a broken home where drugs were rampant and Islam was followed. Ruslan was educated in a madrassa (Islamic school) and started to learn Arabic. But even with his growing Islamic knowledge he had many unanswered questions. His brother dealt with drug addiction, and through rehab, Ruslan's brother heard the gospel message and committed his life to the Lord. Ruslan's mother began taking him and his brother to church. Ruslan heard about Jesus on Sundays, but was still going to the mosque each Friday, where he was trained by imams in Islam. You'll hear about the moment Ruslan cried out, "Who created me? Please show me yourself," and how the spoken Word of God brought him to repentance and saving faith in Christ. But serving Christ hasn't been easy; Ruslan and his family have experienced Christian persecution from government officials and angry Muslims; they've even been harmed by "friends" who turned out to be spies against their work. Listen for the story of a KGB raid on a pastor training seminar, and how God allowed Ruslan to share the gospel even in that stressful situation. Ruslan says that today in Central Asia, only 0.01% of the people are Biblical disciples; pray the Lord would bless Ruslan's ministry so that more young adults in the region come to know Jesus. Learn how you can pray specifically for Ruslan and his family, and for Christians in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, China, and Iran, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.

Last week, Brother Manish ended by sharing the repeated beatings he endured in prison for his faith. This week, hear how Manish's experience in prison shifted after he was asked to speak to the other prisoners about a "religious festival" coming up, Good Friday. After praying for opportunities to share God's Word in prison, Manish was allowed by the jailer to share, from his heart, the story of the gospel on Good Friday. The jailer even gave him extra time to speak! The next day, Brother Manish was summoned to the jailer's office. He expected another beating, the "price" for preaching the gospel the day before. Instead of a beating, God opened a door for amazing ministry! God revealed to Manish specific problems the jailer and his family were facing, including his son's long-term illness. Manish asked if he could pray for these specific needs, and the jailer was shocked, asking, "How did you know?" "The Lord Jesus is the living God," Brother Manish said. Manish asked the jailer to bring his son for prayer. The jailer and his son knelt down before Manish, and he prayed. In faith, he told the jailer and his son that God would heal him in seven days. The Lord worked a miracle in the jailer and his son's life, and Manish not only received better treatment but was able to minister and share the gospel anywhere in the five wards of the prison. He now knew why the Lord had brought him to the jail. Listen as Manish shares his ongoing court case and the story of the day he was released from prison after spending 99 days in jail—with a personal escort from the chief jailer. Please pray for Brother Manish, his wife, and family as he continues to recover from the injuries he endured, and for his family to continue to be bold and trust the Lord. November 1 is an important time for you and your church to pray for persecuted Christians: International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians. Download VOM's free IDOP Digital Resource Kit and make sure your church will join this global prayer movement on behalf of persecuted Christians. Also sign up to receive prayer requests by email weekly at www.ICommitToPray.com.

In early 2024, police arrested Brother Manish, a pastor in India, ahead of a planned evangelistic outreach in his village. Manish was not afraid of being thrown in jail. He trusted the Lord and believed God brought him to the prison for a purpose. Manish was accused of "forcing" people to leave their family religion and become Christians, violating the state's anti-conversion laws. He told officials he wasn't forcing anyone to convert; he was simply sharing the transforming message of the gospel. People were freely choosing to leave their old ways and experiencing new life. You'll hear how Manish's family was held at the police station, forcing him to turn himself in. His father encouraged Manish to be bold as a follower of Christ, and his son hugged him in the police station and encouraged him: "Father, we have to do God's work." In jail, Manish was continually pressured not to share the gospel and to renounce his faith in Christ. He was hung upside down and beaten by the police officers, an attempt to break his spirit and his faith. Yet he remained faithful to Christ. "Lord, You are bringing me to this jail," Manish prayed, "so here also I will preach the gospel and bring people to Christ." Pray for Brother Manish and his family and for other persecuted brothers and sisters in India. Join us next week to hear how God opened an amazing door of ministry for Manish inside the prison—with permission from the same warden who ordered his beatings! November 1 is an important time for you and your church to pray for persecuted Christians: International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians. Download VOM's free IDOP Digital Resource Kit and make sure your church will join this global prayer movement on behalf of persecuted Christians. To receive specific prayer requests by email each week, sign up at www.iCommitToPray.com.

