He’s coming for me

The director of VOM’s youth ministry, Thirteen Three, recently posted the following music video on the Thirteen Three Facebook page. The music video, entitled “Coming for me,” includes video footage from Release International, VOM’s sister mission in the UK, and Open Doors.

Watch and share this music video about our persecuted brothers and sisters!



Thirteen Three is the youth and young adult initiative of The Voice of the Martyrs. To learn more about Thirteen Three and how you can get involved, visit our website or “like” us on Facebook. If you live in the Calgary area, come to the Thirteen Three launch event this April! For details, click here.

UK Christians raise voice for North Korean believers

Supporters, with faces painted with running tears,
raised a voice at the North Korean Embassy in London.
Photo: Release International / Crossfire

A funeral procession for freedom was staged by VOM's sister mission in the UK, Release International, on January 20 outside the North Korean Embassy in London. Release International called on North Korea's new leader, Kim Jong-Un, to reverse the nation's reputation as one of the worst persecutors of Christians.

To the beat of a drum, Release International's supporters accompanied a coffin to the Embassy. Dressed for mourning, their faces painted with running tears, they staged a prayer vigil. A 52,000-signature petition was also presented to the Embassy, calling for religious freedom.

The coffin signified the death of freedom in North Korea under the previous leadership. After the petition was handed in, the coffin lid was opened and white balloons released – a sign of hope for a new beginning.

"With the country's new young leader, now is the time for change," said Release International's CEO, Andy Dipper. "Christians are treated as political prisoners and held in prison camps, which have been likened to concentration camps.... Because of their faith they are detained, brutally tortured and removed from society. Many are forced to flee the country they love to avoid terrible persecution and oppression. Given a chance to practice their faith freely, North Korean Christians would work to support North Korean society and unity."

Please pray for North Korea!

• Pray that North Korean Christians will remain steadfast to God in every circumstance they face. 
• Pray that religious freedom will soon be respected. 
• Ask God to work powerfully in the life of Kim Jong-Un. 
• Pray that Christians around the world will be dedicated to pray for believers in North Korea.

For more information on our brothers and sisters in North Korea, visit the North Korea Country Report. To post a prayer of love and encouragement for North Korean believers, visit our Persecuted Church Prayer Wall. 

Hardliners make new push for anti-conversion laws in Sri Lanka

Buddhist nationalists in Sri Lanka have caused concern among Protestant Christians by renewing their calls for anti-conversion laws, reports our sister mission in the UK, Release International.

The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) party, which has been pushing for legislation banning "forced conversion" since 2004, renewed its campaign in a press statement this month. It called on the government to re-introduce to Parliament the JHU'S Prohibition of Religious Conversions Bill.

Sources inside Sri Lanka say Christians are also concerned about a loosely worded circular from the Ministry of Religious Affairs issued in September which stipulates that building or maintaining places of worship must be sanctioned by prior approval of the Ministry.

According to sources, evangelical churches in particular are facing increased pressure from the state, with "indiscriminate closure and threats." Their applications to register formally are routinely rejected, and there is evidence that planning permission is even being denied for non-church buildings if the applicant is a Christian individual or organization.

Please pray.

• Pray that the JHU's bid to introduce anti-conversion laws in Sri Lanka will fail. 
• Pray that officials will end discriminatory policies which limit the activities of some Christians. 
• Ask God to bless and protect evangelical Christians and pray for all those working for religious freedom in Sri Lanka.

For more information on persecution in Sri Lanka, go to the Sri Lanka Country Report. 

Mass arrests of Christians continue in Eritrea

The Eritrean government bans all
Christian groups that do not belong to a
state-approved church.

Eritrean officials have arrested at least 90 Christians in recent months, including many college students, reports Release Eritrea and our sister missions, VOM USA and Release International.

In May, authorities detained 64 believers in Adi Abeyto, a village near the capital, Asmara. Only six of the 90 arrested have been released. The others are thought to be held at a police station or in the notorious Mitire military prison.

It is not clear why the Christians were detained, but college students have reportedly been arrested in recent weeks for refusing to take part in celebrations for the country's Independence Day (May 24). For example, 26 students from the Mai-Mefhi College of Technology were arrested in June and detained at an unknown location.

In 2002, the Eritrean government banned all Christian groups that do not belong to a state-approved church. Since then, thousands of Christians have been imprisoned. Sixteen are known to have died in custody.

You can help by praying!

