VOM Radio

Nik Ripken and his wife, Ruth, spent decades sitting down with hundreds of persecuted Christians in restricted nations and hostile areas around the world. They didn’t go to instruct these bold believers. They went to learn from them.

The lessons they learned were published in The Insanity of God, Nik’s book, and now he and Ruth have created a video series called Insanity Unleashed. In this series, they share lessons from believers in persecution to help Christians everywhere know how to live as sheep among wolves (Matthew 10:16). The lessons come from more than 650 interviews with persecuted Christians in more than 70 countries.

Listen this week to hear stories from Nik and Ruth about their travels and what they’ve learned from persecuted Christians. They’ll share how meeting believers in other countries gave them a better understanding of the Biblical truth that we are all part of one global Body of Christ. Nik and Ruth have been humbled by the fervent prayers of brothers and sisters around the world as they pray for Christians in free nations.

Nik will explain how this video series has the aim of raising up evangelists and church planters who will go to the unreached, rather than only pastors and teachers who are trained to minister to those who’ve already heard the gospel.

“[Many American seminaries and Bible colleges] train you up to be sheep among sheep,” Nik says. “We are teaching [Christians] how to be sheep among wolves.”

Ruth and Nik also share advice on succeeding in the marathon of ministry, including the importance of daily time in God’s Word and memorizing scripture—just as our persecuted family does as they prepare for persecution.

The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians throughout the year, as well as providing free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.

In April, we asked VOM Radio listeners to sponsor Bible delivery to Christians living in restricted nations and hostile areas. This week, Ty Scott, VOM’s Regional Leader for East and Southern Africa, tells us about the work and effort involved in actually placing Bibles into the hands of Christians living in cities and villages in Sudan, Tanzania, or the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Statistically, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Tanzania are majority-Christian nations. Yet each has communities where almost every person is a Muslim. How is the gospel spreading in such places? And how are new followers of Christ treated by their families and the wider Islamic community?

Ty will share about family persecution in Comoros, a country we’ve never discussed on VOM Radio, where Christians comprise only tenths of a percent of the population.

Listen as Ty and VOM Radio Host, Todd Nettleton, discuss places where ethnic identity and Islam are completely intertwined. As gospel workers share the hope of Christ in those places, they don’t ask people to leave their ethnicity but to fulfill what God would have them be.

Hear the amazing testimony of a young man who brought his father, an imam (Islamic prayer leader), to faith in Christ, and how the gospel brought many into Christ’s kingdom through his father’s witness. Ty will also share specific ways you can pray for Christians in eastern and southern Africa.

The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians throughout the year, as well as providing free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.

In a community-based culture like Afghanistan, it’s difficult to hide one’s faith. When an Afghan commits to following Christ, it’s not long until those around him or her notice a difference. This creates an opportunity for gospel witness.

Or for Christian persecution.

Author John Weaver, long-time gospel worker in Afghanistan, joins VOM Radio this week to update listeners on that nation and how Christians are faring since the Taliban retook control of the government in 2021.

John explains how a new Christian’s family and tribal background often influence what type of persecution they face, and how their persecutors may come from multiple levels: their own family members, tribal leaders and/or the Taliban government.

Despite these challenges for believers, ministry, evangelism and discipleship are still happening in Afghanistan—and among Afghans all around the world. Through careful, prayerful conversations Afghan Christians are planting gospel seeds, always aware that every person they share with could become their brother in Christ, or their persecutor. Pray Afghan Christians have wisdom and discernment about these conversations and whom they can trust to share their love for Jesus.

You can learn about John Weaver’s work in Afghanistan by reading his books, Inside Afghanistan and A Flame on the Front Line.

Listen for ways you can pray specifically for Afghan Christians and their persecutors. Hear John Weaver’s previous conversations with VOM Radio by visiting www.vomradio.net/weaver. John also wrote a book about meeting his wife in Afghanistan and their Afghan Christian wedding in Najiba: A Love Story From Afghanistan.

The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians throughout the year, as well as giving free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.

After three churches were burned and 5,000 Christian books destroyed in a nation where Christians are persecuted, the local pastor’s response was unexpected. “They burned it. That means we are going to have new pastors!” he said. “Now, will you send us more books?”

Dr. Gary Seevers, President of Global University, leads a worldwide ministry that offers training focused on evangelism, discipleship, graduate and doctoral study programs, serving more than 3,000,000 people worldwide in 140 languages. Included in those numbers are persecuted pastors and other Christians in restricted nations and hostile areas. Sometimes instruction must be kept secret in places where persecution comes from the government, radical groups or even a Christian’s own family members.

Seevers says the goal of GU is not only book knowledge, but the ability to use that knowledge in practical ministry. A vital part of the coursework involves students taking a principle from the course and applying it within their community to serve the church and spread the gospel.

Global University students and graduates have been martyred for their ministry work, standing firm in their faith in Christ despite threats and violence. Persecution has accelerated the growth of the church globally and will continue to do so, Dr. Seevers says.

Pray for the ministry of Global University to continue to train and serve pastors and Christian leaders worldwide and for Christians persecuted for their faith to be bold witnesses who reach their communities—and even their persecutors—for Jesus.

The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians throughout the year, as well as giving free access to e-books, audio books, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.