Voice of the Martyrs USA

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST: Local Kyrgyz government officials are working to seize property owned by a church since the 1990s, and used to host children’s camps. “We have more than a thousand children that attend the camps annually,” said a local pastor. The site is also used for other church events. Though Christians hold the title to the property, they’ve had to wage a legal fight to keep it. “We have had many court appearances already, and have won all of them, I am very concerned about the upcoming one.” The hearing is scheduled for mid-September. “Please pray with us that we will be able to keep this vital property,” said the pastor.

📍 Location: Kyrgyzstan

2 days ago | [YT] | 3,316

Voice of the Martyrs USA

“Just as there are certain microbes, plants and animals that are useful and others harmful to man, so it is with things from above. While God gives love, the devil gives evil. God turns evil to good. He gives us calm in tempest and the wisdom to utilize evil events for the beautifying of our souls.” —Richard Wurmbrand, founder of The Voice of the Martyrs

4 days ago | [YT] | 1,445

Voice of the Martyrs USA

VOM President Cole Richards writes: “God created us for eternal union with himself and his other children. In Christ, we are one family united in loving fellowship that is forever existent among the persons of the one true and living God. It is this eternal love that is the fulfillment of our deepest longings. In Christ, we have the joy of loving fellowship that is anchored in an unbreakable bond of belonging which no persecutor can take away.”

📖 Read more in VOM’s September 2026 Magazine

5 days ago | [YT] | 2,383

Voice of the Martyrs USA

The current government restrictions on what pastors can teach, where they can teach, and whom they can teach create constant stress for pastors in Central Asia. Many are overwhelmed and exhausted. “There are lots of threats from the government, because it is basically not only fining [the pastor] but the whole family,” Damir said. “And people give up. I know some people who just could not continue this way. It is hard when the government system is all against you.” Damir requested prayer that he and other Central Asian pastors will persevere as they continue to serve amid increasing government scrutiny. “Especially pray for leaders and pastors because they have the most pressure,” he said.

📍 Location: Central Asia

6 days ago | [YT] | 1,770

Voice of the Martyrs USA

Duang Ma Nee is a schoolteacher in a poor, rural part of Laos, a teaching assignment he received after his bold Christian witness caught the attention of members of the board of education in his district. When he first arrived in his village, which was predominantly Buddhist, he felt abandoned and isolated from Christian fellowship, but he didn’t despair. Instead, he immediately began sharing the gospel with his neighbors. When some of his fellow villagers responded to the gospel and he began holding worship services, village leaders ordered him to stop evangelizing and holding the services. After learning that the global body of Christ would hear about his story, Duang felt emboldened to share the gospel even more. As Duang has led more people to Christ, his school administrators have continued to oppose his bold faith. Because of Duang and his wife’s faithful witness, village authorities have persecuted other Christian families in the village. Yet many continue to respond to the gospel and remain firm in their commitment to Christ.

📍 Location: Laos

1 week ago | [YT] | 2,240

Voice of the Martyrs USA

It’s been more than a decade since Melissa, then just 4 years old, lost her mother in a deadly attack by militant al-Shabab terrorists at her church in Garissa, Kenya. On July 1, 2012, Islamists launched grenades and opened fire on two churches in Garissa, killing 14 Christians and orphaning several children. Melissa huddled with the other children in Sunday school as the gunmen attacked and later learned her mother had been taken to the hospital, where she died from her injuries. Front-line workers recently met with Melissa, now a teenager, and other families of those who lost their lives in the 2012 attack and were encouraged to learn of their growing faith despite the suffering they endured. Some of the children excitedly recited several Bible verses during the visit, and others shared that the help they’ve received from the global body of Christ has strengthened them in their time of need.

📍 Location: Kenya

1 week ago | [YT] | 2,211

Voice of the Martyrs USA

Governments across Central Asia forbid discipling children in the Christian faith. Some of the former Soviet republics in the region, particularly those with significant Orthodox Christian populations, allow churches to mostly operate freely within the walls of their church buildings. But in others, all religious instruction for children, except when conducted by government-approved instructors with materials reviewed and approved by the government, is completely prohibited. “Every year it is becoming more and more difficult,” said Pastor Damir Kashgari in his hometown high in the mountainous region. Pray for Christian leaders and families in Central Asia as they find creative ways to bring up their children in the faith despite these restrictive laws.

📍 Location: Central Asia

1 week ago | [YT] | 1,997

Voice of the Martyrs USA

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST: Pastor John Cao Battles Cancer Separated from Family

In late April, Pastor John Cao was urgently admitted to the hospital, where it was discovered that he has late-stage prostate cancer that has metastasized and a spinal tumor that is causing great pain. Sources close to Pastor Cao report that, at the time of writing, his condition is declining daily and that he is now unable to stand.

Though released from prison after completing his full seven-year sentence, Pastor Cao has remained under restrictions and heavy surveillance that have amounted to house arrest. His passport has also been withheld by Chinese authorities, meaning he has been unable to reunite with his family abroad for more than a decade.
Christians and civil rights groups are calling for the relevant Chinese authorities to return his passport on humanitarian grounds so that he can reunite with his family and receive care in a more supportive environment.

“This is cruel, you know, this is as cruel as you can be to have a late-state cancer,” said Bob Fu, founder and president of China Aid. “A Christian leader nearly 70 years old, and to prevent him from coming. He has never even seen his grandchildren.”
Despite failing health, government restrictions and separation from his family, Pastor Cao has continued to steadfastly serve the church in China since his release from prison, even in the presence of the officers tasked with surveilling him.

“He is a soldier for the kingdom of God,” Fu said. “He has never stopped preaching the gospel!”

#persecutedchristians #prayerrequest #pleasepray #pray #praywithoutceasing

1 week ago (edited) | [YT] | 3,836

Voice of the Martyrs USA

“I stand in absolute awe of men and women who faithfully keep their hand on the plow, working God’s harvest fields day after day and year after year without seeing measurable fruit for their godly labors.” —Todd Nettleton, host of VOM Radio

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 2,001

Voice of the Martyrs USA

In August of 1824, John Smith was arrested as a missionary in Demerara, modern-day Guyana. Smith, an Englishman, was sent to minister to the slave population but was given strict instructions by the governor not to teach any of them to read. Smith became a counselor and friend to his congregation and, wanting to teach them through Christian discipleship, he naturally taught them to read. Certain slaves became aware of the anti-slavery movement in Britain, and a revolt was planned. The governor assumed Smith must have known about it and did not tell him, so he was considered a co-conspirator. The revolt was swiftly stopped at the cost of many lives, and Smith was sentenced to hang. While imprisoned, he caught pneumonia and died in the filth of a Guyanan jail.

Guilty of sacrifice and service to the gospel, John Smith was called the Martyr of Demerara by the African workers after his death.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 1,962