• Pray Eritreans imprisoned for Christ will be released.
• Pray Eritrean Christians will remain steadfast in faith, lovingly proclaiming Christ both inside and outside of prison walls.
• Pray those who persecute Christians in Eritrea will repent of their ways and come to faith in Christ.

Arrests continue in Eritrea

Our sister mission VOM USA posted a story about arrests continuing in Eritrea (sourcing Release International, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Release Eritrea and VOM sources).

Read it here:

Eritrea: Arrests Continue

Ninety Christians have been arrested in Eritrea in the last two months, as authorities continue a campaign against Christians that began in December. Six of the 90 arrested have been released, but the location of the other 84 is unknown.

On June 2, 2011, police arrested 26 college students from Mai-Mefhi College of Technology. Students were not given a reason for their arrest, but Release Eritrea reports that the students may have been arrested because they did not participate in Independence Day Celebrations. In May, 64 Christians in a village near the Eritrean capital of Asmara were arrested and detained at Asmara’s 6th Police Station.

Sources believe the arrested Christians either remain at the police station or have been moved to Mitire Prison in northeastern Eritrea. Mitire is a remote military prison that is notorious for torture and its harsh living and working conditions. Former Mitire prisoners told Christian Solidarity Worldwide that Mitire is an open-air facility in the desert, where prisoners are terrified by poisonous snakes. Prisoners receive very little food and are forced to work constructing buildings for officers. Because there are no medical facilities, most prisoners leave Mitire after they become too sick to work.

In May 2002, the government of Eritrea banned all Christian groups that do not belong to officially recognized churches. As a result, the Eritrean government has imprisoned several thousand Christians, making the country one of the harshest persecutors of Christians in the world. Many Christians imprisoned in 2002 remain in detention and have never gone before a court. At least 16 Eritrean Christians have died in custody since May 2002, mostly due to torture, treatable illnesses and malnutrition.

Please continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Eritrea!

Chinese pastor detained

Pastor Shi Enhao has not been
heard from since his arrest in June.
(Photo: China Aid)

Pastor Shi Enhao, vice-president of the Chinese House Church Alliance, was arrested on June 12 and hasn’t been heard from since, reports Release International, VOM’s sister mission in the UK.

Pastor Shi was first arrested on March 4 while he was preaching in Nanyang city. He was taken to Suqian city detention centre where he was reportedly beaten. He was released two days later.

Three days before Pastor Shi’s arrest, another Christian man and two Christian women were taken away from their church meeting in Hanzhen town by agents from the Domestic Security Protection Squad of Xiayi County. Along with Bibles and cash, the agents seized copies of a book entitled A Stormy Life by Pastor ”Bike” Zhang Mingxuan, president of the Chinese House Church Alliance. The Christians were interrogated for three hours, released, and warned not to associate with Pastor Bike.

VOM partner China Aid reports Pastor Shi was again detained on May 31. His house was raided the next day and police took various books and papers. A number of other church leaders were detained along with Pastor Shi, but most were released within 24 hours. Only Pastor Shi and a female leader, Chang Meiling, were given 12-day administrative-detention sentences.

The Sunday following the 12-day detention, Pastor Shi was released from custody but never made it home. Sources report he was immediately rearrested and taken to an unknown location. No word of him has been heard since.

Additional details regarding Pastor Shi’s sentence are available in China Aid’s full report here.

You can help by praying!

• Pray Pastor Shi would, as the apostles, rejoice that he was counted worthy to suffer dishonor for His name (Acts 5:41).
• Pray that those he was preaching to at the time of his initial arrest would be drawn closer to God.
• Pray for Pastor Shi’s safety and release.

Iranian Christian held in solitary confinement

Farshid Fathi

Friends and family of a detained Iranian Christian are calling for clarification of his case more than five months after he was sent to Tehran's notoriously brutal Evin prison, reports Release International and Mohabat News.

Farshid Fathi, 32, was one of several believers detained by government security officials in December 2010 during a series of raids on Christians' homes in Tehran. He has endured months of solitary confinement even though no court orders or instructions have been issued in his case. Interrogators have reportedly used psychological torture in attempts to force Farshid to reveal details of Christian contacts.

Farshid's wife and two young children have been allowed to speak to him only once a week. Farshid's family was forced to sell his father-in-law's home in order to survive financially and have not been able to pay the bail to secure his release.

You can help Farshid Fathi by praying!

• Pray God will strengthen and console Farshid as he suffers for his faith.
• Pray his family will trust in the Lord for provision and comfort.
• Pray the steadfast faith of Iranian believers will encourage other Christians in the country who are suffering persecution.
• Pray the Word of the Lord will continue to go forth in Iran and that many will come to embrace Him as Lord.