Ali Sassi, from Tunisia, is a former Muslim now walking with Jesus. Ali had been taught, as a Muslim, that the Bible we have today has been changed and corrupted. When a Christian friend challenged him to demonstrate when and how the Bible had been changed, Ali accepted the challenge. He figured he'd read the Bible for an evening and easily identify how the book had been changed. Instead, he spent two years reading and studying. At the end of that time, he was convinced that the Bible had NOT been changed, and that Jesus IS the Son of God. "What touched my heart and won me back to Jesus was that my heart was to find the mistakes, but God was working in my heart," Ali says. When Ali became a Christian, his first reaction was to tell his family about his new faith. But his decision to follow Christ was costly as his own family turned against him. Today, Ali works with Crescent Project to help train Christians to reach out boldly to Muslims—the same way a Christian reached out to him. His story will inspire you to pray for and reach out to share Jesus's love with those around you. Learn more about the church in Tunisia and how you can pray for persecuted Christians there. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, China, and Iran, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.

Persecuted Christians have physical needs, like food, shelter, and medicine. They also have mental, emotional, and spiritual needs. Listen this week as Shawn Wright, President of International Christian Concern, and Nick Baker, ICC's Director of Impact, join VOM Radio to share about ICC's ministry and how they are recognizing and responding to the needs—visible and invisible—of persecuted Christians. You'll hear about helping persecuted Christians holistically, and a new effort by ICC to protect young Christian girls from forced marriage and forced conversion. Shawn and Nick share how the Lord called them to persecuted church ministry, what they did before serving in their current roles, and how they think about the risks of meeting with our brothers and sisters in restricted nations and hostile areas. They will both share a story that grabbed their hearts when they first started working with persecuted Christians, and how they see the Lord working even in the midst of persecution. They'll also give practical ways you can pray for our persecuted Christian brothers and sisters, and for the ministry of ICC. One important time to pray for persecuted Christians is the International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians, coming up on November 1. Download VOM's free IDOP Digital Resource Kit and make sure your church will join this global prayer movement on behalf of persecuted Christians.

Ken Katayama, Global President and CEO of Crossover Global, didn't come to faith in Christ until he was 15 years old. Two years later, he was invited to a missions conference and heard for the first time that there are people who have never heard the gospel. Ken felt very clearly God's call to missions—to go to those unreached peoples. He started as an intern at Crossover Global. Today, he leads the organization. Listen as Ken shares about Crossover's ministry and about his heart to see churches planted and provide access to the Bible in these unreached people groups—churches that uniquely fit the cultures and places where they are planted. Ken also explains the need for biblical sending churches. He'll talk about qualities he sees among missionaries who are successful over the long haul in planting gospel seeds among these unreached groups. Learn the names of unreached people groups and how you can pray specifically for them by visiting www.noaccess.info. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, China, and Iran, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.

For our Turkish brothers and sisters, church is not just a weekly service. It's a family where they come together, united in Christ, deepening relationships and encouraging each other. The church is also the training ground where new believers are discipled and equipped to live faithfully for Christ — even under Christian persecution. Pastor Ramazan Arkan, leader of the Association of Protestant Churches in Turkey and pastor of Antalya Evangelical Churches, is back with us this week to share how mentorships develop into family relationships in the church. He'll describe differences between following Christ in Türkiye rather than other Middle Eastern countries. Christian workers like Joy Subasiguller and Jerry Mattix have been forced to leave the country, and some of Pastor Ramazan's friends have been martyred for their bold faith in Christ. (The martyrs' widows, Semse Aydin and Susanne Geske, shared their stories on VOM Radio.) Ramazan will share his own story of an assassination attempt against him and how he continues to face fear amid pressure and persecution, yet he reminds listeners that overcoming fear is part of our journey walking by faith. "I get scared sometimes, but this is the faith," Pastor Ramazan says, "despite fear, doubt, and hesitation, you just walk by faith. But that doesn't mean you don't get scared or worried." Today, there are more than 200 churches in Türkiye. More than 50 have joined the Association of Protestant Churches in Turkey to work and encourage together, including raising their voices to represent the Body of Christ in Türkiye. "Pray that God gives us more boldness, protection, and opportunity to share the gospel with people who've never heard it before," Arkan says. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, China, and Iran, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.

