Be a blessing to your persecuted family in Iraq this Christmas

From the Tower of Babel, to the Jewish captivity, to modern-day wars with neighbouring countries, Iraq has experienced a turbulent history riddled with conflict.

The church in Iraq has not been spared from turmoil. Just this year, three churches were bombed (for more, click here), a Christian man was tortured and killed by militants (click here for more), and an elderly believer was stabbed to death (for details, click here).

Estimates claim that only half of Iraq's pre-2003 Christian community remains in the country. However, despite the risks, many have chosen to stay and witness.

This year, you can be a blessing to Christians in Iraq through our annual Christmas Blessing project. For $50, you can provide a Christmas Blessing package to a believer. Each package contains a Bible, a blanket, sugar, rice, tomato paste, powdered milk, and cooking oil. These items will help meet believers' materials and spiritual needs.

To be a blessing to Christians in Iraq this Christmas, please phone our office or donate securely online.

To learn more about the difficult reality for Iraqi Christians, click here.

In mailboxes this week!

The November issue of The Voice of the Martyrs newsletter is hitting mailboxes this week and next.

Inside this issue:

• Songs in the night: Read the stories of five women who are actively witnessing for Christ in one of the most hostile nations in the world today.
• Christmas Blessing Iraq: This year you can sponsor a package containing a Bible and daily necessities to Christians in Iraq to let them know that they are not forgotten.
• Bookstore: Consider giving VOM books and DVDs to friends and family this Christmas. Don’t miss out on the specially priced packages.
• Christian Martyrs: Read how God’s grace sustained one man who endured much persecution, in order to lead an Armenian king to Christ.
• Kazakhstan Special report: VOM’s Greg Musselman recently had the opportunity to sit down with a couple ministering in Kazakhstan. Learn about the challenges the church is facing in the Central Asian country.

The Voice of the Martyrs newsletter is the flagship publication of The Voice of the Martyrs Canada. Published monthly, it is available free of charge to anyone in Canada who requests it.

You can subscribe online here.

Christmas Blessing 2010 continues to bless North Koreans

VOM's Christmas Blessing packages
provide NK believers with
daily necessities they may not
get elsewhere.

With the donations to VOM's 2010 Christmas Blessing project, packages that contain food, toiletries and other necessities continue to be delivered in 2011 to North Koreans in need.

A recent update from the field reported that the recipients of these necessities were happy to receive the packages. The project continues to be a powerful way to demonstrate Christ's love and care for God's people in North Korea, a country that has consistently topped the world's human rights watch lists as being the most repressive and closed nation on earth.

Horrifying reports of inhumane actions in the country, particularly towards Christians, highlight the continued need to uphold the North Korean Church in prayer. Even the North Korean citizens who manage to escape face extreme danger and risk. Many are frequently forced to return to face interrogation, torture and imprisonment.

What You Can Do

• Pray!
• Thank the Lord for the faithful witness of His followers in North Korea. Pray for wisdom and guidance for those involved in undertaking this special project, protecting both those giving and receiving the packages. Pray North Koreans will look to the Father for everlasting hope in times of trial. Pray God will reveal Himself to Kim Jong Il and graciously transform his heart and the hearts of his subordinates so that they will embrace Christ.
• Prayerfully consider giving to VOM’s Christmas Blessing Fund. Call our office (1-888-298-6423) for more information.

Reach out to North Korean believers this Christmas

Our North Korean brothers and sisters are blessed with
daily essentials through the Christmas Blessing Fund.

Our brothers and sisters in North Korea continue to covet our prayers. Under the rule of Kim Jong Il, the needs of North Koreans are sacrificed in order to bolster the power and control of his regime. North Koreans are currently suffering severely because of skyrocketing inflation and the shortage of daily necessities. Many are starving to death.

Among the hardest hit are followers of Christ, who are treated with particular cruelty for refusing to renounce Christ—an action that recognizes an authority greater than the "Dear Leader."

For a second year, VOM's Christmas Blessing Fund is supplying believers in North Korea with gift packages that contain food, toiletries, medication, clothing and Christian literature. This ongoing project, with distributions made throughout the year, helps to fulfill persecuted believers' basic needs.

You can get involved in this exciting project today as we grasp the hands of our brothers and sisters in North Korea and share the blessing of Christmas with them!

To make a donation, visit us online at http://www.persecution.net/donation.htm. You can also send financial gifts by mail or call us at 1-905-670-9721.

The Voice of the Martyrs
P.O. Box 608
Streetsville, ON  L5M 2C1
Canada

Continue to pray for boldness and strength for Christians living in North Korea. Pray for God's provision for those suffering in prison camps and living in deplorable conditions. Pray that North Korean Christians will have opportunities to share the love of Christ, even with those who oppress them. Pray that God's unrestrained mercy will spill over North Korea, frustrating the wicked (Psalm 146:9b) and delivering the oppressed (Psalm 40:11-13).