VOMRadio

Eight years ago, on November 16th, 2018, John Allen Chau went ashore on North Sentinel Island for the final time. He knew the risks of his mission but calculated that the risk to his life was worth it for the North Sentinelese to hear the good news of Jesus.
This week on VOM Radio, three of John's close friends—Sean, Josh and Mark—remember his life, fun times and ministry they shared and even conversations in the final weeks before John's mission to North Sentinel Island.
They'll share when they heard about North Sentinel Island from John and what the world did not know about John that they knew from their relationship and experiences with him. John's pure heart and compassion for all people were evident in how he lived and in the way he served his brothers and sisters in Christ. He was selfless and wanted to decrease so Christ would increase.
John's plan was to live among the North Sentinelese for as long as it took to learn their language and share the gospel. "I believe that the measure of success in the kingdom of God is obedience," he said a few months before his death.
"He set us at ease with his understanding of what the cost was," Josh said, "and that it was worth it."
Read more of John's story about his preparation and his mission to North Sentinel Island. Pray for the North Sentinelese and other unreached people groups around the world to hear the gospel, and that God would send laborers into the harvest fields.
The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, China, and Iran, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.

Ruslan Chaldanbayev worked as a youth pastor for 10 years in Central Asia, seeing many young people leave Islam to follow Christ. Today he helps lead a youth movement called 2CA; their goal is to see 2% of Central Asian youth become followers of Jesus Christ. He and his wife both have amazing testimonies of coming to faith in Christ as young adults, which you will hear as Ruslan shares his upbringing in a broken home where drugs were rampant and Islam was followed.
Ruslan was educated in a madrassa (Islamic school) and started to learn Arabic. But even with his growing Islamic knowledge he had many unanswered questions. His brother dealt with drug addiction, and through rehab, Ruslan's brother heard the gospel message and committed his life to the Lord. Ruslan's mother began taking him and his brother to church. Ruslan heard about Jesus on Sundays, but was still going to the mosque each Friday, where he was trained by imams in Islam.
You'll hear about the moment Ruslan cried out, "Who created me? Please show me yourself," and how the spoken Word of God brought him to repentance and saving faith in Christ.
But serving Christ hasn't been easy; Ruslan and his family have experienced Christian persecution from government officials and angry Muslims; they've even been harmed by "friends" who turned out to be spies against their work.
Listen for the story of a KGB raid on a pastor training seminar, and how God allowed Ruslan to share the gospel even in that stressful situation.
Ruslan says that today in Central Asia, only 0.01% of the people are Biblical disciples; pray the Lord would bless Ruslan's ministry so that more young adults in the region come to know Jesus. Learn how you can pray specifically for Ruslan and his family, and for Christians in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.
The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, China, and Iran, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.

Last week, Brother Manish ended by sharing the repeated beatings he endured in prison for his faith. This week, hear how Manish's experience in prison shifted after he was asked to speak to the other prisoners about a "religious festival" coming up, Good Friday.
After praying for opportunities to share God's Word in prison, Manish was allowed by the jailer to share, from his heart, the story of the gospel on Good Friday. The jailer even gave him extra time to speak!
The next day, Brother Manish was summoned to the jailer's office. He expected another beating, the "price" for preaching the gospel the day before. Instead of a beating, God opened a door for amazing ministry! God revealed to Manish specific problems the jailer and his family were facing, including his son's long-term illness. Manish asked if he could pray for these specific needs, and the jailer was shocked, asking, "How did you know?"
"The Lord Jesus is the living God," Brother Manish said. Manish asked the jailer to bring his son for prayer. The jailer and his son knelt down before Manish, and he prayed. In faith, he told the jailer and his son that God would heal him in seven days.
The Lord worked a miracle in the jailer and his son's life, and Manish not only received better treatment but was able to minister and share the gospel anywhere in the five wards of the prison. He now knew why the Lord had brought him to the jail.
Listen as Manish shares his ongoing court case and the story of the day he was released from prison after spending 99 days in jail—with a personal escort from the chief jailer. Please pray for Brother Manish, his wife, and family as he continues to recover from the injuries he endured, and for his family to continue to be bold and trust the Lord.
November 1 is an important time for you and your church to pray for persecuted Christians: International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians. Download VOM's free IDOP Digital Resource Kit and make sure your church will join this global prayer movement on behalf of persecuted Christians. Also sign up to receive prayer requests by email weekly at www.ICommitToPray.com.

In early 2024, police arrested Brother Manish, a pastor in India, ahead of a planned evangelistic outreach in his village. Manish was not afraid of being thrown in jail. He trusted the Lord and believed God brought him to the prison for a purpose.
Manish was accused of "forcing" people to leave their family religion and become Christians, violating the state's anti-conversion laws. He told officials he wasn't forcing anyone to convert; he was simply sharing the transforming message of the gospel. People were freely choosing to leave their old ways and experiencing new life.
You'll hear how Manish's family was held at the police station, forcing him to turn himself in. His father encouraged Manish to be bold as a follower of Christ, and his son hugged him in the police station and encouraged him: "Father, we have to do God's work."
In jail, Manish was continually pressured not to share the gospel and to renounce his faith in Christ. He was hung upside down and beaten by the police officers, an attempt to break his spirit and his faith. Yet he remained faithful to Christ.
"Lord, You are bringing me to this jail," Manish prayed, "so here also I will preach the gospel and bring people to Christ."
Pray for Brother Manish and his family and for other persecuted brothers and sisters in India. Join us next week to hear how God opened an amazing door of ministry for Manish inside the prison—with permission from the same warden who ordered his beatings!
November 1 is an important time for you and your church to pray for persecuted Christians: International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians. Download VOM's free IDOP Digital Resource Kit and make sure your church will join this global prayer movement on behalf of persecuted Christians.
To receive specific prayer requests by email each week, sign up at www.iCommitToPray.com.

Ali Sassi, from Tunisia, is a former Muslim now walking with Jesus. Ali had been taught, as a Muslim, that the Bible we have today has been changed and corrupted. When a Christian friend challenged him to demonstrate when and how the Bible had been changed, Ali accepted the challenge. He figured he'd read the Bible for an evening and easily identify how the book had been changed.
Instead, he spent two years reading and studying. At the end of that time, he was convinced that the Bible had NOT been changed, and that Jesus IS the Son of God. "What touched my heart and won me back to Jesus was that my heart was to find the mistakes, but God was working in my heart," Ali says.
When Ali became a Christian, his first reaction was to tell his family about his new faith. But his decision to follow Christ was costly as his own family turned against him. Today, Ali works with Crescent Project to help train Christians to reach out boldly to Muslims—the same way a Christian reached out to him.
His story will inspire you to pray for and reach out to share Jesus's love with those around you. Learn more about the church in Tunisia and how you can pray for persecuted Christians there.
The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, China, and Iran, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content, and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.