Petr Jasek was imprisoned 445 days in Sudan. He traveled to the country on behalf of The Voice of the Martyrs to meet with and encourage Sudanese Christians. His first cellmates were arrested ISIS fighters—men who hated Christians and quickly began to persecute Petr.

In his lowest moments, God brought to mind names and faces of other persecuted Christians—men and women Petr had met personally during his years serving with VOM. He began to pray for other persecuted believers, and his spirit lifted as his focus changed from his own difficulties to his prayers for other Christians.

Listen as Petr shares how God prepared him to face persecution, how he had prepared his own family for his arrest, and how he prays for Christians after his experience of long months in prison and facing a death sentence for his gospel work.

This conversation with Petr was recorded as a part of the Imprisoned For Christ Virtual Event. You can still watch the entire event—featuring three former prisoners for Christ sharing their stories—on-demand when you register here.

Petr’s first VOM Radio interview was recorded just eight days after his release from prison.

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When Petr Jasek spent 445 days in prison in Sudan, Omar al-Bashir was the dictatorial leader of the country. Since Petr’s release, Bashir’s government has been overthrown and Bashir locked inside one of the same prisons where Petr had been held.

But are things really different for Christians in Sudan? Petr will answer that question as he returns to finish the conversation we began last week about his arrest and imprisonment in Sudan.

In prison, Petr felt the Lord’s presence very near as he spent hours every day reading the Bible and praying. What has he done to maintain that same closeness as he returned to his normal, busy life?

The story of Petr’s imprisonment—and the ministry God allowed him inside—is told in a brand new book, Imprisoned with ISIS: Faith in the Face of Evil. You’ll receive a copy for free when you make a donation to VOM here.

Petr first told his story to VOM Radio listeners nine days after his release from prison. You can hear that conversation—recorded in Prague—here.

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In 2015, Petr Jasek traveled to Khartoum, Sudan, to meet with pastors and other Christians to evaluate how The Voice of the Martyrs—a ministry Petr has served with since 2002—could help and encourage persecuted Sudanese believers.

Petr was arrested at the airport on his way out of the country, charged with espionage and other crimes and sentenced to life in prison before the Czech government negotiated his release.

The story of Petr’s imprisonment—and the ministry God allowed him inside—is told in a brand new book, Imprisoned with ISIS: Faith in the Face of Evil. You’ll receive a copy of this outstanding book for free when you make a donation to VOM here.

Listen as Petr shares his story and updates listeners on his current ministry around the world.

Petr first told his story to VOM Radio listeners just nine days after his release. You can hear that conversation—recorded in Prague—here.

Never miss an episode of VOM Radio. Subscribe on your favorite podcast service.

If you’re already in prison for your faith, and facing a possible death penalty, Petr Jasek says you can be even more bold about sharing Jesus. After all…how much worse could your situation get, from an earthly perspective?

Jasek and Pastor Hassan Abduraheem Taour were cell mates in a Sudanese prison, on trial together for alleged espionage against the nation of Sudan, and this week they are together on VOM Radio in a special episode recorded at a VOM Advance Conference.

Listen to how they found JOY even as they were physically suffering and were separated from families and loved ones. Listen as Petr shares how he could physically feel the prayers of people around the world while he was in prison. Both men will share how God had specifically prepared them to face persecution and imprisonment.

Petr will also talk about how God brought back to his mind the words of songs he had learned as a child, and about the invisible “prayer map” on the walls of his prison cell. Both Petr and Hassan will share what it meant to them for Sudanese Christians to gather outside the courtroom and boldly sing hymns of praise to God as the men were taken to and from their court hearings.

Finally, you’ll be equipped to pray specifically for Christians in prison right now for their faith in Christ, as well as for their family members waiting, hoping and praying for their incarcerated loved ones.

You can hear the VOM Radio interview with Petr Jasek, recorded just eight days after he was released from prison in Sudan, here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Our interview with Pastor Hassan is here: Part 1 and Part 2.