Most Turks believe being Turkish and being Muslim are inseparably intertwined. Pastor Ramazan Arkan was an adult before he ever met a Turkish Christian. Then he became friends with a coworker who had left Islam to follow Jesus. That friendship started Ramazan on a journey that eventually led to the cross of Christ.  Pastor Ramazan is now leading the Association of Protestant Churches in Turkey, and he is the pastor of Antalya Evangelical Churches in Antalya, Türkiye. Listen as he shares how he came to Christ, first asking questions about Islam and the Quran and then irresistibly drawn by the loving relationships he saw when he was invited to a local church. "The most effective way to share the gospel message is through relationship," Pastor Ramazan says. You'll hear how his name, Ramazan (Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting) is both a blessing and a curse. He'll also describe the Christian persecution when he left Islam for Christianity, and more about what our persecuted brothers and sisters in Türkiye face for their faith in Jesus. Pastor Ramazan will tell the story of the night he became a Christian and felt God's presence and Word come alive to him. He'll also explain why it's important to reveal the cost of following Christ to new Muslim background believers early on, why his church doesn't baptize new believers immediately, and the sad story of one new Christian who went back to Islam after seeing the high cost of following Christ. To learn more ways you can pray for persecuted Christians in Türkiye, Central Asia and around the world, sign up to receive weekly prayer emails at iCommitToPray.com. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, China, and Iran, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of Finland found Päivi Räsänen guilty under a legal statute concerning "War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity." Räsänen has been a member of Finland's parliament since 1995 and is a former Minister of the Interior for the nation. Her "crime" was writing lessons for her church clearly communicating what the Bible says about human sexuality. The criminal case against Räsänen—a medical doctor, wife and grandmother—began in 2019 when she posted a picture to social media showing her Bible open to Romans 1:24-27, with a caption asking why her church's leaders had signed on to co-sponsor a "Pride" event. A police investigation recommended no charges be brought; the prosecutor brought charges anyway and then appealed not one but two lower-court findings of innocence. Listen as Räsänen shares her incredible story of Christian persecution in a Western democracy that claims to protect religious freedom and where a majority of the people identify as Christians. She will also share how God has encouraged her through the Scriptures and through fellowship with other members of the Body of Christ. She'll give an update on her legal case, which she has now appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, China, and Iran, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.

War persists in Iran and Christian persecution is ramping up against believers who face interrogation, beatings and imprisonment. Joe and Dawn, front-line workers in the Middle East, are helping deliver God's Word into the Islamic Republic of Iran. When one of their Iranian coworkers disappeared, they began to mobilize prayer from believers around the world. They were at a church when the brother called after 58 days with no contact. His first words were joyful: "I didn't deny Christ!" Barely recognizable after so much mistreatment, he found joy standing firm for Christ. Joe and Dawn will share more stories of believers who have been persecuted in the midst of the Iran war, the state of Bible smuggling into Iran, and how they process putting others at risk to continue providing God's Word to Christians in Iran. Yet the work continues, and Joe and Dawn will share what the Lord has been teaching them in this season. Pray for our brothers and sisters in Iran who are imprisoned and beaten for their faith, and for the encouragement of the church there in the middle of upheaval and great economic challenges. Joe shared his testimony of coming to Christ in an American prison during his first visit with VOM Radio. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, China, and Iran, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.