What Every Christian should know about Voice of the Martyrs

What should you know about Voice of the Martyrs? 

I had heard of Voice of the Martyrs, but had never really gotten involved. Even though I donated and joined their mailing list, I hadn’t taken real steps to personally be involved in their ministry, but that changed when I realized that their ministry is the entire body of believers.

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If you let it, VOM might change your faith forever. I hope you’ll read how it changed mine. 

Voice of the Martyrs unites the global body of Christ.

We can be very insulated as western Christians and sometimes don’t know just how different Christianity is for most believers around the world.

In more than sixty countries, Christians are persecuted for worshipping our Savior. But while we don’t want to compare the paths God has laid out for each of us, my idea of a stressful Sunday morning seems ridiculous in comparison.

Seems like no matter how early we wake up, we’re always running out the door to get to church on time. Waving quick hellos to Linda and Roscoe, who share “our” row, we sit on a cushioned pew in beautiful, air-conditioned building and openly praise God. After an hour, we sing the last song, pray a quick prayer (often distracted by plans for lunch or errands) and skedaddle into the throng of hugs and prayer requests before resuming our regularly scheduled weekend.

But have we finished our weekly worshipping only to find we’re still asleep?

If you ask the speakers from the Voice of the Martyrs conference I attended last weekend, we are.

We live completely inoculated from the truths most Christians outside the Western world face and are not truly aware we’ve closed our eyes to their plight.

Did you know that just in the last six months every church in China has been forced to close or allow the government to interfere in their services? Even being mandated to allow video cameras into the buildings so officials can watch for infractions (which can include failing to sing the appropriate patriotic songs over worship choices).

You might have seen the “I am N” movement, but do you know the story of Christians in northern Iraq being forced to give up Jesus or everything else? 100,000 fled with barely the clothes they were wearing because they refused to surrender Christ. Can you imagine living as an exile?

Christians can’t even register churches in Uzbekistan so any gathering of believers is a criminal act.

Our freedom to worship and learn and gather together is an embarrassment of riches when we begin to see and commit to pray for the immense persecution Christians face on the other side of the world.

Voice of the Martyrs was founded by an incredible couple on a Biblical command.

Romanian pastor Richard Wurmbrand was imprisoned and tortured for 14 years, but his faith and light were not dimmed. He continued to work with the underground church and share the gospel. He founded VOM after being ransomed away from the Romanian government to reach and support other Christians worldwide being persecuted for sharing the gospel.

His message has been, “Hate the evil systems, but love your persecutors. Love their souls, and try to win them for Christ.”

His story is a powerful one. Get his life story here!

He based VOM on this Biblical command:

Hebrews 13:3 ESV Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.

We often don’t even know the immense numbers of Christians living in extreme persecution (OpenDoorsUSA is another excellent resource/charity for persecuted Christians), much less those in prison. But we are to remember them as if we were in prison with them. I know I have not been faithful in this.

We argue amongst ourselves over translations, pre/post-millenialism, doctrine, and theology, but in our squabbles are missing the war raging around the world.

One of the quotes from the Voice of the Martyrs Advance Conference that just destroyed me was this one . . .

“Christians are like bedbugs. Don’t trouble them. As you continue to crush them, they would increase in numbers as bugs. Instead give them all conveniences. In the comforts, they would flourish and start fighting among themselves, and be separated as sects, and in the end they will just disappear as insignificant insects.”  ~ Rajagopalachariar (GG of India)

In our comforts and conveniences, have we become insignificant in the Great Commission?

The first purpose of Voice of the Martyrs is “To encourage and empower Christians to fulfill the Great Commission . . .”

Matthew 28:19 ESV / Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

While not everyone is called to be a missionary, we are all supposed to be about our Father’s business, and the Voice of the Martyrs Advance conference opened my eyes to how much more I could be doing to advance the Gospel around the world.

Christians are persecuted daily, but it’s easy to spend five minutes saddened and horrified when one of the tragedies breaks into the mainstream media. I would watch the stories, often too horrified to do more than read a headline (because I have the luxury of turning a blind eye), but take little time beyond a brief prayer.

Below are links to access the books from the conference if you are unable to attend one in your area. I drove 2 hours to get to one and it was totally worth it!

Yet before attending VOM, I considered myself a serious Christian. I spend hours a day in study of the scriptures, theology, apologetics, and prayer. I love the Lord deeply.

But could I stand for Christ when it would cost me everything?

I hope I could, but I’ve struggled to stand up against minor persecution from my friends for my beliefs in Biblical definitions of sin. While there are times and places to be gentle or quiet, I know in my heart, I’ve missed opportunities to share the gospel out of fear of offending someone.

Like the bedbugs quote above, Christianity is the one faith that explodes under persecution, but are we willing to stand up under persecution and partner with those who already do?

Attending the Voice of the Martyrs Advance conference pricked my heart to the global spiritual battle we are fighting against evil.

The 215 million Christian believers who live under severe persecution just to BE believers humble me. Many huddle around scraps of the gospels and memorize them because they have no hope of ever owning a Bible. 500 million believers have never owned a Bible.

How many Bibles do you have?

I have four and shelves of commentaries and religious books. Plus, I have every version I could ever want to study on my phone. It seems an embarrassment of riches.

In some of the most difficult regions for Christians, becoming a Christian means being beaten and tortured by your own family. One woman, Urvashi from India, was treated as if she were a prostitute because her family were so angry that she came to Christ.

She said, “My price can never be higher than my Christ’s.”

How many times have I held my paltry suffering in my hands and cried out why to God without considering the cost Christ paid in his flesh for me. Too many! I have learned that God uses our suffering for His glory when we are focused on Him, but my idea of suffering is really often temporary discomfort more than truly suffering.

Voice of the Martyrs reminds us what Church should be.

The church is supposed to be brothers and sisters in Christ standing united in the name of Jesus. Voice of the Martyrs allows us to step outside our lives and be part of the global Christian community.

VOM has so many ways to get involved. You can commit to pray, donate, volunteer and more!

I love that they have a program for children to get involved as well. Kids of Courage tells the stories of Christian children who have been persecuted, spotlights different ministries and offers free educational downloads which will be perfect for our homeschool lessons.

Are you wondering how you can learn more? You can sign up for their free newsletter here!

Many ministries work with persecuted Christians around the world and are deserving of our attention. However, Voice of the Martyrs is home to so many different ministries, connected under the same banner of reaching the unreached and supporting the persecuted.

I have committed to pray for a front-line worker every day for a year and will donate regularly. I pray that you will visit any of the VOM links and learn more about how you can be more awake as part of the beautiful body of Christ.