TURKMENISTAN: "You Didn't Forget Us When We Had Trouble"
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Hear the voice of your persecuted Christian family

THIS WEEK’S EPISODE

TURKMENISTAN: "You Didn't Forget Us When We Had Trouble"
24 MIN

Maya and her husband were constantly under pressure from police in Turkmenistan. Then her husband was thrown in jail. Maya says many times she questioned God.

"So many times I prayed to God and asked, 'Why is this happening in our lives? We've done so much to serve you!'" Amid her questions, Maya sensed a challenge:  she needed to surrender her thoughts to God and go back to his Word.

Listen as Maya shares how she and her husband met, how the Lord changed her husband's heart after he began to follow Jesus, and how she came to know Christ after six years seeing her husband live out God's love. You'll hear how her husband, Ilmurad, abused her and struggled with addiction before he knew Christ, and how Christ changed him so radically that friends and neighbors asked, "What happened to you?!"

Because of his Christian ministry, Ilmurad was sentenced to four years in prison. However, he viewed his time in prison as continued ministry as he led other prisoners to follow Christ. While in prison, Ilmurad was listed on The Voice of the Martyrs' letter-writing website, www.PrisonerAlert.com. Though he was never allowed to see or read incoming letters, a prison custodian told him he was receiving mail from all over the world. Ilmurad knew he was not forgotten and that Christians were praying for him.

"I was surprised and encouraged to hear that people outside our country were praying for us," Maya says. "I'm so appreciative that you didn't forget us when we had trouble."

Since her husband's death from illness in 2024, Maya continues serving as a gospel worker among women in Turkmenistan. Please pray for her ministry and her health.

You can encourage persecuted Christians in prison—just like Ilmurad and Maya were encouraged—when you write letters through PrisonerAlert.com.

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.

Today’s VOM
Radio Minute

Now heard on more than 1,000 Christian radio stations.

  • June 26, 2026
  • June 25, 2026
  • June 24, 2026

Previous Episodes

  • GLOBAL MISSIONS: Planning to Go, Willing to Stay

    How do you discern God's call and determine where He's leading you? How much of your prayer time is spent listening to Him?

    Ben Barrett, who's led The Voice of the Martyrs' work in South Asia, will help us answer those questions as he shares how God has led him and his wife into a new season of ministry. His new role—with one of VOM's strategic partner ministries—includes raising up indigenous Christian leaders, supporting church planting efforts and encouraging pastors to continue making disciples to multiply the gospel work.

    "We want to come alongside them in the midst of persecution and difficulty," Ben said.

    One of the parts of Ben's new role that excites him—and draws on his experience serving at VOM—is bringing church planters and leaders from different places where Christians are persecuted together to share with each other experiences and hard-won wisdom.

    Listen as Ben shares some of the stories that have impacted him greatly during his time serving our persecuted brothers and sisters with VOM, the current state of persecution in South Asia and how Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims are coming to know Christ.

    He'll also encourage listeners to lean into where the Lord may be calling you, and share how making yourself available may be just what God is asking of you. Pray for Ben and his family during this transition and for their ongoing service to the Lord in the next season of their service to Him. 

    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.

    32 MIN
  • EAST AFRICA: Intimacy with Christ Prepares Christians for Persecution

    In a Muslim village in East Africa, 47 people confessed belief in Christ. But then Christian persecution came. Radical Muslims went house-to-house, threatening new believers and demanding they return to Islam. All but two of the new Christians renounced their faith.

    Brother Paulo, a leader in YWAM Frontier Missions in East Africa, met the two young men who stood firm for Christ. He asked them how they'd stayed faithful under such intense pressure.

    "The experience I had with Jesus was so strong that I cannot deny Jesus," the younger of the two men told him.

    In places like Northern Mozambique, South Sudan, Malawi, Tanzania and other East African countries, Muslim-background believers face persecution from their families and communities. Even those who have grown up in Christian families are likely to face persecution from Muslim communities—especially if they are involved in evangelism or outreach to Muslims.

    Brother Paulo will share more stories from our persecuted Christian brothers and sisters in East Africa, tell how God called him into missions and describe the endurance of churches in the region amid persecution.

    He will also share how believers prepare to face persecution and how Christians in free nations like the United States can pray for our brothers and sisters in East Africa.

    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.

    33 MIN
  • DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: "I think God calls us to be faithful."

    Over the past 18 months some of the most violent attacks against persecuted Christians anywhere in the world have taken place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country where more than 100 armed groups—many motivated by Islamist ideals—vie for territory and influence.

    Dr. David Kasali, founder and president of Congo Initiative, is back on VOM Radio this week to tell how Christians are responding and enduring, how they are choosing to be victors instead of victims.

    Listen as he shares how he trains Christians to overcome their fears and how he prays for Christ's Kingdom to be established in DRC, just as it is in heaven. He'll also share how Congo Initiative is welcoming Christians from around the world to come and serve in various roles. "We have to work," Dr. Kasali says, "for the coming Kingdom of God."

    He'll also share the story of his calling by God to return to Congo—leaving behind an education ministry he truly loved in Kenya—to serve and strengthen the persecuted church in DRC. And finally, he'll equip listeners to pray specifically for the needs of persecuted Christians in the Congo.

    Dr. Kasali's first visit with VOM Radio can be heard here.

    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.

    36 MIN
  • CHINA: Updates on Pastor Wang Yi, John Cao, and Criminal Charges Against Christians

    As U.S. President Donald Trump flew home from Beijing after meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping, we recorded this timely VOM Radio conversation with Bob Fu, founder and president of China Aid, to provide a current update about our persecuted Christian brothers and sisters in China.

    Chinese Christians are facing a new criminal charge for training up children in God's Word. Such Christians were recently charged with violating the "administrative management law." The government alleges these Christians are training children to undermine the government; authorities see teaching the Bible as a national security violation.

    Bob also provides an update on 18 Zion church members arrested in recent months. The lawyers representing the accused Christians were forced to leave, shutting down their law firm and intimidating other attorneys from defending Christians.

    Bob will provide updates to help you pray for Pastors John Cao and Wang Yi. He will share current news, including a cancer diagnosis, and how they continue to serve the Lord despite government control and imprisonment.

    You'll hear more about China's social credit system and how it is affecting believers' ability to travel, spend money, and gather together. China is continuing to export oppressive surveillance technology to places like Iran, Burma, and Vietnam, and we already see Chinese tactics being implemented in other countries.

    Bob Fu is the author of God's Double Agent (affiliate link). He says a new edition of the book is in progress, including updates on the situation for Christians in China since Xi Jinping rose to top leadership in the country.

    The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria, China, and India, 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.

    24 MIN

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