Somalia's Christians plead for prayers during Ramadan
According to The Christian Post, Somalia’s underground Christian community is requesting prayer. You can read their report below: Somalia’s underground Christian community is asking fellow believers worldwide to pray for their safety during Islam’s holy month of Ramadan. The tiny Christian population is regularly persecuted by Islamic extremists. They are requesting that fellow Christians pray

Pray for kidnapped hostages in Yemen
It can become far too easy, as time goes on, to forget the names and faces of our persecuted brothers and sisters we have prayed for in the past. This week, an update from Middle East Concern thankfully returned my attention to the kidnapped foreigners in Yemen who remain missing. In your prayers today and in the coming weeks, please do pray for the hostages who remain missing and for those who

This week in Church history: James Abbes burned in Bury, England
James Abbes stripped off his clothes and shoes. Where he was going in a few minutes, he would not need them--new and glorious garments would be his. But here on earth, some poor folk might find his old garments helpful. The crowd had come to see one of the burnings that were all too common in the sixteenth century. They would not be disappointed. And they heard words of encouragement, too. As

Indonesian Sunday School teacher passes away
The following story was released recently about the passing of Ratna Bangun, an Indonesian woman who was arrested along with two other Christians in 2005 (click here to learn more). A few days ago, Ibu Ratna Bangun died of lupus while confined at a hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia. Her husband and her two sons paid their last respects to Ibu Ratna on Wednesday in Hargeulis, her hometown. Ratna

Letter to the editor: Islam a religion of peace?
"All the religions in the world teach only two things – love and peace." Do you agree? George Vanner didn't, and so he wrote a letter to the editor of The Cambridge Times in response to an article that opened with the above claim. In his letter, George voices his disagreement and encourages the article's author to find out what is really happening to Christians and other minorities in Islamic

Iran: An addict becomes a Christian, so do others
Zara was a drug addict living half a life in a very religious city. Zara met some Christians and desperate for anything to deal with her drug problem, she asked Christ into her life. The addiction demons went. And Zara could not stop talking. First some family members came to Christ, and then friends heard about her. Now there are at least ten who have come to faith because of her salvation, and

This week in Church history: 12 Carthage Christians martyred
Vigellius Saturninus, the proconsul (Roman administrator) of North Africa in 180 A.D., spoke generously. "You can have the forgiveness of our Lord the Emperor if only you return to your senses," he said. Speratus, one of twelve Christians who faced him, replied for the rest. "We have never done evil; we have not lent ourselves to wrong; we have never spoken ill, but when ill-treated we have

Nepal: Pastor beaten by Maoists
Our friends at VOM-USA recently posted the following story about an attack on a prayer meeting in Nepal. Please remember these believers in your prayers today! On June 13, Maoist rebels in Nepal attacked Christians at an evening prayer meeting, according to VOM contacts. The rebels ordered them to stop the meeting and then assaulted the pastor and believers when they refused. Before the attack

Colombia: "Christians are dangerous!"
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, also known as the FARC guerrillas, have inflicted violence upon Colombians for the last 40 years. Guerrilla leaders are constantly recruiting children to join their Marxist movement to replace the children and young adults who are killed. Those who speak against the violence or encourage others not to join the guerrillas are targeted, especially

This week in Church history: Procopius, first of the Palestine martyrs
When the Roman Emperor Diocletian launched the last and most ruthless of the ten Roman persecutions against Christians, his first victim in Palestine was a young man named Procopius. Eusebius was alive at the time. The Christian author, who became bishop of Caesarea and wrote the most famous history of the early church, left an account of the martyr:  "The first of all the martyrs who appeared