Let There Be Light

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Editor

“Political language,” George Orwell once said, “is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

Many echo Orwell’s skepticism toward politics and its practitioners. When politicians slam their lecterns and promise a cessation of taxes, many roll their eyes. Politicians, after all, are well known for saying one thing and doing another.

And they aren’t the only ones.

Our suspicion of speakers often pours over onto Jesus.

“Sure, Jesus says love your enemy,” we say. “But when he says that, he isn’t talking about loving my boss. My boss forces me to work Sundays and keeps me away from my family. Jesus would know that my boss is a bad person. He would excuse me from being nice to my boss.”

Just like we believe politicians don’t truly mean what they say, we become doubtful of Jesus. But, as Pastor Foley points out, Jesus isn’t just human and so his speeches aren’t just speeches. Listen to Pastor Foley’s sermon to learn what makes Jesus’ speeches different:

To watch other Voice of the Martyrs videos, visit the Voice of the Martyrs Video Page!

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Follow Me

Posted on October 7, 2016 by Editor

It’s Sunday morning and the last thing you want to do is haul yourself out of the bed, wake up the family, and head off to church. Work this week was challenging. There were several family emergencies. Plus, you had a misunderstanding with the woman who always sits two chairs in front of you and the last thing you want to do is see her again.

God will understand if I miss a week, you tell yourself.

But then a week becomes a month and a month becomes a year.

Life keeps throwing things at you that you never could have planned for. God continues to take the backseat in your life—but at least he’s there, right?

One thing we tend to forget is that there’s a difference between knowing of God and knowing God. Anyone can say they know Jesus’ story. Anyone can say they’ve read the Bible. As a former atheist, I can give credence to the fact that atheists sometimes read the Bible much more extensively than Christians—many of us like to find the small details which we can use when arguing with Christians. But knowing the Bible, knowing Jesus is the son of God, knowing that Jesus came to save sinners—anyone can say they know these things.

To be a Christian, we have to know God and know Jesus. When we read the Bible, we have to become familiar with their character. When we live life, we must do our best to imitate their character. By imitating God to the world, we become more familiar with his character and learn things about him that people who know of God never really learn.

We learn to sacrifice the comfort of a comfortable Sunday in bed for an opportunity to gather together with the community of believers to practice mirroring God’s character.

We learn how to sacrifice the entitlement of being frustrated with work in an effort to make work better for others (and, inadvertently, make work better for ourselves).

We learn how to sacrifice our pride in an effort to repair relationship with the woman who we had a misunderstanding with.

We learn that there is a cost to following God and that this cost is our own life and comfort:

To watch other Voice of the Martyrs videos, visit the Voice of the Martyrs Video Page!

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Sudan: Christ Is In Prison Again

Posted on October 1, 2016 by Pastor Foley

For nearly 300 days a Czech Christian, Petr Jasek, has been imprisoned in Sudan for serving and helping Sudanese believers. Now Mr. Jasek’s family has asked VOM Korea to raise prayer and letter support from Korea on behalf of Petr and the two Sudanese pastors with whom he is imprisoned and with whom he may be sentenced to death. Please join Dr. Foley and I and our VOMK team in writing and sending a letter of encouragement today and in speaking to the Lord daily about these brothers and their families. Details follow here and on our website. Thank you for your prompt action and your fervent, daily attention to this matter with the Lord.
—Pastor Foley

Two pastors and a Czech aid worker are among four people standing trial for “crimes against national security” in Khartoum, Sudan. If found guilty on all charges, the men could be sentenced to death.

Those being tried include Rev. Hassan Abduraheem and Rev. Kuwa Shamal, both pastors in the Sudan Church of Christ; Petr Jasek, an aid worker from the Czech Republic; and Abdulmonem Abdumawla, another Sudanese national.

sudan-four-on-trial

Mr. Jasek’s family has asked The Voice of the Martyrs to bring his situation to the attention of Korean Christians, asking for prayer and advocacy as the trial continues.

“We are literally fighting for these men’s lives,” said Dr. Hyun Sook Foley, President for The Voice of the Martyrs Korea. “The case against two pastors, an aid worker and another Sudanese man revolves around providing medical care to an injured Darfur native, Mr. Ali Omer,” Foley said. “These men are not spies. They were not inciting a revolt. They aren’t pushing a political agenda. These four are simply trying to serve and help. Only tyrants consider helping people a crime, and the four men should be released immediately.”

Sudan’s president, Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, is the only current head of state under indictment by the International Criminal Court. Considered a fugitive by the court, al-Bashir stands charged on five counts of crimes against humanity, two counts of war crimes and three counts of genocide. Sudan is one of three nations, along with Iran and Syria, that the U.S. State Department identifies as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.

Mr. Jasek has a 20-year background in the medical field, including 10 years as a hospital administrator. This experience and training uniquely qualified him to serve suffering people in places like Sudan. Mr. Jasek has assisted Voice of the Martyrs on different occasions to provide care to persecuted Christians in Sudan and Nigeria, including medical care for Christians attacked by Boko Haram.

In the first letter Mr. Jasek sent to his family after his arrest in December 2015, he stated that “God holds the key to my cell. He will open the door in His timing.”

The Voice of the Martyrs invites you to stand with Rev. Abduraheem, Rev. Shamal and Mr. Jasek in two ways:

1. Pray for these three men. Please e-mail us your prayers for these brothers at [email protected]. We will provide the families of our Christian brothers with a link to these prayers so they can see that believers from all over the world are praying for them and for their imprisoned husbands and fathers.

2. Write a letter to each of these brothers. Please see instructions at www.vomkorea.kr. The website provides information on composing your letters and mailing them to each prisoner, in care of the Sudan Embassy in Seoul, South Korea. Your letters will show the Sudanese government that Christians around the world are watching the trial and praying for these imprisoned Christians.

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