November's Persecution Report
Have you seen this month's Persecution Report by The Voice of the Martyrs? Check it out! You can also subscribe to The Persecution Report as an audio or video podcast.  Click here for more details.

Pray for Cuban pastor and family
Christian Solidarity Worldwide has requested prayer for a Cuban pastor who has been imprisoned for six months and his family. Please remember this family in your prayers as they suffer for Christ’s sake. Pastor Omar Gude Pérez was detained in Camaguey on 22 May 2008 and subsequently charged with “Human Trafficking”. Following his imprisonment, government officials carried out a full inventory

No religious freedom for Muslims in Malaysia
The concept of religious freedom does not apply to Muslims in Malaysia, a retired high court judge told the two-day International Seminar on Comparative Laws (ISCOM 2008) (click here for the full article). Citing the case of Lina Joy's renunciation of Islam, Datuk Faiza Tamby Chik noted while delivering a working paper, that the high court in its decision ruled that a Malay under Article 160(2)

Video report on Saturday attack on pastor in India
The following is a video report on the attack of a pastor in Mumbai, India on Saturday.  Watch for more details in tomorrow's Persecution and Prayer Alert.

Check out these key articles
The July 2008 double issue edition of Connections (a journal by the World Evangelical Alliance's Mission Commission) focused on missions in contexts of suffering, violence, persecution and martyrdom.  I was honoured to have a part in writing three of the articles (one directly and two as member of a team).  A Biblical Theology of Persecution and Discipleship Best Practices Code of Best

Common words, different meanings
This is a follow up to my blog last week regarding attempts by a number of Muslim countries to silence the criticism of Islam through the United Nations.  Nina Shea of the Hudson Institute has written an article entitled Worldwide Hate Laws? that addresses this and conference held last week between Muslim and Catholic scholars.  Here are some excerpts: Two international meetings to promote

Another great night in Sarnia
Last night, my wife and I attended a fund-raising concert in Sarnia for The Voice of the Martyrs organized by our good friend, Peter Degraaf. This is the second such concert that Peter has organized in Sarnia at the Temple Baptist Church and just like last year's, it was well worth the 2.5 hour drive. This year we were blessed by the music packages by the Salvation Army Jubilee Brass band, the

A tough question to answer
A few weeks ago, someone posted a comment on our YouTube site that is still making me think.  He asked (pardon the grammar & misspelling of Nero), "would you imagine Paul or Peter beginning to asking to Herod or Neron to stop the persecution?" Even if the grammar and spelling are terrible, the question is terrific. Can we imagine Paul or Peter asking Herod or Nero to stop the persecution of

Pray for imprisoned father and daughter in Pakistan
20 year old Sandal languishes in prison. She is falsely accused of ripping pages from the Muslim holy book, the Quran. She and her father, Gulsher, were arrested on Thursday, Oct. 9 after a mob from the local mosque surrounded their house. As the loudspeakers from the mosque called out accusations, the angry crowd hurled stones and bottles of kerosene at the family’s house, intending to set it on

The story of Perpetua
The story of Perpetua is one of the best known accounts of early Christian martyrology. Perpetua was a 22-year old married aristocrat nursing mother who was arrested together with her slave, Felicity and four others in Carthage in about 203 AD. The "Passion of St. Perpetua, St. Felicitas, and their Companions" is said to be an actual account of their imprisonment and eventual martyrdom. It