Standing up for Jesus in Laos

Khamxay is a former animist who became a Christian and then later a pastor in Laos. His faith in Jesus landed him in jail, and beatings by the guards almost resulted in his death. Yet, Khamxay continues to tell others in his nation about the God of the Bible!

Take a few moments to watch this video by our sister-mission Release International and be encouraged by Khamxay’s faith (Length 5:00).



You can view more videos like this one at Persecution.TV.

Egyptian Copts ‘terrorized’ by gang

Pray for Christians in Egypt!

Since late January, Copts in Minya province, Egypt, have suffered repeated attacks from a large gang of thugs who target Christians, reported Release International.

The first attack on a Coptic family occurred on January 28. The family reported the assault to police but withdrew their allegations after receiving death threats from the gang.

On January 29, the gang leader raped two Coptic women, threatening to kill their children if they took the matter to police. In another assault, gang members kidnapped a 30-year-old man and a 12-year-old boy; their families were forced to pay ransoms to secure their release.

The gang has also reportedly imposed a night-time curfew on Copts. Copts in Minya are dismayed that the police and army have not taken more decisive steps to detain gang members and their leader.

Pray that authorities will take action to apprehend the gang members in Minya province.

Iraqi Christians fear Christmas attacks

Iraqi Christians are scaling back
Christmas celebrations, fearful
of attacks.

VOM’s partner-mission Release International is reporting today that many churches in Iraq's major cities have been forced to cancel their Christmas services after extremist websites threatened further attacks.

Religious rights group Middle East Concern reports that many services in Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk have been called off after threats of violence were posted online on Tuesday for the second time.

Kirkuk's Archbishop Louis Sarko told Agence France-Presse news agency that he and 10 other Christians had received threats from a group calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq. This group, which has links with al-Qaida, has claimed responsibility for the attack on October 31 on Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad in which 53 Christians were killed.

A number of churches have decided not to put up Christmas decorations either. Instead, tall concrete barriers flank many with entrances guarded by security.

The UN estimates that 1,000 Christian families have fled from Baghdad and Mosul to the Kurdish region of northern Iraq since October 31 (read more here).

Some of the extremist threats online repeated calls for the release of two women in Egypt whom militants insist are being held against their will by Coptic church leaders. Extremists claim the women have converted to Islam. Egyptian church leaders and government officials have repeatedly denied these claims.

Iraq is one of the nations in which VOM takes to the airwaves to share the gospel and encourage believers. In June, VOM partnered with High Adventure Bible Voice to distribute 1,000 radios preset to a program called “The Voice of the Lord” to people in Kirkuk. The program reaches more than 700,000 people.

Please pray for our brothers and sisters living in Iraq this Christmas. Pray for their safety and well-being. Pray they will not be anxious, but they will know God’s peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:6-8).

Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.

Psalm 91:9-11

Afghan Christian imprisoned; send letters

Said Musa is currently
imprisoned in Kabul.

Release International is reporting that Said Musa (Sayed Mossa in some reports), an Afghan citizen and 15-year employee of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Kabul, Afghanistan, was arrested on May 31, 2010, for converting to Christianity from Islam. His trial, which was to take place on November 21, has been postponed.

Said was arrested after video footage, showing Afghan Christians being baptised and participating in prayer gatherings, was televised nationally. The broadcast triggered protests throughout the country along with calls to execute Christians. Since his arrest, Said has been illegally imprisoned, tortured, abused and threatened with death because of his Christian faith.

A father of six and an amputee with a prosthetic leg, Said wrote in a letter from Oullayat prison in Kabul that he had been beaten, forcibly deprived of sleep and sexually abused by prisoners. He added that Afghan judicial officers granted him no protection and, at times, encouraged the abuse.

Afghanistan is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 18 states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

VOM encourages you, along with Release International, to write a letter of concern to Afghan officials.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai
Email: hussain.rahimi@gmail.com

His Excellency Jawed Ludin
Ambassador of Afghanistan in Canada
Embassy of Afghanistan in Canada
240 Argyle Ave.
Ottawa, ON K2P 1B9
Phone: 613-563-4223, ext 226

Download a letter-writing guide (includes Prisoners List) here.

Please pray for Said's release. Pray that God will strengthen him and his family during this difficult time. Pray that God will touch the hearts of Afghan officials who are overseeing Said's case.