Monthly archive for October 2023

Khamphone was a respected fortune-teller who often helped villagers, including village elders and police officers, by consulting the spirits.

For this, he was rewarded with a piece of land to farm. He hired 20 workers to help him prepare the land for rice season.

When Khamphone became a Christian in December 2022, the village leader told him he must recant his Christian faith or else he will lose his land.

Khamphone invested a great deal of money and effort into this land and he does not want to lose it. He also does not want to renounce Christ. He said he has “put this burden in God’s hands”.

Pray that God will make a way for Khamphone to keep the land without having to renounce his faith. Pray that as he continues to trust in the Lord and seek to do His will, God will guide him and make straight his paths (Prov 3:1-5).

 

(Source & Photo: VOM)

#Persecuted Church

Street evangelist, Chen Wensheng, also known as the “Gospel Warrior”, had been arrested multiple times for his evangelist work.

When Chen was arrested in April 2022, he saw his time in custody as an opportunity to share the Gospel with those at the detention centre. In a social media post published on WeChat, Chen wrote that he was thankful to the Lord for the privilege of having led 2,067 people to pray to Christ during the past year.

On 29th August 2023, Chen was intercepted by authorities while he was about to board a flight from Shanghai to South Korea. He was flown back to his hometown in Hengyang where he was held for 15 days of administrative detention. Then on 18th September 2023, he was placed under criminal detention on suspicion of “organizing and financing illegal gatherings”.

We thank God for this courageous brother and his faithful witness for Christ.

Pray that God will strengthen Chen during his time in detention. Pray that whenever he shares the Gospel, many people will respond in repentance and come to faith in Christ. Pray that the Lord will watch over Chen’s wife and family during this time of separation. Pray that God will raise up others to continue Chen’s ministry to bring the Gospel message to many areas throughout China.

 

(Source & Photo: VOMC)

#Persecuted Church

In the early morning of 16th September, a mob of about 50 people gathered at the front gate of the Maranatha Chapel in Depok City, banging on the gate, shouting and causing a disturbance before eventually dispersing.

Church members were unsettled by this incident and expressed concerns about holding future worship services in the building. The church rented the facility recently and held their first worship service at the premises the previous Sunday.

Even though the church building fulfilled all the requirements for a permit, some local community members were opposed to the opening of this new place of worship.

To ease tensions and after discussing matters with the authorities, the church agreed to host its worship services online for two weeks while all the permit processes were being completed and verified even though such permits were usually not required for rental of commercial buildings that the church is using.

Pray that church will be able to come to an agreement with the leaders of this neighbourhood, allowing them to peacefully continue to meet together for worship in their rented facility. Pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to move mightily in the hearts of believers even during the online services.

 

(Source & Photo: VOMC)

#Persecuted Church

Christians in Israel (including the West Bank and Gaza) have requested for prayer amidst the ongoing conflict that began on 7th October 2023 when Hamas fighters launched attacks along the Israeli-Gaza border.

A church in one of the communities that Hamas infiltrated into during the initial coordinated attack, is asking for prayer as they seek to share the love of Christ and try to meet the needs of their community.

Another church located in a major city is struggling to meet the needs of their community as an unofficial blockade has restricted the influx of daily goods such as food and fuel.

Many front-line workers are also requesting prayer for family members who are directly involved in the armed forces. One front-line worker’s parents’ home was bombed.

“As we live in a land where hatred and extremism continue to dominate, we realise that there is spiritual warfare involved,” a front-line worker said.

Pray that God will use these churches as active witnesses for Christ during this challenging time. Pray for divine provisions for those who are affected by the conflict situation and for front-line workers. Pray that many will respond to the gospel message and come to faith in Christ.

 

(Source & Photo : VOM)

#Persecuted Church

On 7th September 2023, a young Christian boy from the city of Khanewal, Pakistan, was sitting in class with a workbook in front of him. As he was unable to properly read it, he fiddled with the book and ended up making some rips and tears of its pages.

When the teacher saw what he had done, the teacher beat up the boy severely because the workbook had some religious verses on it. The boy was so badly injured during the beating that he ended up in hospital fighting for his life.

At the time of this report, the boy was recuperating at home with his family. However, there is no news about his present condition or the safety of this Christian family. And there has been no reports of any police action being taken against the abusive teacher.

Pray for complete physical and emotional healing for this young boy. Pray that the Lord will extend His compassionate love, comfort and peace to this family. Pray that they will be protected from any physical dangers from any potential mob violence.

Pray that the Lord will touch the hearts and minds of the people of this nation so that there will be greater religious tolerance and freedom.

 

(Source & Photo: VOMC)

#Persecuted Church