One year ago Petr Jasek walked out of a Sudanese prison, a free man after 445 days as a prisoner of the government of Sudan. Listen as Petr—who served as VOM’s regional director for ministry in Africa—shares what God has done and taught since Petr’s release, including the release of the Sudanese men who were on trial with Petr and the emotion of being reunited with them. Listen also for further discussion of Petr’s time in prison, how God moved and how Petr coped with the stress and the persecution he faced in the prison. Petr will also talk about how he and his family prepared ahead of time for the possibility of his arrest, and how his story has impacted Christians in his native Czech Republic. Right after his release, Petr shared the full story of his arrest and time in prison, including sharing his first prison cell with ISIS fighters. You can listen to those interviews here: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Petr Jasek, VOM’s Africa Regional Director, was visiting persecuted Christians in Sudan and assessing how VOM could best help believers there. But instead of flying home from the trip, he was detained at the airport in Khartoum. Listen as Petr shares highlights from his story, which is also told in the October issue—the 50th Anniversary Edition—of VOM’s free monthly newsletter. Listen as Petr shares about his first night in a jail cell, how God had uniquely prepared him with a dream and how he discovered that his cell mates were radical Muslim ISIS fighters. Hear how God used a Sudanese guard to save Petr’s life, and how God revealed that He had a purpose for Petr’s imprisonment, a purpose so great that Petr stopped praying for his release. Petr also shares how he learned to wait upon the Lord during 445 days in prison, and how he experienced God’s deepest peace in the times of his most intense persecution. To hear Petr share the entire story of his arrest, imprisonment and eventual release, click here.

From the first days after his arrest in Sudan, Petr Jasek repeatedly said, “God is the One who holds the key to my cell.”

Jasek, a Czech citizen, is VOM’s Africa regional director and he was just released after 14 months in prison in Sudan. In this third and final part of our conversation with Petr, he shares about how he stopped praying to be released from prison and simply focused on fulfilling the Lord’s purpose for him inside prison walls.

Listen as Petr shares what it was like to hear the judge announce that he was sentenced to life in prison, and the verse he read from Psalms moments before he found out God would be using the key and opening Petr’s cell door.

Petr will also share—from his personal experience—how we should pray for Christians in prison, and for their families who sometimes suffer more than the prisoners. You will be challenged to think about what it means to wait on the Lord as you hear Petr share how, after 445 days, God set this captive free. (Listen to all three parts of our conversation with Petr to hear the full story of God’s work in his life during his time in prison.)

What verse of Scripture would you grab onto if you were locked in prison for your faith? Petr Jasek, a Czech national and VOM’s Africa regional director, was released last month after 445 days in prison in Sudan. Listen as he shares the verse that became a theme for him during those long months in prison. It was not a verse about setting captives free. Instead, it was a verse about the holiness of God. It became a theme for Petr; he would use it to guide his prayers and recite it over and over each day throughout his imprisonment. Meditating on God’s holiness provided strength for Petr as his radical Muslim cellmates began to pressure, persecute and torture him. Listen also for the story of the opportunity God provided that encouraged Petr as he began to lose hope after four months in prison. Petr’s story challenges each of us to think about how we deal with hardship or opposition, and reminds us to seek God’s plan and His will, even when we’re uncomfortable or suffering. (Listen also to the first part of our conversation with Petr in last week’s episode: Prisoner Set Free.)

Petr Jasek, a Czech national and VOM’s Africa regional director, spent 445 days in a Sudanese prison. Days after returning home, Petr sat down with VOM Radio to share his story and thank the thousands of people who prayed for him and his co-defendants during his long months in prison. Listen in as Petr shares about going to the airport to leave Sudan in December of 2015, and the point when he knew that what he faced was much more than a routine security screening. He’ll share how he kept praying as he was questioned, and how he found out that his cell mates were members of ISIS. Your faith will be encouraged as you hear how God had been preparing Petr—even years before his arrest—to remain faithful even during months in prison.